number of LVT-4s and LVT(A)-4s from the US to supplement M29Cs. In September 1951, the first French mixed unit (1er Groupement Autonome) was created, consisting of two squadrons of Weasels (33 each), three squadrons of LVT-4 (11 each) and one fire support platoon of 6 LVT(A)-4. Later a second group was created in Tonkin when more LVTs were received. Both these groups participated in Mekong and Red River delta operations and in landing operations on Vietnam shores. The also deployed a platoon of LVTs. LVTs were known as "alligators" in French armed forces. Suez During the 1956 Suez Canal crisis, 40 and 42 Commando of the Royal Marines made a landing in Port Said in LVTs, supported by a number of Centurion tanks from the Royal Tank Regiment. The French Navy assigned 13 LVT-4s to the Force H, to be used by the 1ère compagnie du 1er R.E.P. and 3eme Marine Commando during their assault on Port Fuad. Other operators At the end of the war, the oldest LVT versions were disposed as surplus and sold to other countries. Only LVT-3 and LVT(A)-5s remained in operational use in the US armed forces. In 1947 a dozen Buffalo LTV's were being used by the British Army who were working to fix a breach in the flood defences at Crowland in Lincolnshire fens following the terrible winter that year. Five LTV's were swept away and lost in flood waters. On 29 April 2021 one of the missing units was excavated from 30 feet below the surface after being located in an English field. (See also #Preservation.) During Operation Highjump, the United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program from 1946 to 1947, LVT-3's and LVT-4's were tested in Antarctic conditions. Modern descendants In the 1950s, LVTs still in service were replaced by the LVTP-5 family of vehicles, which in turn were followed by the LVT-7 family, eventually redesignated Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV). The AAV is manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments, which is the successor company to FMC. In 1958, the US Navy tested the largest LVT ever produced, the LVT(U)X2 Goliath produced by Pacific Car and Foundry. The Goliath was large enough to transport any load the conventional Landing Craft Utility could carry, including a 60-ton main battle tank, from a landing dock ship to shore and across beach barriers. Only one Goliath was built and it never became operational. Currently, many