The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Military News > Marine Corps

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-18-2019, 02:31 PM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is online now
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,783
Arrow Marines sailed through the Strait of Hormuz with an armored vehicle on the Boxer’s fl

Marines sailed through the Strait of Hormuz with an armored vehicle on the Boxer’s flight deck
By: Ryan Pickrell - Business Insider / Marine Times - 8-17-19
RE: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/new...s-flight-deck/

Photo link: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/ui...JTQQHYB6X4.jpg
Amphibious assault ship Boxer (LHD 4), Fleet replenishment oiler ship USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199) and amphibious transport dock ship John P. Murtha (LPD 26) transit the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 12. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Ortiz/Navy)

Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship Boxer recently sailed through the Strait of Hormuz with an armored vehicle strapped to the flight deck, ready to fight off drones and Iranian gunboats.

A light armored vehicle belonging to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit can be seen on the flight deck as an AH-1Z Viper lifts off in a recently released Marine Corps photo, NPR’s Phil Ewing first noted.

The Marine Corps LAV-25 has a high-end targeting system that directs its 25 mm chain guns and M240 7.62 mm machine gun. The Boxer is armed with counter-air missiles, as well as various close-in weapon systems, among other weapons. The Vipers carry two air-to-air missiles, rocket pods, a handful of air-to-surface missiles, and a 20 mm Gatling cannon.

The Marine Corps began experimenting last year with strapping LAVs to the decks of the amphibs — flattops capable of carrying helicopters and vertical take-off and landing jets, as well as transporting Marines — to make the ships more lethal.

2nd photo link: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/b3...GM7GMHIFZU.jpg
An AH-1Z Viper helicopter takes off Aug. 12, 2019, during a Strait of Hormuz transit aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). (Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck/Marine Corps)

In September, the 31st MEU embarked aboard the Wasp, another amphibious assault ship, for an exercise in the South China Sea with a LAV parked on the flight deck, training to fend off the types of threats Marines might face in hostile waterways.

"This was the first time," Capt. George McArthur, a 31st MEU spokesman, told Military Times, "that an LAV-25 platoon with the 31st MEU performed this level of integrated targeting and live-fire from the flight deck of a ship such as the Wasp with combined arms."

He added: "Weapons Company assets improved the integrated defensive posture aboard the Wasp."

The Boxer was harassed by Iranian unmanned aerial assets in the Strait of Hormuz last month, and the U.S. says the warship downed one, if not two, of the drones with a new electronic jamming system. Another potential threat in this region is Iranian gunboats, which have targeted commercial shipping in recent months.

Commenting on why the Marines experimented with using armored vehicles on the flight decks of the amphibs, Marine Maj. Gen. David Coffman, the director of expeditionary warfare for the chief of naval operations, said in November that he "watched a MEU commander strap an LAV to the front of a flight deck because it had better sensors than the ship did to find small boats."

That the Boxer was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz with an LAV out on the flight deck suggests that the ship was ready for a confrontation.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.