1:35 U.S. Marine AAVP7A1 w/UGWS
Amphibious Troop Transport with Up-Gunned Weapon Station
Item #35159

DESCRIPTION
This is a re-issue of the 1/35 scale model kit of the AAVP7A1
amphibious troop transport. First introduced in 1972 under the
name of LVTP-7, this venerable vehicle has seen a number of
upgrades and refits, and is still deployed by the U.S. Marine
Corps today. It has seen action in a number of conflicts
including the 1983 invasion of Grenada, the Gulf War and 2003
invasion of Iraq. Newer variants were fitted with the Up-Gunned
Weapon Station (UGWS), a turret mounted with an MK19 40mm grenade
launcher and M2 heavy barrel .50 caliber machine gun.

Amphibious operations (the landing of personnel, equipment and
supplies from ships onto a hostile shore) are considered by
military tacticians to be the most complex and difficult of all
military operations. The U.S. Marine Corps is the military
organization in America charged with this responsibility.
Formerly known as the LVTP7A1, the FMC manufactured AAVP7A1 now
has the role of an Assault Amphibious Vehicle, Personnel, to
counter any hostile threat during landing operations. This
versatile vehicle can navigate in the ocean waves 3 meters high
while carrying 25 fully equipped Marines and can even withstand
total immersion without sinking. It is a very large tracked
vehicle, being almost the same length as the U.S. M1A1 Abrams
main battle tank. The latest version is equipped with a newly
designed turret known as the "Upgunned Weapons station", which is
manufactured by the Cadillac Gage firm, in America. The turret
is a one man armament station mounting the MK 19 Model-3 40mm
(grenade) machine gun and a coaxially mounted M2 heavy barrel .50
caliber machine gun. The primary mode of operation for the
armament station is manual. However, in azimuth the system
incorporates a Power Assist Travers (PAT) mechanism. The PAT
enables the gunner to quick slew under power at a minimum rate of
45 deg./sec., and then manually fine lay his weapons on the
target. This highly formidable weapon station replaces the
existing M85 .50 cal. unit currently incorporated on the Marine
Corps fleet of AAVP7A1.