An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure.
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 20–50 troops, although specific platoons may range from 10 to 100 people. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. The platoon leader is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant.
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while U.S. Army doctrine further defines a squad as a "small military unit typically containing two or more fire teams." In American usage, a squad consists of eight to fourteen soldiers, and may be further subdivided into fireteams.
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III, itself derived from the Swiss Mowag Piranha. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It has four-wheel drive (8×4) and can be switched to all-wheel drive (8×8).
The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a colonel (O-6) although in some cases a brigadier general (O-7) may assume command. A brigade combat team contains combat support and combat service support units necessary to sustain its operations. BCTs contain organic artillery training and support, received from the parent division artillery (DIVARTY). There are three types of brigade combat teams: infantry, Stryker, and armored.
Reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) squadrons are a type of unit in the United States Army. These are cavalry squadrons, and act at the squadron (battalion) level as a reconnaissance unit for their parent brigade combat teams. These RSTA squadrons continue on the Recondo legacy of the Vietnam era Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP), however, compared to the LRRPs they are often assigned additional non-reconnaissance responsibilities such as battlespace ownership.
Cavalry Scout is the job title of someone who has achieved the military occupational specialty of 19D Armored Reconnaissance Specialist in the Combat Arms branch of the United States Army. As with all enlisted soldiers in the United States Cavalry, the person holding the Scout specialization will still be referred to as a "Trooper", the traditional colloquialism denoted in the cavalry's Order of the Spur.
The M1126 infantry carrier vehicle (ICV) is an armored personnel carrier and part of the Stryker family of vehicles (derived from the Canadian LAV III/Swiss MOWAG Piranha IIIH 8x8) used by the United States Army and Royal Thai Army. Models with the double V-hull upgrade are known as the M1256 ICVV.
The M1129 mortar carrier (MCV-B) is an 8×8 wheeled armored mortar carrier of the Stryker family of combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems. It is in use with the United States Army. Models with the double V-hull upgrade are known as the M1252 MCVV.
The M1131 fire support vehicle (FSV) of the Stryker series provides automated enhanced surveillance, target acquisition, target identification, target tracking, target designation, position location and communications functionality. Targets will be transmitted instantly to the fire support system and shooter. Models with the double V-hull upgrade are known as the M1251 FSVV.
The United States Army Armor School is a military training school located at Fort Moore, Georgia. Its primary focus is the training of United States Army soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, and commissioned officers. It also trains for equipment handling, including the M1 Abrams, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the Stryker Mobile Gun System. The Armor School moved to Fort Benning in 2010 as part of the United States Base Realignment and Closure program.
The Norinco Type 89 tracked armoured fighting vehicle is a Chinese armoured personnel carrier. It was developed from the earlier export market Type 85 AFV vehicle. It entered service in the late 1990s and was first shown publicly in 1999. There are approximately 1,000 in service. It has the industrial index of WZ534 and although it was mainly developed for the PLA, there is also an export version YW534.
Armoured reconnaissance is the combination of terrestrial reconnaissance with armoured warfare by soldiers using tanks and wheeled or tracked armoured reconnaissance vehicles. While the mission of reconnaissance is to gather intelligence about the enemy with the use of reconnaissance vehicles, armoured reconnaissance adds the ability to fight for information, and to have an effect on and to shape the enemy through the performance of traditional armoured tasks.
The Type 85 is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle produced by Chinese company Norinco. It is an improved version of the Type 63 armoured personnel carrier. The vehicle is bigger, has additional firing ports and periscopes, a longer chassis with an additional road wheel on each side, and is equipped with an NBC protection system.
The Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) was a family of lighter and more transportable ground vehicles developed by Boeing and subcontractors BAE Systems and General Dynamics as part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The MGV program was intended as a successor to the Stryker of the Interim Armored Vehicle program.
Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK), previously called Ordnance Factory Project Medak (OFPM) while in its development stage, is a factory owned by Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, a company that manufactures armoured vehicles and was one of the 41 Indian ordnance factories under the erstwhile Ordnance Factories Board of the Ministry of Defence, controlled by Government of India.
The Type 08 is a Chinese family of modern eight-wheeled, amphibious, modular armored vehicles developed by Norinco for infantry fire support, battlefield logistics, and quick reaction operations. Developed in the early 2000s, the vehicle family were produced for more than 6000 hulls and widely deployed by the People's Liberation Army Ground Force and People's Liberation Army Marine Corps.
The LAV II is the second generation of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family. The LAV II is an 8×8 vehicle unlike the 6×6 Armoured Vehicle General Purpose, which is a LAV based on the Piranha I. The United States Marine Corps was the first user of the LAV II, which it calls the LAV-25. Canada procured two main variants: the Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle and the Bison armoured utility vehicle. LAV IIs in Australia are known as the ASLAV.
