Note: I was pleased to receive a note from Ed to verify the nomenclature of some abandoned Marine Corps vehicles he found. I believe them to be a couple of prototype LVTP-6's. The photos are property of Ed Gold and aren't to be used without his permission. The story of how he found them is absolutely amazing. Where they are located is puzzling...and all I can do is hope that one day the Marine Corps or US Army Armor Museum will mount an "expedition" to recover these gems and place them with other armored beasts. The story of the how and where he found them is coming soon...
From the bottom photo, I'd guess he found them up in the Aleutian's. If that's the case, then it is really amazing the condition they appear to be in.
ReplyDeleteyou're close as hell. real bloody close but the actual location i'm gonna hold close. i'd really like to see them in an armor museum somewhere. to see them in pretty good condition but sitting where they can't be appreciated is nonsense. which reminds me! why didn't i contact the AAV museum at Pendleton!!!!
Deletethanks Phil!
Its even visible on Google Earth....
ReplyDeleteYour welcome
ReplyDeleteSweet gator gods!!! This needs to be in del mar!
ReplyDeleteI think they are some variant of M113's, given the five road wheels per side. They aren't similar to LVTP5, 6's or 7's. They have a shape of the smoke generation 113's.
ReplyDeletethe prototype LVTP6 was based off the M113.
DeleteTrue, those pics of the LVTP6 out there look just like these pics, so maybe those prototypes ended up there for cold weather testing, or as surplus / excess material given to some civilian org.
DeleteAlso, it appears there is no water drive systems, no jets, buckets, etc like on LVT7's, though like the LVT5's, they could have used tracks for water propulsion. They do look like a hybrid M113, some sort of development or altered vehicle.
ReplyDeleteThe lvt6 was going to use tracks to propel itself in thr water, this is a 6 I have no doubts, a front pic would make a difference
ReplyDelete