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Amphibious Encyclopedia · Military amphibians

BARC (LARC-LX)

The BARC (Barge, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo), renamed LARC-LX in 1960, was a four-wheeled US Army amphibian that could carry 60 tons of cargo from ships offshore onto the beach and inland [1][2]. First tested in 1952, it served in Vietnam and remained in Army service until 2001; one writer called it the largest wheeled amphibious vehicle built up to that time [1][2][5].

  • Military amphibians
  • 1952 to 2001
  • United States

History

The Korean War showed the US Army that it needed a better amphibious vehicle for supply over the shore, and Gen. Frank Besson, a Transportation Corps leader, pressed for large designs that could work in bad weather [2][6]. Pacific Car and Foundry worked with LeTourneau Inc. to design and build four prototypes in the early 1950s, named BARC for Barge, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo [2][6]. The first BARC made its maiden voyage in 1952 at Fort Lawton, Washington [1]. The third prototype, BARC 3-X, was delivered for testing in November 1953 and then trained crews for about a decade until it left active use in 1963 [6].

In 1960 the Army renamed the type LARC-LX, for Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 60 ton [1]. Production was small: one account counts the four prototypes plus 55 more hulls, about 60 in all, while the Lane Motor Museum gives 60 to 100 [4][6]. Only about a dozen were deployed at any one time, according to the same account [6].

The vehicles first went to war in Vietnam in 1967, supporting the 101st Airborne Division, and in 1968 the 1st Cavalry Division [1][3]. US Army photographs from May 1967 show BARCs carrying fuel trucks between tankers offshore and the beach at Duc Pho during a resupply operation [8]. After the war about 40 were reportedly sunk in the Pacific rather than brought home [3].

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the 79th Transportation Battalion operated LARC-LXs from Fort Story, Virginia [1]. The Army still had 36 in 1979, when an Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity review praised the type's versatility [5]. The last ones left service when the 309th Transportation Company (LARC LX) of the 11th Transportation Battalion was inactivated on 15 October 2001 [2][6].

Design and how it works

The LARC-LX has a welded steel hull about 62 ft (19 m) long, 26 ft (8 m) wide and almost 20 ft (6 m) tall, and weighs about 194,000 lb (88 t) empty [1][3][4]. It rides on four tires about 9 ft (2.7 m) tall, and all four wheels can steer [4][5]. Four Detroit Diesel 6-71 engines, one for each wheel, sit in the sides of the hull; afloat, the engines work in pairs to turn two propellers about 4 ft (1.2 m) across [1][3][5]. Output is usually given as 265 hp per engine, though the Lane Motor Museum lists 165 hp [1][4][5].

Its rated load was 60 tons, and on calm water and level ground it could carry more than 100 tons [3][4]. It could also take a 40 ft (12 m) shipping container or, in an emergency, up to 200 people [3]. Speeds were modest: about 15 to 20 mph (24 to 32 km/h) on land and about 7 mph (11 km/h) in water [1][3][5]. The operator's cab sat at the rear left corner [3]. Sources describe it as the only US Army amphibian able to land through breaking surf [3][4]. The vehicles normally traveled overseas as deck cargo on commercial or heavy-lift ships [3].

Survivors

Few BARCs survive. BARC 3-X, the oldest survivor, is displayed at the US Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and the museum's supporters have said it needs renovation [2][6]. Others are at the Overloon War Museum in the Netherlands, where it is the largest item in the collection, the Military Museum of North Florida in Green Cove Springs, and the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, whose example was driven there from the Port of Nashville in January 2005 [1][4][7]. A few still work for civilian owners in Virginia and Maine, moving heavy equipment [1][5].

Sources

  1. LARC-LX, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LARC-LX
  2. Preserving US Army Transportation History (BG Gil Harper, USA Ret.), National Defense Transportation Association, Defense Transportation Journal (2022-04-01). www.ndtahq.com/preserving-us-army-transportation-history
  3. A 'whale' of an amphibian: The LARC-LX (Harold Ratzburg), Military Trader (2011-10-05). militarytrader.com/military-vehicles/a-whale-of-an-amphibian-the-larc-lx
  4. LARC-LX, 1959, Lane Motor Museum. www.lanemotormuseum.org/?p=310
  5. The US Army's Largest 4x4 Ever: The Gigantic, 1,000-HP LARC-LX Amphibious Vehicle (Peter Holderith), The Drive (2021-02-19). www.thedrive.com/news/39228/the-us-armys-largest-4x4-ever-the-gigantic-1000-hp-larc-lx-amphibious-vehicle
  6. What is a 'BARC' 3-X? (Dan Calic), Redwood City Pulse (2026-08-31). www.rwcpulse.com/blogs/portal-to-our-past/2026/08/31/what-is-a-barc-3-x
  7. BARC, Overloon War Museum. www.oorlogsmuseum.nl/en/the-museum/exhibitions/military-vehicle-collection-overloon/barc
  8. A 1st Logistical Command truck unloads from a BARC at Duc Pho (US Army photo by SSG Howard C. Breedlove, National Archives 111-CCV-358-CC40035), Wikimedia Commons (1967-05-13). commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_1st_Logistical_Command_truck_unloads_from_a_BARC_at_Duc_Pho.jpg

Last reviewed November 2026. Spotted something to correct or add? Tell us and include a source.

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