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Originally Posted by Garry
Do you mean that amphibious are submerged completelly? I am very interested! Could you please ellaborate? I know very little about this! Do you have example of such submerging amphibian?
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The definition of amphibious is something that can live or operate on land or water. There is nothing that says it must completely submerge under the water, I think you would call that a submarine.
FutureTank does raise a good point in that most naval infantry/marines come from the sea, a point not raised in the earlier posts. Should they have a true amphibous IFV that can come across the surf (with the attendant compromises & their drawbacks) or should they be transported from ship to shore via some sort of landing craft (and thereby be more optimized for land combat)? $$ and each service's philosophy will determine that. In your opinion, which is preferable?
The BTR/BMP series & LAV series vehicles are calm water vehicles, i.e., they can cross lakes and rivers where there is not a strong current. The AAV7P amtrack can cross surf zones and come over the beach, although they are limited to certain sea states and maximum wave roughness that they can endure.
The assault section in each USMC rifle company is equipped with the SMAW which has an HE warhead roughly equivalent to an AT-4. Its capable of making an entry into a building and as a bonus can shoot thermobaric rounds. The assaultmen are also trained in basic demo and have the capability of building & setting explosive charges.