Amphibious vehicle in the context of "Landing ship dock"

A vehicle (from Latin vehiculum) is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to ground transport vehicles such as human-powered land vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velomobiles), animal-powered transports (e.g. horse-drawn carriages/wagons, ox carts, dog sleds), motor vehicles (e.g. motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters) and railed vehicles (trains, trams and monorails), but more broadly also includes cable transport (cable cars and elevators), watercraft (ships, boats and underwater vehicles), amphibious vehicles (e.g. screw-propelled vehicles, hovercraft, seaplanes), aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, gliders and aerostats) and space vehicles (spacecraft, spaceplanes and launch vehicles).

This article primarily concerns the more ubiquitous land vehicles, which can be broadly classified by the type of contact interface with the ground: wheels, tracks, rails or skis, as well as the non-contact technologies such as maglev. ISO 3833-1977 is the international standard for road vehicle types, terms and definitions.

A screw-propelled vehicle is a land or amphibious vehicle designed to traverse difficult terrain, such as snow, ice, mud, and swamp. Such vehicles are distinguished by being moved by the rotation of one or more auger-like cylinders fitted with a helical flange that engages with the medium through or over which the vehicle is moving. They have been called Archimedes screw vehicles by the US military, where they are classified as a type of marginal terrain vehicle (MTV). Modern vehicles called Amphirols and other similar vehicles have specialised uses.

The weight of the vehicle is typically borne by one or more pairs of large flanged cylinders; sometimes a single flanged cylinder is used with additional stabilising skis. These cylinders each have a helical spiral flange like the thread of a screw. On each matched pair of cylinders, one will have its flange running clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. The flange engages with the surface on which the vehicle rests. Ideally this should be slightly soft material such as snow, sand or mud so that the flange can get a good bite. An engine is used to counter-rotate the cylinders—one cylinder turns clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. The counter-rotations cancel out so that the vehicle moves forwards (or backwards) along the axis of rotation.

An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.

Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crudely described as ships and craft. In general, the ships carry the troops from the port of embarkation to the drop point for the assault and the craft carry the troops from the ship to the shore. Amphibious assaults taking place over short distances can also involve the shore-to-shore technique, where landing craft go directly from the port of embarkation to the assault point. Some tank landing ships may also be able to land troops and equipment directly onto shore after travelling long distances, such as the Ivan Rogov-class landing ship.

A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles, both specifically designed for or significantly used by military. Most military vehicles require off-road capabilities and/or vehicle armor, making them heavy. Some have vehicle tracks instead of just wheels; half-tracks have both. Furthermore, some military vehicles are amphibious, constructed for use on land and water, and sometimes also intermediate surfaces.

Military vehicles are almost always camouflaged, or at least painted in inconspicuous color(s). In contrast, under the Geneva Conventions, all non-combatant military vehicles, such as military ambulances and mobile first aid stations, must be properly and clearly marked as such. Under the conventions, when respected, such vehicles are legally immune from deliberate attack by all combatants.

The Landing Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy. The United States Marine Corps, United States Army, and Canadian and British armies used several LVT models during World War II.

Originally intended solely as cargo carriers for ship to shore operations, they evolved into assault troop and fire support vehicles. The types were known as amphtrack, amtrak, amtrac, etc. (portmanteaus of amphibious tractor), alligator and gator.

An amphibious cycle is a human-powered vehicle capable of operation on both land and water. Some designs allow riding directly into and out of the water, other semi-amphibious cycles must be converted in order to change from one mode to the other.

An amphibious all-terrain vehicle, or amphibious ATV (or AATV), is a small, all-wheel drive, all-terrain amphibious vehicle, used for recreation, farm-, hunting, utility or industry tasks, by enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. They are legally off-highway vehicles in many countries, or at least restricted from use on express highways and motorways – their use is generally extra-urban.

Amphibious ATVs frequently use a lightweight body-tub with wide balloon tires and a simple drivetrain without any wheel suspension or steering – the only cushioning is provided by the soft tires, that also contribute to floatation in the water. Steering is through differential steering, also known as skid-steering. Models are frequently six-wheel drive, or eight-wheel drive on larger models.

Duck tours (or, more formally, amphibious tours), are tours that take place on purpose-built amphibious tour buses and (modified) surplus amphibious military vehicles, like DUKWs ("Ducks") and LARC-Vs. They are often offered as tourist attractions in harbor, seaman and lake cities.