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M113 Armored Personnel Carrier

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M113 during the Vietnam War

M113
General characteristics
Crew 2 + 11
Length 4.863 m
Width 2.686 m
Height 2.5 m
Weight 12.3 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour aluminium 12-38 mm
Main armament M2 machine gun
Secondary armament varies (see text)
Mobility
Power plant Detroit 6-cyl diesel
275 hp (104 kW)
Suspension torsion bar, 5 road wheels
Road speed 66 km/h
Power/weight 22.36 hp/tonne
Range 480 km

The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations.

It is a tracked vehicle capable of limited amphibious operation in lakes and streams, extended cross-country travel over rough terrain, and high speed operation on improved roads. The M113 family has many variants and modifications that are used in a variety of combat and combat support roles. Approximately 80,000 units of all types have been produced worldwide making it the most widely used armored fighting vehicle of all time. Although not a tank, or even designed as a fighting vehicle, the M113 was the most effective armored vehicle of the Vietnam war, and remains in service and production in the 21st century.

Contents

[edit] History

The M113 was first introduced in 1960, developed from the M59 and M75 which were designed by Ford Motor Company and Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Co. in the late 1950s. The M113 was originally developed and manufactured by FMC of San Jose, California to fulfil the requirement to be an "Airborne Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle Family" (AAM-PVF) <ref>Simon Dunstan, The M113 Series, page 5, Osprey Publishing, London, 1983</ref> of all-purpose, all-terrain armored fighting vehicles as outlined by General James M. Gavin who was the Army's Chief of Research & Development at the time.

[edit] Design

The M113 was the first American modern "battle taxi", developed to carry infantry to battle. It requires a crew of two and can carry an additional eleven soldiers. Its main armament is a single .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun, with secondary armament depending on the vehicle's role.

The M113 was designed to simply transport troops, protected against small arms fire and shell fragments, to the front line where they would disembark. During early engagements in the Vietnam War, when Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops were pinned down by fire, they found that they could not simply return fire from within and overwhelm opposing forces. The exposed machinegunner's position made the gunner vulnerable to enemy small arms fire, even if the opposing force lacked the firepower to stop their lightly armoured M113s. They soon fitted makeshift shields for the vulnerable machinegun. The US Army, after berating the Vietnamese for flouting battle doctrine, came out with their own ACAV or armoured cavalry version. The ACAV assault vehicle modification adds a front and circular shield for the main .50 cal gun, and side shields for 2 .30 cal guns, one on each side of the top hatch. This transformed the M113 into a fighting vehicle, and may have inspired heavily armed Soviet carriers. These were instrumental for escorting convoys through contested territory, and are commonly seen in combat photos, sometimes with M48 or M551 tanks for backup firepower, a situation similar to Iraq in the 2000s. Some M113s with improved ACAV main gun shields have been deployed to Iraq. Compared to tanks, the M113 had sufficient firepower, armour, and had mobility superior even to the smaller M114 scout vehicle, which was quickly withdrawn. The Viet Cong were often equipped with RPG-2 anti-tank rocket launchers, which could be used with devastating effect against the thinly-armored M113. Anti-tank mines were also a major threat.

The M113 is built of aircraft quality aluminium which gives it some of the same strength as steel at a slightly reduced weight (the vehicle weighs approximately 10.5 tons), as the greater thickness allows structural stiffness. Its weight allows the use of a relatively small engine to power the vehicle, a Detroit 2-stroke six cylinder diesel, as well as allowing the vehicle to carry a large payload cross-country and to be transported by fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. It can also swim without deploying any flotation curtains, powered by tracks, which was of tactical importance in battlefields like Vietnam which required crossing rice paddies.

The current M113A3 has a 480 km range and a maximum speed of 64 km/h. The upgraded M113A3 has added spall suppression liners, armored external fuel tanks, a more powerful engine and transmission, and mounting plates for the option of bolt-on titanium, aluminum, ceramic, or high-hardness steel applique' armor. Band tracks and hybrid-electric drive features can make the M113 stealthy and travel faster than 60 mph on roads while doubling range from 300 to 600 miles on one load of fuel.

[edit] Modifications

Image:C0206103.jpg The M113 has relatively light armor, but is being augmented with reactive armor, add-on plates, and RPG standoff cages ("slat armor"). Windowed gunshields developed by an armorer in Iraq are reminiscent of ACAV vehicle modifications so effective in Southeast Asia (Vietnam War). Band tracks to replace the high maintenance, road damaging steel tracks are in use by Canadian and other forces. During the Vietnam War, troops wishing to mitigate the effects of remotely-detonated and conventional mines often rode on top rather than inside, and some units fabricated alterations to the controls so the driver was also riding high, and almost outside the vehicle.

Most of the M113s which are still in service have been upgraded. However, they are still lightly protected compared to modern APCs or IFVs such as the M2 Bradley or IDF Achzarit. Those larger vehicles cannot be transported in a C-130 plane so it may be argued that their capability to be air-deployed provides an advantage over more heavily armored vehicles. A fervent pro-M113 community has developed due to the versatility of the platform.

The M113 has also recently been adopted to replace the aging fleet of visually modified (vismod) M551s being used to simulate Russian-made combat vehicles at the US Army's National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. These M113s, like the M551s they replace, have also been modified to resemble enemy tanks and APCs, such as the T-80 and BMP-2. One of the advantages of the M113 being used to simulate the latter is that the infantry squad can now ride inside the simulated BMP instead of in a truck accompanying a tank masquerading as one, as was often the case with the M551s.

[edit] Weapons

The basic M113 armored personnel carrier can itself be fitted with a number of weapon systems. Most common is a single .50 caliber M2 machine gun or 40mm Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher. A number of anti-tank weapons were also fitted. Armored Cavalry units in Vietnam removed jeep mounted M40 106mm recoilless rifles fitting them to their M113s instead. The US Army also developed a kit that allowed the Dragon anti-tank missile system to be mounted to the existing machine gun mount, without having to remove the machine gun. This allowed the commander to use the weapon, as well as the machine gun.

[edit] Basic variants

[edit] M113A1

Image:M113A1-latrun-2.jpg

[edit] M113A2

  • 1979, cooling and suspension improvements

[edit] M113A3

  • 1987, further improvements for "enhanced (battlefield) survival"

[edit] M113 "ACAV"

Image:Armored cavalry assault vehicle.jpg

The armored cavalry variant, unofficially designated "Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle" or "ACAV", was introduced in the Vietnam war after it was found that the commander and cargo hatch positions were extremely exposed and the vehicles armament was in many ways lacking. These vehicles continued to operate as APCs and as scout vehicles in support of a number of armored operations. The kit included shields and circular turret for .50 caliber and 2 additional M60 machine guns, again with shields, and could be fitted to any existing M113 APC. Additional armor in the form of a mine protective kit under the forward hull was also frequently fitted. An improved circular shield turret deployed to Iraq, and such vehicles have been utilized without the 2 rear stations.

[edit] Other

Main article: M113 Armored Personnel Carrier variants

Custom and specialized versions of the M113 have been developed and used by a number of different nations and firms across the world.

[edit] Operators

M113 used by NASA for emergency evacuation

Image:DSCF1158.JPG

The M113 is also used by NASA for emergency evacuation of astronauts during a launch pad emergency.

[edit] See also

  • FV432 - a contemporary British vehicle
  • Pbv 302 - Swedish APC

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

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