The US Army plans to get rid of the boats that take soldiers and tanks into battle - here's what it's giving up

The legend about the Army having more boats than the Navy hasn't been true since World War II, but the Army's fleet of about 130 ships support combat and logistical operations around the world, especially in inhospitable or underdeveloped environments.

According to several reports, the Army plans to scuttle much of its boat fleet and reassign the soldiers manning them.

At least 18 of the Army's more than 30 landing craft utility - versatile, 174-foot-long workhorses capable of carrying 500 tons of cargo - will be sold or transferred, and eight Army Reserve watercraft units that train soldiers and maintain dozens of watercraft are to be closed, as first reported by maritime website gCaptain.

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An Army memo obtained by gCaptain said the goal was to "eliminate all United States Army Reserve and National Guard Bureau [Army Watercraft Systems] capabilities and/or supporting structure."

Plans to ditch the aging fleet come amid warnings about the US military's lack of transport capacity and as the Pentagon's focus shifts to a potential fight against a more sophisticated adversary, like Russia or China.

Below, you can see what the Army's large but relatively unknown fleet does and why it may not be doing it much longer.