The Chenowth Advanced Light Strike Vehicle (ALSV) is an all-terrain light military vehicle developed by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is the successor to the Chenowth

Light Strike Vehicle The Light Strike Vehicle (LSV) is an improved version of the Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV), which it was designed to replace. Special operation groups adopted the LSV for its small size and high mobility. It is part of the family of Growler (jeep) ...

and the

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

, and features improved performance and armament. The

sandrail A sandrail, also called a sand rail, rail, or sand car, is a lightweight off-road motor vehicle specifically built for traveling in sandy terrain. Synonymously referred to as dune buggies, a sandrail is a type of speciality vehicle. They are popu ...

vehicle is relatively small, and can be carried in a transport aircraft. Although it is mainly used by the US Navy SEALs and Marine Corps, several other countries have procured it.

Features

Chenowth Racing Products revealed in October 1996 that they had developed a "third-generation high-performance surveillance, light strike and reconnaissance vehicle", which they named the Advanced Light Strike Vehicle (ALSV). Based on its predecessor, the Chenowth

(LSV), the ALSV could carry two, three or four personnel. An all-terrain vehicle, the ALSV is powered by a 160-horsepower diesel engine produced by

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

, and is equipped with

four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...

functionality as well as

power steering Power steering is a system for reducing a driver's effort to turn a steering wheel of a motor vehicle, by using a power source to assist steering. Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver can ...

. A version powered by a gasoline engine has also been produced. An ALSV can be transported in a

CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...

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

transport helicopter. Three can be carried in a

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

transport, while two can be carried for para-dropping. The crew are covered only by an upper frame of tubular bars, although light armor can be added. The ALSV weighs , and has a length of and a width of . It is in height, and has a

ride height Ride height or ground clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the lowest point of the automobile, typically the bottom exterior of the differential housing (even though the lower shock mounting point may be l ...

of . The ALSV can accelerate from 0 to in 4 seconds, and is capable of negotiating up to 75% gradients and 50% side slopes.

Armament

The main weapons station, which is positioned to the rear of the vehicle, is capable of traversing 360 degrees and can accommodate either a

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...

heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...

or a

Mk 19 grenade launcher The Mk 19 grenade launcher (pronounced Mark 19) is an American 40 mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher that was first developed during the Vietnam War. Overview The Mk 19 is a belt-fed, blowback-operated, air-cooled, crew-ser ...

Light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...

s and portable anti-armor weapons like the

M136 AT4 The AT4 is a Swedish unguided, man-portable, disposable, shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon manufactured by Saab Bofors Dynamics (formerly FFV Ordnance; later, Bofors Anti-Armour Systems). The AT4 is not a rocket launcher strictly ...

may be carried as secondary armament. The weapons platforms can be remote controlled and feature gun stabilizing, allowing accurate fire while on the move.

Users

The ALSV has been used by the

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main func ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Prior to this, both the SEALs and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

had used the vehicle during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. ALSVs have also been procured by

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. According to Chenowth, they are also used by several Central American and Middle Eastern countries, as well as some member countries of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Soft-skinned vehicles Military vehicles of the United States

Features

Armament

Users

See also

References