Marines pull new amphibious vehicles out of the water after one rolled over and another broke down in high surf

• Two new Marine Corps amphibious vehicles were disabled just off the California coast this week.
• One vehicle rolled over and another broke down in high surf.

The US Marine Corps has suspended operations at sea for its new Amphibious Combat Vehicles after a training mishap in high surf saw two ACVs disabled this week.

One of the armored vehicles rolled over onto its side and another broke down in the surf after a large wave crashed over it during a training event at Camp Pendleton in California Tuesday, The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported.

The vehicles were attached to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion of the 1st Marine Division, and the incident, which did not result in any injuries, was captured in a video published by USNI News.

Commenting on the decision to ground the Corps' ACV fleet, Lt. Gen. David J. Furness, the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for Plans, Policies, and Operations, said in a statement "this is the right thing to do."

Furness noted that "a pause on ACV waterborne operations will give us time to conduct an investigation, learn from this event, and ensure our assault amphibian community remains ready to support our nation."

The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is a new type of amphibious landing vehicle built to transport Marine infantry from warships to a hostile shore. The suspension of waterborne operations this week is the second since the ACVs were introduced in fall 2020 as a replacement for the Corps' aging fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAVs).

A pause on operations at sea was first put in place for the new ACVs in September 2021 in response to a towing mechanism issue that was resolved by January of this year. The investigation into the latest ACV incident will determine the length of the current pause, Marine Corps Times reported.

The introduction of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle in 2020 followed a tragic AAV accident in July of that year in which a vehicle sank off the coast of California, killing eight Marines and a sailor. The incident was the deadliest in the decades-long history of the vehicle.

An investigation into the incident concluded that the accident was preventable and was the result of "a confluence of human and mechanical failures," specifically inadequate training, poor leadership decisions, and improper maintenance.

In the aftermath, the Corps suspended waterborne operations for the AAV, and after briefly allowing them back in the water, the Marines decided to pull the Vietnam-era vehicles out of the water for good unless a crisis demanded their use at sea.