USMC tests radio-controlled LVT

Remote-controlled amphibious landing once may have been considered a dream—but not any more. On Pacific beaches at Camp Pendleton and Monterey, Calif., U. S. Marine Corps (USMC) personnel has been surf-testing amphibious vehicles controlled by radio from helicopters hovering overhead. In this technique, the “driver” guides Marine LVT´s (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) with a portable electronic control panel. By moving a steering stick, similar to an aircraft control stick, and by manipulating buttons and switches mounted on the panel, the drivet can start and stop the engine, steer, shift gears, brake, and apply the throttle. In short, he can operate the vehicle almost as well as if he were seated at the manual controls—and he can see better.