Speed was Armor*

One of the most distinctive vehicles preserved by Ghosts of the Battlefield is our fully operational Chenowth Fast Attack Vehicle, or FAV, a remarkably uncommon survivor of an experimental period in American military vehicle development.

Only about 120 of the original Army Fast Attack Vehicles were built, and fewer than twenty are believed to survive today in recognizable military configuration. Some remain in museums or private collections, while others survive only as incomplete or heavily modified vehicles. Only a handful are known to remain operational.

The Ghosts of the Battlefield FAV is one of those running survivors.

Built around a lightweight tubular chassis, the FAV represented a radically different approach to battlefield mobility. Instead of surrounding its crew with armor, it relied upon speed, maneuverability, firepower, and the ability to cross difficult terrain quickly. The broader history of the Fast Attack Vehicle, its development by the Army, and its later association with Special Operations forces is explored in our full history of the FAV. This vehicle, however, has a story of its own.

When it came to Ghosts of the Battlefield, the front portion of the tubular frame had been badly damaged and distorted. The nature of that damage is consistent with the vehicle having been rolled at some point before it entered our collection. Considerable work was required to repair the frame and return the vehicle to operating condition, although traces of that damage can still be seen today.

Those scars are important to us. They are part of the physical history of this particular vehicle, and we have never believed that preservation requires erasing every sign of what an artifact experienced before reaching the museum.

The FAV also remains a continuing preservation project. It is currently fitted with a pedestal mount adapted from an M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle rather than the original mounting system associated with the Fast Attack Vehicle. Correct components for vehicles produced in such limited numbers can be extraordinarily difficult to locate, and restoration often becomes a long process of research, networking, fabrication, and waiting for the right pieces to surface.

Most importantly, our FAV still starts, runs, and drives.

That matters because movement was the entire reason this machine existed. The exposed driving position, sound of the engine, working suspension, and startling speed and agility of such a lightweight vehicle communicate things that a static display simply cannot.

For that reason, the FAV does not spend its entire life behind museum barriers. Ghosts of the Battlefield regularly shares it with the public at events including the NAS Oceana Air Show and veterans' gatherings. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an original Fast Attack Vehicle operating rather than encountering it only as a silent artifact.

Of the small number of original FAVs believed to remain, even fewer can still provide that experience.

Its bent and repaired frame, continuing restoration, unusual configuration, and ability to move under its own power all form part of the story we preserve. This is not a perfect, untouched example frozen at the moment it left military service.

It is a survivor.

More than forty years after vehicles like it were built to explore a new approach to battlefield mobility, the Ghosts of the Battlefield Fast Attack Vehicle is still doing what it was designed to do.

It still moves.

Photos are one thing. Hearing it run is something completely different. Click here, and experience our rare FAV coming to life.

Every artifact has a story. Click here to help us save the next one.