On Friday the Army reactivated A Company, 4th Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, which means the 82nd will once again have a light-armored parachute infantry — only this time, they’ll be rolling in Marine Corps-made light armored vehicles.
The “Airborne Thunder” unit has the LAV-25A2 in its arsenal, most still emblazoned with a “USMC” stencil on their side, according to the Fayetteville Observer. The Army chose that vehicle over its Stryker combat vehicles since they were smaller and lighter, allowing more of them to be loaded on an Air Force transport.
Although Russian paratroopers who recognize that arriving on the battlefield through the air is not the usual mission are getting heavy tanks. Which will punch through the thin armor of the LAV using their 125mm cannons with no problem at all and shrug off the 25mm rounds that the new vehicle fires.
The LAV is simply not enough except for rare scenarios. So there's that to consider when the division practices with the LAV before getting their newly designed light tank.
Maybe the Army could issue some Abrams to the 4-68 to practice with just in case.
