The Light Strike Vehicle (LSV) is an improved version of the

Desert Patrol Vehicle The Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV), formerly called the Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV), is a high-speed, lightly armored sandrail-like vehicle first used in combat during the Gulf War in 1991. Due to their dash speed and Off-roading, off-road mobility, t ...

(DPV) it replaced. Although the conventional US military replaced its DPVs with

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

s, special operation groups adopted the LSV for its small size and high mobility. It is part of the family of Internally Transportable Light Strike Vehicles (ITV-LSV). It is used for fast hit-and-run style raids (as its name suggests), scouting missions,

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

support, and low intensity

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

Design

Countermeasures

The LSV is entirely unarmored, and thus offers no protection from small arms fire. The driver and passengers sit side by side in front, with the gunner sitting in an elevated rear-central seat in front of the engine. The gunner's seat can spin around to operate the 7.62 mm

GPMG A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for va ...

Mobility

It can be air transported internally by

CH-47 The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name ...

CH-53 The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is an American family of heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was originally developed in response to a request from the United States ...

transport helicopters. The new

ALSV The Chenowth Advanced Light Strike Vehicle (ALSV) is an all-terrain light military vehicle developed by the United States. It is the successor to the Chenowth Light Strike Vehicle and the Desert Patrol Vehicle, and features improved performance an ...

has a more conventional appearance and differs from the original versions.

Armament

A 7.62 mm MG (often an

M60E3 The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...

) is mounted rear-facing on the back of the engines. If

TOW Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...

is mounted, it replaces the third passenger and rollover cage. Two AT4 are sometimes fitted forward-facing on roll over cage bars (one on each side) above driver.

Users

Unlike the DPV, the LSV has had export success and is marketed as a light attack vehicle. The current generation model is the

, with the "A" standing for "advanced".Advanced Light Strike Vehicle overview
It is currently used by the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The UK retired its LSVs in the mid-1990s.

Current operators

* * * * * * * *

Former operators

References

* Jane's Special Forces Recognition Guide.{{specify, date=June 2016
Light Strike Vehicle
at GlobalSecurity.org Soft-skinned vehicles Military vehicles of the United States