The original RMASG was formed in the Second World War to give British and Commonwealth forces heavy fire support in the opening attacks of the Normandy landings.

A proposal to form a new specialisation and indeed to call it the 'Armoured Support' specialisation (in recognition of the Royal Marines' armoured units of WWII) was put forward and argued by then OC Viking Training Sqn - Major Jez Hermer MBE RM, the officer who had taken BvS10 on operations for the first time in Afghanistan in September 2006, prior to the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group being formed in December 2007.

Viking is equipped with the 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun and some crewmen are armed with the L22 carbine version of the British SA80 family.

[12] Viking was deployed operationally with British Forces in southern Afghanistan,[2] supporting both 3 Cdo Bde and other roulements.

The Ministry of Defence gave the following reason:[15] The requirement for an All Terrain Military Vehicle (ATV (S)) under LASS1A/0340 has been delayed due to internal reviews.

99 Vikings were upgraded with new mine blast protection bodywork and brought back to their original amphibious standard, having been adapted for the rigours of land operations.

[17] In April 2016, a Jane's report stated that the Royal Marines are looking for a replacement for the older Bv 206D vehicles, which will be out of service by 2021.