April 7, 2007: The U.S. Marine Corps are giving its
aging amphibious vehicles the latest thermal sights. The marines have not
upgraded their AAV7 amphibious vehicles because the new EFV (Expeditionary
Fighting Vehicle) was supposed to enter service next year. There have been
several delays, and now it appears that the 36 ton EFV won't show up for
another three years. The current force of 1,057 AAV7s entered service three
decades ago and are falling apart. Moreover, some two thirds of the AAV7s saw
service in Iraq, where they got as much use in two months as they normally did
in two years of peacetime operations. In response to this, most of the AAV7s
are being refurbished, so they can still be used until the end of the decade,
when enough EFVs will be entering service to replace the older vehicles.
The AAVs are currently equipped with starlight
scopes, and enable marines to see about a kilometer at night. The M36E3 Thermal
Sight can see out to more than four kilometers, and can see through fog and
sand storms. With the prospect of more EFV delays, it made sense to give
current marine armored vehicles the same kind of night vision capability the
EFV will have, and most U.S. Army armored vehicles already have.
