Why the US Marines put armored fighting vehicles on the decks of amphibious assault ships
Observers have spotted something strange on the USS Boxer, the amphibious assault ship the US sent to the Strait of Hormuz this week to counter Iran. That is, armored fighting vehicles are placed on the deck of the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship.
The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) decided to put one of its LAV-25 armored fighting vehicles on the flight deck of the USS Boxer earlier this week as the warship prepared to move into the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is considered unusual for a US amphibious assault ship.
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| LAV-25 armored vehicle appears in this photo taken on the deck of the USS Boxer. Photo: US Navy |
Evidence of the anomaly is evident in a US Navy photo of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters taking off from the deck of the USS Boxer. An armored vehicle is seen in the background.
Although no US military spokesman has ever commented on the incident, late last year, several news agencies reported that the US Navy had taken similar action at least once before.
According to Sputnik, speaking at the Hudson Institute in November 2018, US Marine Corps Major General David W. Coffman, in charge of expeditionary warfare for the Chief of Naval Operations, claimed to have witnessed a MEU commander tie an armored fighting vehicle (LAV) to the front of a warship's flight deck because the vehicle had better sensors for detecting small boats. Mr. Coffman praised the move as innovative.
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| USS Boxer, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the US Navy. Photo: AP |
While the USS Boxer, a 40-ton, medium-sized aircraft carrier, can carry thousands of Marines and their equipment and has a variety of sensors, radars, and missile and close-in weapons systems that can repel many enemies, an LAV-25 is equipped with some unique sensors that could prove useful in the Gulf.
Iranian naval forces often prefer to use small patrol boats to deal with large warships. Meanwhile, an improved version of the US Navy LAV-25 has the AN/PPS-5C radar, designed to track artillery targets, detect aircraft, other vehicles and soldiers.
| Close-up of the USS Boxer. |
According to the manufacturer Leonardo DRS, this radar has an operating range of about 100 meters - 27 kilometers, meaning it can detect small boats right next to the warship that radars with a larger operating range of the USS Boxer are likely to miss.
Captain George McArthur, spokesman for the 31st MEU, revealed to the Marine Corps Magazine that, during an exercise last September, they brought a LAV-25 onto the flight deck of the USS Wasp to simulate a journey through another dangerous sea area, where they are vulnerable to small enemy vessels, the South China Sea.
