 |
| The 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, received six assault breacher vehicles during the last five months. The ABV will help to reduce the breaching time and increase soldiers’ survivability. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kyle J. Richardson, 1st ABCT PAO) |
I can't help but have mixed feelings about this vehicle.
On the one hand, the Marine Corps deserves serious applause for taking lemons and making lemon aide when it comes to developing a vehicle that Congress denied them.
On the other hand, the US Army had a perfectly fine, purpose designed Combat Engineer Vehicle ready to go but the Congress refused to fund it.
With that being said this is a good stop gap but work needs to continue to field a real CEV. Follow this example and base it off the hull of an M1...maybe even design a drop in module with a excavator in addition to the line charges, dozer blade and some type of demolition gun.
Combat Engineers for both the Army and Marine Corps have swung so far to the Sapper side of the fence that mechanized missions will be a challenge. Even now it might be a lost art.
