An amphibious vehicle is a machine that can travel over land and water

An amphibious vehicle is a machine that can travel over land and water. It features a waterproof body that keeps water and its contents out of the vehicle, while on land it travels using wheels or tracks. It can also have additional equipment to help it navigate different terrains. This includes systems for detecting obstacles, and the ability to change between different modes. Many military vehicles are designed to be amphibious, from light wheeled command and control units, through to armoured personnel carriers, tanks and even submarines.

There are also a number of private companies and inventors that have developed vehicles that can travel over land and water. Many of these are small, experimental prototypes that have never made it into the mainstream market. Some of these vehicles feature a variety of different systems to provide unique capabilities, although they are often limited in terms of how fast they can travel over land and water.

The concept of an amphibious vehicle can be traced back to the 1920s and ’30s when Marine Corps planners were considering possible wars in the Pacific against Japan. The service wanted a new type of vehicle that could move troops quickly to a beachhead from a seaborne ship, and then fight inland on the defended shore. This led to the development of the LVT (A)-4, which used a specialist variant of the LVT-2 tracked armored car and a 75mm howitzer in an open-topped turret to protect the advancing soldiers.

Since then, a great deal of research and development has gone into the development of amphibious vehicles for both commercial and military use. There are now a wide range of models that can be purchased in both recreational and military versions. Most of these vehicles are based on existing road-going cars, but they have been fitted with a number of specialized components to allow them to travel over land and water.

A key component of an amphibious vehicle is the propulsion system, which enables it to travel over land and water. For land travel, most use conventional internal combustion engines connected to the wheels. In water, they rely on marine propellers or jet systems that are designed to travel over the surface of the water.

In addition, an amphibious vehicle typically has a hull that is designed to prevent water ingress and keep the interior, passengers and other systems safe and dry. It can also have a boat-like shape to improve its buoyancy in the water, and it may be fitted with additional buoyancy measures to increase its displacement and make it more stable in rough waters or currents.

Many amphibious vehicles are powered by electric motors, but there are some that can be powered by conventional gasoline or diesel engines. These have to be modified to meet the power requirements for water travel, and they typically require a separate electrical system that is compatible with marine batteries and chargers. There are also a number of hybrid models that can run on either electricity or traditional fuel.