Fast Attack Vehicles and Special Operations Vehicles

Special Operations is, by its very nature, outside of standard millitary protocols and therefore often requires equipment that differs from standard issue. This is true for weapons and no less true for vehicles. The photos on this page are a sample of various types of such vehicles, some completely unique purpose built for Spec Ops and others based on standard vehicles but modified for Spec Ops requirements.

Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV) prototype, equipped with an M60 machine gun in front of the passengers seat and a Mark 19 Mod 3 40mm automatic grenade launcher on the roll cage, parked on the test driving range, Ft. Lewis, WA, 14 Sep 1982.

Fast Attack Vehicle, US Navy SEALs and US Marines. Built by Chenowth. Also called Light Strike Vehicle.

US Military Modified Special Attack Vehicle, equipped with a 7.62mm M60 general purpose machine gun mounted on top and a 7.62mm M60E light machine gun mounted for the front seat passenger, Armed Forces Day Parade, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, 17 May 2003.

Land Rover Defender Special Operation Vehicle (SOV) from B Co, 1st Bn, 75th Ranger Regiment, armed with an .50 RAMO M2HB-QCB machine gun on top. AT-4 anti-tank weapon near front wheel. Hunter Army Air Field, GA, 19 Apr 2001.

Fast Attack Vehicle Crew from B Co., Battalion Landing Team 1/8, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)), provides heavy weapons support with an M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun for security at the US Embassy housing complex in Tirana, Albania, during Operation SILVER WAKE, 16 Mar 1997.

Marine Air-Ground Task Force M1161 Internally Transportable Vehicle (ITV) for special forces, internally transportable in CH-53 and MV-22 aircraft, developed in a joint program with Special Operations Command and USMC.

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of the M1161 Internally Transportable Vehicle (ITV) at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup:

Truck, Utility, Internally Transportable Vehicle, Light Strike Variant (ITV-LSV), M1161. The Internally Transportable Vehicle program has been developed to field a family of light attack vehicles in support of USMC expeditionary forces. The ITV-LSV will replace the Interim Fast Attack Vehicle (IFAV) as well as fill the tactical void created by the disposal of all M151 Jeep variants . The ITV is designed to be internally transportable within both the MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft and CH53D/E rotary wing aircraft.

M1161 Growler / EFSS / ITV (Expeditionary Fire Support System/Internally-Transportable Vehicle), manufactured by American Growler, Inc. and initially deployed to Camp Lejeune, NC, on 26 January 2009. Designed to be air-transported in the V-22 Osprey. Although the Growler resembles the M151 1/4 ton truck (jeep) it is manufactured from new components. ITV can carry four Marines and either a .50-caliber machine gun or 40mm Mark 19 grenade launcher.

Truck, Utility, Internally Transportable Vehicle, Light Strike Variant (ITV-LSV), M1161, NSN 2320-01-531-2701. The Internally Transportable Vehicle program has been developed to field a family of light attack vehicles in support of expeditionary forces. The ITV-LSV will replace the Interim Fast Attack Vehicle (IFAV) as well as fill the tactical void created by the disposal of all M151 Jeep variants. The ITV is designed to be internally transportable within both the MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft and CH53D/E rotary wing aircraft. Manufacturer: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems / American Growler.

Fleet Support Division Barstow stores 18 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon 290 Interim Fast Attack Vehicles, 31 July 2006. The unit that was utilizing them disbanded. The vehicles were delivered to FSD in May 2006.

US Navy SEALs with their Desert Patrol Vehicles (DPV) while preparing for an upcoming mission from Camp Doha, Kuwait, 13 Feb 2002. Each vehicle is outfitted with communication and weapon systems, specially designed for the harsh desert terrain.

The Rescue All Terrain Transport (RATT), a high-mobility vehicle used by US Air Force special operations to transport and treat casualties in the field, for airfield seizures and as a field utility vehicle. Photo: National Museum of the USAF.

In the late 1980s, Air Force special tactics units needed an agile rescue and casualty evacuation vehicle to replace the jeeps then in use. Raceco, an off-road racing vehicle manufacturer, built the prototype in 1991. The RATT can carry up to six ambulatory patients on litters and two medical personnel (usually PJs). It is equipped with two 24-volt batteries to provide power for medical equipment and floodlights at each patient station. Between 1992-1994, Raceco built 14 RATTs.