Is this a tank, is that a real gun, and can you tell from the uniforms...

[NorthernSpy]

... whether the personnel are police, National Guard, or active-duty military?


There's an argument over in General about two tanks that wound up confronting* an anti-war demonstration in Los Angeles last night:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2657818&mesg_id=2657818


A lot of people here seem to know about things like this, so:


Is the vehicle in the picture a real tank, or is it something else? Guesses have included: "Stryker", Abrams tank, Bradley, LAV-25, and some kind of APC.

What kind of gun is that attached to it? One person thought it might be a .50 caliber, or a 20mm. It looks very big.

Do you think that this is a police vehicle or not? One of the vehicles supposedly was marked "A4".


Any guesses will be greatly appreciated! :)


* One guy says that the picture is photoshopped. It's actually a still from a video, and the video is posted on Indymedia. Whether the footage has been altered, and what exactly occurred at the scene of the protest, I have no way of knowing.

:shrug:


(edit: addendum)

[veteran_for_peace]

1. It is not a tank. It looks like an LAV-25

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/lav-25.htm

[Howardx]

3. thats what i think too

anything with treads would chew the streets up i would think

[They came for ME]

4. Definately a pair of LAV-25's

Compare the headlights in that picture with this from the video:

[TX-RAT]

5. You are correct.

[JeebusB]

7. The treads have

large, hard rubber pads on them for driving on pavement.

[Zynx]

11. Tanks would still smash the roads

City streets are not built for 70 ton vehicles.

And yeah, those are LAV's.

[atreides1]

2. Possibly a Bradley

It looks like a Bradley, the main gun is a 25mm Chain Gun. The Stryker and the LAV are both wheeled vehicles, while the Bradley is tracked.

[JeebusB]

6. That's what I thought at first, too.

I watched the video a couple times and it's very difficult to tell if they have tracks or not. The two vehciles look very similar but I do think now that it's a LAV.

[Buster43]

8. And the gun is for shooting tear gas...

not high explosive/armor piercing or canister rounds.

[HiddenInVA]

9. It's an LAV

The vehicle is an LAV-25. This is an armored personnel carrier with
more of a 'bite' than the usual Marine Corp carrier. A lot faster too.

As you can see from the one pic that shows the headlight, the bow of
the vehicle has a slight point to it.

They are wheeled, and while Bradleys do have rubber padding incorporated
into their tracks, they will still tear up pavement out on a normal
street. Especially when they make a turn. Also, the turret on a
Bradley sits a little higher, and the driver does not drive with his
hatch open unless he's just moving the vehicle from point A to B. If
there is a chance that they will have to move the turret, he will
close his hatch, as it being locked in the open position will interfere
with the cannon's movement.

They do NOT fire tear gas! The cannon is an M242 25mm chain gun, with
a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun. It has no capacity for tear gas unless
they would be handheld cannisters that were tossed by a crewman.

They are used only by the Marines, or Marine Reservists. Not Army or
Army National Guard.

The "A4" marking was simply a bumper number used by the military unit
to designate their vehicles. Usually something like 4th vehicle of
Alpha Company.

[NorthernSpy]

10. Okay -- the current consensus...

... of in the various discussions about this video is that:

• The vehicle is an LAV
  
• The vehicle does not belong to the police
  
• The gun is real
  
• The picture is not photoshopped -- the video footage it was taken from is of an event that actually happened
  
• there is as yet no reason to believe that the LAVs were summoned to rally by the authorities
  

One other person claims to have seen the LAVs parked at a private residence on (or near) Palo Verde and Freeway 405 in Long Beach, about 2 hours before the incident. For what it's worth...

Also, another person notes that the armory is just a quarter-mile from where the protest was held (the rally took place at the federal building in Westwood).

So anyway, the whole incident is rather mysterious still.


Thanks for your input, everybody! It's all very helpful. :)