| M113A3 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Armored personnel carrier |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1960 - |
| Used by | Numerous nations, see text |
| Wars | Vietnam War, others |
| Production history | |
| Number built | ~80,000 (all variants) |
| Variants | Numerous, see text |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 12. Armoured personnel carriers (APCs are Armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport Infantry on the Battlefield They usually have only a Machine The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 3 tonnes |
| Length | 4. 863 m |
| Width | 2. 686 m |
| Height | 2. 5 m |
| Crew | 2 + 11 passengers |
| Armor | aluminium 12-38 mm |
| Primary armament | M2 Browning machine gun |
| Secondary armament | varies (see text) |
| Engine | Detroit Diesel 6V53T, 6-cylinder diesel engine 275 hp (205 kW) |
| Power/weight | 22. For body armour see Armour, for armoured forces see Armoured warfare, for other uses see Armour (disambiguation. WikipediaNaming This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum 36 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar, 5 road wheels |
| Operational range | ~480 km (~300 miles) |
| Speed | 66 km/h (41 mph) |
The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. Armoured personnel carriers (APCs are Armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport Infantry on the Battlefield They usually have only a Machine
It is a fully 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 one of the most widely used armored fighting vehicle of all time. An armoured fighting vehicle ( AFV) is a military Vehicle, protected by armour and armed with Weapons Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged [1] Although not a tank, or even designed as a fighting vehicle, the M113 was the most utilized armored vehicle of the Vietnam War. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia It inspired newer generations of more heavily armored and armed infantry fighting vehicles. An infantry fighting vehicle ( IFV, also known as (mechanized infantry combat vehicle, (MICV) is a type of Armoured fighting vehicle (AFV Yet it remains in front-line service and production in the 21st century, and the M113 was recently declared the best in a television comparison of "top 10" armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. [2]
Contents |
Origins
The M113 was first introduced in 1960 and in 1962 was fielded in Vietnam, but without the added ACAV sets, which consisted of gun shields and belly armor. The M113 was developed from the M59 and M75 Armored Personnel Carrier which were designed by Food Machinery Corp. and Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Co. The M59 was a US Armored personnel carrier that entered service in spring of 1954 replacing the M75. The M75 is a US armoured personnel carrier that was produced between December 1952 and February 1954 and saw service in the Korean War. FMC Corporation is a Chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. in the late 1950s. The M113 was originally developed and manufactured by FMC of San Jose, California to fulfill the requirement to be an "Airborne Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle Family" (AAM-PVF) [3] of all-purpose, all-terrain armored fighting vehicles.
Two vehicles were initially considered, the T113 and T117. The T113, effectively the prototype of the M113, was chosen because it was marginally lighter than the T117. This was a product of the T113 being made of aluminum rather than steel. This difference on construction material was the major difference between the two vehicles. The T113 design was improved upon as the T113E1, and adopted by the US Army in 1960 as the M113. A diesel prototype T113E2 was put into production in 1964 as the M113A1. The M113A1 quickly supplanted the gasoline engined M113 in service. [4]
Design and development
The M113 first entered service with the U. S. Army in 1960. It was developed to provide a highly mobile, survivable, and reliable tracked-vehicle platform that is able to keep pace with the current armored vehicles and tanks of the day. It requires only two crewmen, a driver and a commander, and carries eleven passengers inside the vehicle. Its main armament is a single . 50 cal (12. 7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun operated by the commander. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun.
The M113 was designed to 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 Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam The exposed . 50 caliber machinegunner's position made the gunner vulnerable to enemy small arms fire, even if the opposing force lacked the firepower to stop their lightly armored M113s. They soon fitted makeshift shields for the vulnerable machine gun.
The predecessor to the standardized Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (or ACAV) variant was introduced by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the early 1960s. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam During the M113's initial fielding in Vietnam in 1962, it was found that the commander and cargo hatch positions were extremely exposed and the vehicle's armament was in many ways lacking. The ARVNs had modified the M113s to function as "amphibious light tanks"[5] and not as battle taxis as US designers had intended. An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a Vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on water - just like an Tank classification is a Taxonomy of identifying either the intended role or weight class of Tanks The classification by role was used primarily during Instead of an armored personnel carrier, the ARVN utilized the carried infantry as extra "dismountable soldiers" in an "an over-sized tank crew. "[6] These "ACAV" sets were eventually adapted to US Army M113s, with the arrival of the US Army's conventional forces in 1965. The vehicles continued to operate in the role of a light tank and reconnaissance vehicle, and did not operate as designed in theatre. Still, the M113 could carry 11 infantrymen inside, with two crewmen operating the M113.
The US Army, after berating the Vietnamese for flouting battle doctrine, came out with their own ACAV version. This more or less standardized ACAV kit included shields and a circular turret for the . 50 caliber M2 machine gun in the Track Commander (TC) position, and 2 additional M60 machine guns with shields for the left and right rear positions, and "belly armor", which consisted of a sheet of steel, bolted from the front bottom extending 1/2 to 2/3 way towards the bottom rear of the M113. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. The two rear machine gunners could fire their weapons while standing inside the open cargo hatch, which was rectangular in shape. This transformed the M113 into a fighting vehicle, but the vehicle in such a role still suffered from its lightly armored configuration, having never been designed for such a role. A number of prototypes with factory-installed firing ports on each side of the APC were constructed, and at least one of these XM734 was deployed to Vietnam for testing. Reports from the field were reportedly not enthusiastic.
Modified versions of the Vietnam War ACAV sets have been deployed to Iraq (Formally referred to as Southwest Asia within the US military) for installation on the current M113 series vehicles in use. Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. An improved circular shield turret deployed to Iraq, and such vehicles have been utilized without the 2 rear stations. However, they reportedly are modified with armor to protect the Track Commander (TC) position and are NOT employing the two rear left and right machine gun stations.
The M113 is built of aircraft quality aluminum 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. A diesel engine is an Internal combustion engine which operates using the Diesel cycle (named after Dr It can also swim without deploying any flotation curtains, powered by tracks, which was of tactical importance in battlefields like Vietnam which required crossing a multitude of terrain features; such as jungles, swamps, muddy dirt roads, forests, and rice fields.
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 appliqué 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, but these features have not be added to operational vehicles.
Today’s M113 fleet includes a mix of these A2 variants together with other derivatives equipped with the most recent A3 RISE (Reliability Improvements for Selected Equipment) package. The standard RISE package includes an upgraded propulsion system (turbocharged engine and new transmission), greatly improved driver controls (new power brakes and conventional steering controls), external fuel tanks, and 200 AMP alternator with 4 batteries. Additional A3 improvements include incorporation of spall liners and provisions for mounting external armor.
The future M113A3 fleet will include a number of vehicles that will have high speed digital networks and data transfer systems. The M113A3 digitization program includes applying appliqué hardware, software, and installation kits and hosting them in the M113 FOV.
History
Vietnam
The Vietnam War was the first combat opportunity for "Mechanized" Infantry, a technically new type of infantry with its roots in the Armored Infantry of World War II, now using the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In addition, Armored Cavalry Squadrons in Vietnam consisted largely of M113s after replacing the intended M114 in a variety of roles, and Armor battalions contained M113s within their headquarters companies, such as the maintenance section, medical section, vehicle recovery section, mortar section, and the scout (reconnaissance) section.
M113s were instrumental for escorting convoys through contested territory in Vietnam, and are commonly seen in combat photos, sometimes with M48 or M551 tanks for added firepower. M46, M47, M48 and M60 Patton were the United States Army 's principal Main battle The M551 Sheridan was a Light tank developed by the United States, named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. Some M113s with improved/modified main gun shields similar to or directly modified from existing ACAV equipment have been deployed to Iraq for similar duties.
The USAF used M113 and M113A1 ACAV vehicles in USAF Security Police Squadrons providing air base ground defense support in Vietnam. M113s were also supplied to the South Vietnam ARVN forces. They were also supplied to the Cambodian government army, equipped with a turret for the machine gun and a recoilless rifle mounted on the roof.
Australia operated the M113 in Vietnam. After initial experience showed the crew commander was too vulnerable to fire the Australian army tried a number of different guns shields and turrets, eventually standardising on the Cadillac-Cage T-50 turret fitted with two . 30 cal browning machine guns or a single . 30/Single . 50 combination. Other turrets were triedas were various gun shields, the main design of which was similar to the gun shield used on US M113 ACAV version.
In addition Australia operated an M113 variant fitted with a Saladin armored car turret with a 76mm gun as a fire support vehicle or FSV for infantry fire support. The Saladin (FV601 was a six-wheeled armoured car built by Alvis and used by the British Army.
Subsequent to Vietnam all Australian M113 troop carrier version are fitted with the T50 turret. The FSV was eventually phased out and replaced with a modernized version known as the MRV (medium reconnaissance vehicle). The MRV featured a Scorpion turret with 76mm gun, improved fire control and passive night vision equipment. The FV101 Scorpion is a British light Tank, part of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked or CVR(T family
Law Enforcement
M113s have been adopted by some law enforement agencies. Photos show an M113 marked "Midland County Sherrif" was used in the 2008 raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( FLDS Church) is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of America's largest
Nicknames
The M113 has never received an official name, but has received a variety of nicknames over the years. The NLF called it the "Green Dragon"; the Swiss referred to it as the "Elefantenrollschuh" or elephants' roller-skate; the Germans called it the "Schweinewürfel" or pig cube. [7][8] U. S. troops tended to refer to the M113 simply as a "track". Some sources have referred to the M113 as the "Gavin" in an allusion to Gen. Gavin, but U. S. forces have never used the name. [7] The Israeli official name for the M113 is "Bardelas" (Cheetah) but the troops call it "Zelda" (another nickname is "Zippo" after the brand of lighters, as the M113 tends to combust when hit by anti-tank weapons). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family ( Felidae) that is unique in its speed while lacking climbing abilities The Australian Army refers to its M113A1s as "Buckets", and the modified M113A1 fitted with 76mm turrets as "Beasts". In the Norwegian army it is commonly referred to as the "Vietnam Dumpster".
Modifications for Iraq
The M113 has relatively light armor, but is being augmented with reactive armor, add-on plates, and RPG standoff cages ("slat armor"). Reactive armour is a type of Vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected Cage armor also known as bar armor, slat armor, and standoff armor is a type of armor designed to protect against Anti-tank Rocket-propelled Windowed gunshields developed by an armorer in Iraq are reminiscent of ACAV vehicle modifications so effective in Southeast Asia (Vietnam War). Built by BAE Systems, the Transparent Armor Gun shield, or TAGS is a visibly transparent protective Gun shield for operators of vehicle-mounted Machine For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Band tracks to replace the high maintenance, road damaging steel tracks are in use by Canadian and other forces.
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. An infantry fighting vehicle ( IFV, also known as (mechanized infantry combat vehicle, (MICV) is a type of Armoured fighting vehicle (AFV The M2 Bradley IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle and M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle are American Infantry fighting vehicles manufactured by The Achzarit (אכזרית in Hebrew: "cruel" female Inflection) is a heavily armored Armored personnel 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. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A fervent pro-M113 community has developed due to the versatility of the platform.
The M113 has also 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. The term vismod is an abbreviation of the term visually modified, and is used by the elements of the United States Department of Defense to refer to any vehicle aircraft The M551 Sheridan was a Light tank developed by the United States, named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. Fort Irwin & the National Training Center (NTC is a major Training area for the United States Military. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. 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. The T-80 is a Main battle tank which was designed in the Soviet Union and entered service in 1976 The BMP-2 is a Soviet Infantry fighting vehicle which was first introduced in the early 1980s 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.
Weapons
The basic M113 armored personnel carrier can itself be fitted with a number of weapon systems. The most common weapon fit is a single . 50 caliber M2 machine gun. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. However, the mount can also be fitted with a 40mm Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher. The Mk 19 Grenade Launcher is a belt-fed automatic 40 mm Grenade launcher or grenade machine gun that entered U A number of anti-tank weapons could be fitted to the standard variant. Mechanized Infantry and Cavalry units in Vietnam often removed jeep mounted M40 106mm recoilless rifles fitting them to their M113s instead. The M40 Recoilless rifle was a lightweight portable crew-served 105 mm weapon intended primarily as an Anti-tank Weapon made in the United States The US Army also developed kits that allowed the M47 Dragon and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile systems to be mounted. The M47 Dragon (developmental designation FGM-77) is an American shoulder-fired, man-portable Anti-tank missile system The BGM-71 TOW is a US Anti-tank guided missile. TOW Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-to-command-Link guided Missile Set In the case of the M47, the system mated 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.
Basic variants
- M113A1
- 1964 diesel replaces gasoline engine
- M113A2
- 1979, cooling and suspension improvements
- M113A3
- 1987, further improvements for "enhanced (battlefield) survival"
Yoke for steering instead of laterals. More powerful engine. External fuel tanks.
- M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV)
The "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 vehicle's armament was in many ways lacking. Initially field expedient shields and mounts were used, then a kit was produced on Okinawa for the . 50 cal. machine gun. Finally, the full ACAV kit, manufactured in the U. S. , was introduced. The kit included shields and circular turret armor for the commander's Browning M-2 . 50 caliber machine gun, and two additional 7. 62mm M60 machine guns, again with shields, fitted on either side of the top cargo hatch. This kit could be retrofitted to any M113. ACAV kits were also sometimes fitted to the M106 mortar carrier, but the different rear hatch found on this vehicle required the left M60 machine gun to be fitted to the extreme rear instead of the side. Many kits were added in the field, but at least in the case of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the vehicles were modified in the U. S. before the unit left Ft. Meade, Maryland for Vietnam. Fort George G Meade, located adjacent to Odenton, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County, is an active U Additional armor in the form of a mine protective kit under the hull was also frequently fitted.
- Other
A huge number of M113 Armored Personnel Carrier variants have been created, ranging from infantry carriers to nuclear missile carriers. The M113 Armored Personnel Carrier has become one of the most prolific armored vehicles of the second half of the 20th century, and continues to serve with armies around the world into the 21st century. Not without its faults, the otherwise versatile chassis of the M113 has been used to create almost every type of vehicle imaginable. Few vehicles ever created can claim the application to such a wide range of roles.
Operators
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See also
- FV432 - a contemporary British vehicle
- Pbv 302 - Swedish APC
- Boxer MRAV - Germany's replacement for the M113
- AIFV - FMC's "Product Improved M113A1"
References
- ^ BAE Systems
- ^ Top 10 Military Channel program
- ^ Simon Dunstan, The M113 Series, page 5, Osprey Publishing, London, 1983
- ^ Tunbridge, 1978. Uruguay.(official full name in República Oriental del Uruguay;, Oriental Republic of Uruguay) is a country located in the southeastern part of South America Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya The FV432 is the Armoured personnel carrier variant of the British Army 's FV430 series of Armoured Pansarbandvagn 302 ( pbv 302) is a Swedish high mobility Armoured personnel carrier that was developed to meet the operational requirements of the The Boxer is a German - Dutch multirole Armoured fighting vehicle designed to accomplish a number of operations The AIFV ( Advanced Infantry Fighting p. 4
- ^ Zumbro, 1998. p. 470
- ^ Zumbro, 1998. p. 470
- ^ a b M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. GlobalSecurity. org. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed
- ^ Nicknames of army vehicles in your country. MilitaryPhotos. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed
- ^ DEFENCE BALANCE IN WESTERN BALKANS Research Institute for European and American Studies
- ^ kmweg.de: Neue DINGO-Variante für die Bundeswehr (German) - Published 17 November 2005, Checked 23 May 2007
- ^ bundeswehr.de: Neue Waffensysteme (German) - Checked 23 May 2007
- ^ Index of military equipment Lebanese Army of Lebanon Index des équipements militaires armée libanaise du Liban
- ^ List of armaments of the Polish Army as of June 2005
- ^ Army Equipment - Taiwan
- Dunstan, Simon. The M113 Series London, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1983. ISBN 0-85045-495-6.
- Nolan, Keith W. Into Laos: Dewey Canyon II/Lam Son 719. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1986. ISBN 0-89141-247-6.
- Tunbridge, Stephen. M113 in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc, 1978. ISBN 0-89747-050-8.
- Zumbro, Ralph. The Iron Cavalry. 1998, New York, New York, Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-01390-4
External links
- Army Fact File for M113
- United Defence
- FAS.org
- Gary's Combat Vehicle Reference Guide
- NASA Kennedy Space Center site
- Tenix - LAND 106 M113 Upgrade Project
- M113 performance vs. RPG-7
- M113 at Israeli Weapons
- Canadian Forces Official Website
- M113 ACAV Operations with 11th ACR in Vietnam
- Dutch Cavalry Museum has an M113 C&V (M113 ACAV) in its exposition.
- Australian DoD M113 Upgrade Project
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