The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton conducted the first overseas deployment of new amphibious combat vehicles Saturday with a live-fire exercise in the Philippines.
The vehicles splashed into the ocean from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry, transited waters near Naval Detachment Oyster Bay and fired at shore targets with their Mark 19 40mm automatic grenade launchers.
The new 8-wheeled combat vehicles built by BAE Systems can carry 16 Marines and travel at 6 knots in water and 65 mph on land. They are replacing obsolete tracked vehicles.
“The hard work and dedication of our Marines is what made today’s training successful,” said Col. Sean Dynan, commanding officer of the 15th MEU. “Today’s training is a proof of concept across the Marine Corps for successful ACV employment in its intended environment.”
The deployment took place during Exercise Balikatan 24, an effort to increase the interoperability of U.S. and Philippine military forces amid challenge from China.
Marines have trained on the ACV off Southern California, and one Marine was killed in December when an ACV overturned at Camp Pendleton.