United Defense (FMC) M113

Danish M113 APC Copyright �

Background

Development of the M113 began in January 1956, following a US requirement for a light. air-transportable armoured vehicle. Initial production series vehicles began entering US service in 1960, so successful was the design that since then approximately 75,000 have been built and sales have been made to 50+ countries. Initial models had a Chrysler perol engine but from 1964 this was replaced by a Detroit Diesel 6V-53 6 cylinder unit. The M113 is made of Aluminium Armor of 12-38mm thickness During the fighting in the Congo the Irish managed to acquire 6 M113 APCs. These were ultramodern at the time and offered far superior performance to anything that the DF had in service. However, this did not stop them being pressed into service and giving the detachment a much needed boost in armour capability. .

Vehicle Specification Crew 2+11 Driver and Commander/Gunner Combat Weight 10,258 Kg . Length 4,863 mm . Width 2,686 mm . Height 2,500 mm Overall 1,828 mm Hull Max. Speed 64.37 kph Open road Max. Speed in Water 5.6 kph . Range 321 Km Open road Max. Vertical Step 610 mm . Max. Trench 1,680 mm . Ballistic Protection 7.62 mm AP All Round Ballistic Protection . Frontal Arc Ballistic Protection . . Engine Chrysler 75M V8 209 bhp Transmission Allison TX-200 2 Forward Speeds 1 Reverse

<<== HOME