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Romania strengthens amphibious capabilities with new assault vehicles

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Romania’s investment in amphibious assault vehicles pays off during exercise Sea Breeze 26.

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Publication date 06 August 2026
Filming date 15 June 2026
Location Babadag, Romania
Version B-roll

Synopsis

Romanian Marines became familiar with their new amphibious assault vehicles while training alongside US Marines during exercise Sea Breeze 26. The AAV-7 is a tracked amphibious assault vehicle capable of swimming through heavy surf to bring troops from ship to shore — and, once there, supporting them with heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. Because US Marines used the AAV-7 for decades, they were ideal trainers for the Romanian troops, teaching them not just how to operate it but also how to use it most effectively. Romania has moved to acquire 44 of the vehicles from the United States. The AAV-7 is expected to significantly enhance the firepower and capabilities of the Romanian Marines, giving them greater strength and flexibility in the Danube Delta region and along Romania’s long Black Sea coastline. Led by the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and hosted by the Romanian Naval Forces and the 307th Marine Infantry Regiment "Heracleea", Sea Breeze 26 involved approximately 450 military personnel from four NATO Allies and three partners: Bulgaria, Romania, Türkiye and the United States as well as Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

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Transcript

(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – US MARINES CONDUCT BRIEF DURING TRAINING FOR SEA BREEZE 26. (00:50) VARIOUS SHOTS – US MARINES, ALONGSIDE ROMANIAN MARINES, PREPARE FOR A TRAINING EXERCISE USING AAV-7 VEHICLES AT A TRAINING GROUND NEAR BABADAG, ROMANIA. (02:06) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CONVOY OF AAV-7 VEHICLES MANOEUVRES DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE ACROSS DIRT AND OFF-ROAD TRACKS. (02:49) VARIOUS SHOTS – ROMANIAN MARINES DISEMBARK FROM AN AAV-7 VEHICLEDURING A TRAINING EXERCISE BEFORE ENGAGING STATIC GROUND TARGETS. (03:57) VARIOUS SHOTS – AAV-7 VEHICLES MANOEUVRE DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE ACROSS DIRT AND OFF-ROAD TRACKS. (04:09) VARIOUS SHOTS – US MARINES DISEMBARK FROM AAV-7 VEHICLES DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE BEFORE ENGAGING STATIC GROUND TARGETS. (04:25) VARIOUS SHOTS – AAV-7 VEHICLES MANOEUVRE DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE ACROSS DIRT AND OFF-ROAD TRACKS IN AN AREA STREWN WITH TARGETS MADE FROM OLD TANKS. (04:48) VARIOUS SHOTS – US MARINES DISEMBARK FROM AAV-7 VEHICLES DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE BEFORE ENGAGING STATIC GROUND TARGETS. (04:24) VARIOUS SHOTS – AAV-7 VEHICLES MANOEUVRE BACK TO BASE DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE ACROSS DIRT AND OFF-ROAD TRACKS. (06:21) VARIOUS SHOTS – US MARINES UNLOAD AAV-7 VEHICLES FOLLOWING A TRAINING EXERCISE. (06:47) VARIOUS SHOTS – NUMEROUS AAV-7 VEHICLES ARE LOADED ONTO LOW-LOADERS TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE TRAINING AREA IN BABADAG, ROMANIA. (07:11) VARIOUS AERIAL SHOTS – NUMEROUS AAV-7 VEHICLES ARE LOADED ONTO LOW-LOADERS AND TAKEN AWAY FROM THE TRAINING AREA IN BABADAG, ROMANIA. (07:40) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Romanian Army Colonel Marius Gheorghescu “The programme for the procurement of the AAV-7 started a few years ago for Romania in searching for a mobility solution in the littoral environment. That means deltas, lagoon areas, swamp areas and the littoral. And, you know, the littoral is a very complex environment, consisting of water and ground in a very unconventional distribution on the ground. That was the main reason that we proposed this kind of vehicles. It also offered more than a mobility solution: the protection by armour and also the direct fire support for troops in close battles.” (08:30) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Romanian Army Colonel Marius Gheorghescu “The initial batch will consist of 21 amphibious assault vehicles that will cover one battalion for transportation and amphibious operations. There is a second batch in progress, bringing 44 more amphibious assault vehicles.” (08:50) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Nishan Campbell “Yeah, so the AAV, in particular the AAV-P7 that they’re getting, is a highly, highly capable vehicle. It’s the vehicle that I’ve deployed on, and many other Marines have deployed on. It’s a ship-to-shore and inland asset. That’s a 27-ton vehicle, very large. You can hold about a squad’s worth of Marines, about 12 Marines in the back of it. It can withstand quite a large sea state — we say sea state 3 — and it’s got a tremendous capability on land as well, being a tracked vehicle. So the idea of getting stuck, or the possibility of getting mired, are quite limited with that vehicle. It’s a fantastic vehicle.” (09:35) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Nishan Campbell “Yeah, so the value this brings to the Romanians is, but really, to any country that utilises this — you know, there are several countries that use this variant of the vehicle — it’s a fantastic river-crossing asset. It’s a very hardy asset that is not privy to minor maintenance issues. It’s robust, and it’s going to get you to an objective and back. It might not do it as quickly, and it might not do it quite as nicely and neatly as we like sometimes, and it’s very loud. But the asset itself is going to be a fantastic asset to this region, for sure.”

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Romania strengthens amphibious capabilities with new assault vehicles

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Romania strengthens amphibious capabilities with new assault vehicles

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