AAVP-7 or AAV-7 (English AMPHIBIOUS Assault Vehicle) is a modern American armored personnel carrier. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in the early 1970s, and mass production began in 1972. The vehicle is equipped with a Detroit 8V-53T or Cummins VTA-525 engine with a capacity of 400 hp. The vehicle is armed with a Mk. 19 automatic grenade launcher of 40 mm caliber and one M2HB machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber.
Vehicles AAVP-7 was designed to replace the less successful LVTP-5 vehicles in the US Marine Corps. The new vehicles focused on faster movement in water, greater mobility on land (especially a higher maximum speed) and significantly better mechanical reliability. During the mass production process, three main versions of this vehicle were released. The first is the AAVP-7A1, a floating armored personnel carrier capable of carrying up to 25 troops. The more expensive version is the AAVC-7A1, a command version with more radio and communications equipment. Finally, the third version is the AAVR-7A1, a support vehicle. The AAVP-7 vehicles were exported to several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Spain. They also participated in some armed conflicts, such as the Falklands War of 1982, the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) or the Iraq operation of 2003.
