LAV III

Bushmaster
New Zealand LAV IIIs
General characteristics
Crew	3 (+ 6 or 7 troops)
Length	6.98 m (275 in)
Width	2.7 m (106 in)
Height	2.8 m (110 in)
Weight	16.95 t
Armour and armament
Armour
Main armament	M242 25 mm chain gun with TIS
Secondary armament	C6/M240 7.62 mm machine gun C9A2/M249 5.56 mm machine gun pintle mounted
Mobility
Power plant	Caterpillar diesel
Suspension	Hydropneumatic
Road speed	100 km/h
Power/weight
Range	450 km

The LAV III armoured vehicle (AV) is the latest in the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) series built by General Dynamics Land Systems, entering service in 1999.

It was developed by Canada and is the primary mechanized infantry vehicle of the Canadian Forces and New Zealand Army. The United States Army uses a very similar, more lightly armed vehicle named the Stryker. The LAV III and the Stryker have also been referred to as Land Assault Vehicles.

The LAV III is an 8×8 wheeled armored vehicle with a 25 mm cannon, and can reach speeds of 100 kilometres per hour. The LAV III is C130 transportable. Variants include Infantry Section Carrier (ISC), Command Post (CP), TOW Under Armour (TUA) anti-tank, an artillery Forward Observation Officer (FOO) variant known as the Observation Post Vehicle (OPV), Combat Engineer, and Multi-Mission Effects Vehicle (MMEV).