M113 APC

History

The American M113 armored personnel carrier became one of the most successful Cold War vehicles in the world, with operators in more than 60 countries and more than 80,000 produced. The car entered service in 1960 and served with the US and Australian armies during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). From there, its global reach saw the airline survive the Yom Kippur War (1973), the invasion of Panama (1989-1990), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the Persian Gulf War (1991), the Kosovo War (1998) -1999) and more recently Afghanistan (since 2001) and Iraq (2003-2011), but also in lesser-known conflicts.

The chassis has also proven to be highly adaptable and has served as the basis for a variety of other relevant battlefield variants. Despite its 1950s design, the M113 is today (2014) a front-line competitor in many countries.

Development of the 13.5-ton tracked vehicle began in 1956 to meet the U.S. Army's requirements for an airborne armored personnel carrier (APC). The vehicle will be compact enough to fit in the cargo compartment of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft or similar.

FMC Corporation (Food, Machinery, and Chemical) then returned two possible vehicles - an aluminum T113 pilot vehicle and a steel T117 pilot vehicle, for which the Army chose an aluminum version. This makes it the first military armored vehicle to be made primarily of aluminum when steel is traditionally used.

Its corresponding production model later became the M113, which was standardized in US Army inventory in 1959, replacing FMC's then-in-service M59 APC inventory.

Production of the M113 originally ended in 1992, but additional orders allowed production to continue. There is also licensed local production in Italy by OTO Melara and BMF in Belgium. The U.S.

Army last purchased the M113 in 2007, for which the service maintains thousands of them, many of which are A2 and A3 variants, along with better range, firepower, performance and survivability (including the use of decal armor kits). While no immediate successor is in sight, some possible replacements have emerged, including the proposed Armoured Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV).

The original request for proposals originated in early 2013.

As mentioned, the chassis (and sometimes the body) of the M113 has appeared in countless other useful forms on the battlefield. There are smoke generator vehicles M58 "Wolf" and mortar carriers M106/M125. The M150 was equipped with a TOW Anti-Tank Missile (ATGM) launcher, which was modified as the M901 ITV (Improved TOW Vehicle). The M113 made up the M163 20mm "Vulcan" anti-aircraft vehicle and the M48 "Jungle" anti-aircraft missile carrier.

M548 is a cargo transport vehicle, M577 is a dedicated command vehicle, and M579 is a maintenance vehicle. The M806 was developed as an Armoured Rescue Vehicle (ARV) and the M981 FIST-V (Fire Support Team - Vehicle) was based on the M901. The M132 series is a dedicated flame tank, while the XM734 is a proposed Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) form.

Variations go well beyond this list due to operator requirements, locally produced versions and many locally modified forms. The ACV-300 is the Turkish version of the M113, while the Taiha is the Pakistani version.

The Italian version is VCC-1, Norway uses the designations NM135/NM142 as M113A1 and M113A2 respectively.

Despite its general external similarity to the M113, the subsequent (smaller) M114 vehicle was a new track system adopted by the US Army for a reconnaissance role. The M75 (1952) and M59 (1953) APCs also have the same shape. The M59 is a replacement for the M75. M59 was replaced by M113.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

2,000 x 12.7mm ammo.

8 x Smoke Grenade Launchers.

Changes