In the early 1960s the US Army was experimenting with some unusual vehicle designs for use in swampy/marshy terrain. ONe innovative design used the tracks-with-bag
concept which came to be known as the PATA (Lit; Plenum Air Tread Amphibian). This involved making a track and instead of attaching the usual solid pad; each pad would
consist of an air-filled bag. The track provided excellent flotation in wet areas and greatly reduced ground pressure resulting in a very mobile vehicle when running in the
areas it was designed for. However on dry ground it was discovered that the vehicles lacked reasonable control and were unstable.
The Michigam Division of Ling-Temco-Vought built the PATA vehicles in their Dallas, Texas plant between 1962-1965.
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