Amphibious Tank Belly Flops Off Dock Into Ocean

Talk about running your rigs hard. The Indonesian Marines don’t mess around with their tanks.

Not sure how it would go over with the armed forces here in the States but man, it is entertaining to watch. These Indonesian marines race their American-made amphibious assault vehicles off a dock. Don’t know if we’ve ever seen that big of a machine suspended in the air for that amount of time.

For a country that relies upon its navy and marines, you’d think they’d be a little gentler with their rigs.

The tank in question is an LVTP-7, an older version of the U.S. Marines’ AAV-7 amphibious vehicle. The LVTP-7 has a crew of three and can carry up to eighteen fully loaded combat troops from ship to shore.

And just because it CAN belly flop, doesn’t mean it should. Obviously, this is a complete stunt and a poorly thought-out one at that. The stress of the 29-ton vehicle flopping into the water at 20 miles an hour can’t be good for the hull and suspension. Not to mention all the water it probably took on through the cracks and crevices from the splash back.