Hi-Rez Photo of Textron's Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicle (TAPV)

photo courtesy of Textron Marine and Land Systems

Another reader made the comment that this vehicle is simply a re-do of their M-117.

My response is yeah and ???

The Canadians have hit on something here.  Clean sheet designs might not be the 'be all to end all'...perhaps modified vehicles tailored to requirements is the future...especially with constrained budgets.

Personally---I like it.

Off Road Law Enforcement Vehicles...

Wow...I didn't know this was such a big business out West.  First vid is of a home built - specially designed rig and the second is of a Polaris Razor, heavily modified for off road tactical/Police use.  Enjoy!

UK Apache's get the attention...HMS Ocean does the work.

I've watched the deployment of the UK's Apache Attack Helicopter to the Libyan War Zone with a bit of "I told ya so" and more than a bit of amusement.

The news media has been so focused on the Apache's that they've missed what many know but don't want to admit.

Forward based, expeditionary (in fact not name) forces are the key to winning the current and future conflicts that the Western world will face.  The Royal Air Force...heck the NATO land air forces have once again demonstrated the limits and weaknesses of land based air power.

Libya. 


A third rate military power.


A nation at war with itself.

A nation that is feeling the full weight of an air campaign being conducted by the most powerful military alliance in the world...still stands.

If there was any lab that should demonstrate the 'coming of age' of modern land based air power thinking then this should be it.


But it isn't.

So what has France and Britain been forced to do?  They've been forced to have Army Aviation operating off Naval Warships to attempt to win the day.

So tell me again how smart it was to retire those Harriers/Carriers?  Imagine if you will this campaign if...
1.  The UK still had Harriers operating off its carriers!
2.  The US was forward leaning and had MEU(-)(+) Reinforced Composite Air Wing (Sea Control) operating off the coast.
3.  Italy was fully committed and had its carrier and Harriers up and flying strikes...
4.  Spain was fully in the fight with its carrier...
Do you get the force of connection here?  Expeditionary Naval Air power could make all the difference.  Air power as exercised by Air Force General's just isn't getting the job done.

Vehicle in Blog Title...

Its an upgraded Marder Close Combat Vehicle/IFV Close Combat.

Here's a downloadable version...

Battalion Landing Team 3/1 participate in Mechanized Raid Course.

All photos by Photo by Lance Cpl. Ryan Carpenter

Marines and sailors serving with Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, engage enemy combatants during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and gear that will be used in the unit’s upcoming deployment.

Pfc. Kevin E. Messer, a rifleman with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, yells for Marines to board an amphibious assault vehicle during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used in the unit’s upcoming deployment.

Marines and sailors serving with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, cross a road concealed by smoke during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used during the unit’s upcoming deployment.

Marines and sailors serving with 2nd platoon, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, cross a road concealed by smoke during a mechanized raid course here May 17. The course helps Marines and sailors become familiar with the tactics and the gear that will be used during the unit’s upcoming deployment.

Flying Tigers take on harsh Bridgeport terrain

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A crewman with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 conducts a pre-flight inspection on a CH-53E Super Stallion May 20, 2011, on the flight line at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 3:20 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH53-E Super Stallion with HMH-361 lands at the Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., flight line May 20, 2011, during high altitude training., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 6:42 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A crew chief from HMH-361, looks out the window of a CH-53E Super Stallion during a flight over the MWTC, Bridgeport, Calif. Many of the pilots have never flown in the center’s high altitude and snowy conditions., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 7:25 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH-53E Super Stallion crew from HMH-361 tests their aircraft at the MWTC Bridgeport, Calif., May 20, 2011., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 7:36 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-A CH-53E Super Stallion crew from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 test their aircraft on snowy terrain at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., May 20, 2011. For many of the Marines, this was the first time they landed in snow., Lance Cpl. Sarah Dietz, 5/20/2011 8:23 AM

Another F-35C flies out to PaxRiver...

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin ferried F-35C CF-3 to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 3 June 2011. Canin ferried the third F-35C during a 2.9-hour flight from Fort Worth, Texas. The flight was the fifth for the aircraft. CF-3 joins six other F-35B/C models now being flown at the US Navy’s flight test center.

The Frech JHSV Killer...the Multi-Purpose Patrol Craft 2.

The Multi-Purpose Patrol Craft 2 looks (on paper I know) to be a better JHSV.  Not only can it perform the same missions as the JHSV but it can also land gear directly on the beach and then turn around and perform the patrol mission...

I like it.

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