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Welcome to the suggestion for the LAV-AT! This is an American tank destroyer based on the LAV-25 chassis, using an Emerson M901A1 turret, which unlike the M901 in-game, can use TOW-2s, and offers greater mobility, ammunition stowed, and secondary armament. Let’s find out more about the LAV-AT, shall we?
History
An early LAV-AT fitted with the basic M901 turret during a capabilities demonstration, July 25th, 1990.
Following the adoption of the LAV-25 in the early 1980s, a number of variants spawned from the LAV chassis in American service. As part of the Marine Corps’ more mobile doctrine, a mobile anti-tank system was required. As part of the FY 1985 budget, the Marine Corps would acquire 96 LAVs fitted with the Emerson M901 turret. This production order was filled in 1987, with the resulting vehicle being named the LAV-AT, for Light Armored Vehicle - Anti Tank. The vehicle was equipped with the prolific TOW missile, which by this time had been in service with the US Armed Forces for nearly two decades. A later upgrade would give the LAV-AT the M901A1 turret, allowing it to use the TOW-2 series of missiles, which included the tandem TOW-2A and top-attack TOW-2B.
An LAV-AT from the Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, during Operation Desert Shield, 1991.
The LAV-AT would first see combat during Operation Desert Storm, where 48 were assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force. A notable battle the LAV-AT took place in was the Battle of Khafji. On January 29th, 1991, following an Iraqi offensive to take the towns of Kibrit, Khafji, and Mishab. Defending against the attack was a platoon of Marines from the 1st Recon Battalion, occupying Observation Post Four (OP-4), backed up by two platoons of LAVs from Company D under the command of Captain Roger L. Pollard. Three LAV-ATs, as part of the attack formation with 13 LAV-25s, engaged Iraqi armor, themselves backed up by a second formation of four LAV-ATs.
As the battle ensued, OP-4 was eventually abandoned due to main gun fire from Iraqi tanks, requiring Company D to participate in a counterattack to rescue the recon Marines. Captain Pollard instructed his LAV-ATs to fire TOWs at the Iraqi armor, and during the exchange, an LAV-AT from the 2nd Platoon, call sign Green Two, was hit, resulting in an explosion. It was initially thought this was due to an Iraqi tank or, according to Captain Pollard, a 9M14 missile, however, the company’s executive officer in an LAV-C2 reported that a 1st Platoon LAV-AT had hit a 2nd Platoon LAV-AT. Following this, Company D’s LAV-ATs played a limited role, using their thermal imaging to scan for targets while the LAV-25s would fire on the indicated target.
Later, Captain Shupp, commanding Company A, was ordered to take Company D’s position at OP-4, following another friendly fire incident on Company D by an A-10 Thunderbolt II. After rescuing the wounded driver of a hit LAV-25, crews noticed Iraqi tanks on the Kuwaiti side of the border, and instead of waiting for them to attack, Captain Shupp ordered his LAV-ATs to fire at them, resulting in two tanks knocked out. Company A eventually found the LAV-AT, or Green Two, knocked out from the first engagement, but unfortunately the crew, Cpl Ismael Cotto, PFC Scott A. Schroeder, LCpl David T Snyder, and LCpl Daniel B. Walker, had all been killed due to a hit to the ammunition storage at the rear of the LAV-AT, resulting in an explosion that killed them instantly. The battle ultimately resulted in 22 Iraqi tanks lost during the battle and a Saudi Arabian / Coalition victory, but at the cost of several friendly fire incidents and dozens of Saudi soldiers killed.
The remnants of Green Two, killed after being hit by another LAV-AT.
Following combat during Desert Storm, the LAV-AT would continue to see service with the Marine Corps. It was deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, often as a lead element owing to its greater firepower than an LAV-25. A further 19 LAV-ATs would be produced by 2003, and in the mid to late 2010s, LAV-ATs began receiving the MTAS (Modified Target Acquisition System) turret, which gave the crew greater capabilities. These included a higher resolution thermal imaging sight, the ability to fire on the move, far target location system, a new commander and gunner video sight display, an electric elevation and azimuth drive system, which helps rotate the weapon system onto the target. On top of this, unlike the M901A1 turret, the MTAS turret is unmanned. Fielding of the turret was completed near the end of 2019, and the LAV-AT is likely to continue its service into 2024.
An LAV-AT with a new weapons system sits stationary at the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion ramp prior to operational testing with TOW missiles on Range 500, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, February 10th, 2015.
Sources
- Hunnicutt, R. P. Armored Car: A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles. Echo Point Books & Media, 2015.
- D’Angina, James, and Henry Morshead. LAV-25: The Marine Corps’ Light Armored Vehicle. Osprey Publishing, 2011.
- LAV-AT Anti-Tank Missile Carrier | MilitaryToday.com
- Light Armored Vehicle-Anti-Tank (LAV-AT)
- LAV-AT | Weaponsystems.net
- LAV-AT
