M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)

The M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) helped to revolutionize mobile military operations since it was developed from the M59 and M75 APCs by Ford and Kaiser Aluminium in the late 1950s. Its first use was in Vietnam were the M113 was extensively deployed with great success.

The M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) is possibly the largest family of armored tracked vehicles, with over 72,000 vehicles worldwide and more than 40 different variants. Originally developed in the late 1950s, the M113 family of vehicles (FOV) is still in service in the U.S. Army and in the military of many other countries.

M-113A3 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).

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M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) Family of Vehicles

The M113 vehicles carried eleven soldiers plus a driver and track commander under armor protection across hostile battlefield environments. The M113 is air transportable, air-droppable, and swimmable, allowing planners to incorporate APCs in a much wider range of combat situations, including many 'rapid deployment' scenarios.

The M113s were so successful that they were quickly identified as the foundation for a family of vehicles. Over the years, the M113 FOV has undergone numerous upgrades and development of derivitive configurations, including the M577 command track and the M106 mortar carrier. In 1964, the M113A1 package replaced the original gasoline engine with a 212 horsepower diesel package, significantly improving survivability. In 1979, the A2 package of suspension and cooling enhancements was introduced.

The M113A3 RISE (Reliability Improvements for Selected Equipment) package includes an upgraded propulsion system (turbocharged engine and new transmission), greatly improved driver controls (new power breaks 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 rear-mounted external fuel tanks make the M113A3 visually distinct from earlier variants. The M113A3 was introduced in 1987.

The M113A3 fleet will include vehicles with 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.

M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) Derivitive Vehicles

Among the many derivitive vehicles produced were these examples:

Armored M113 chassis:
- M113 Armored Ambulance
- M125A1 mortar carrier
- M577 Armored Command Post Carrier
- M741 Vulcan air defense vehicle

Unarmored M113 chassis:
- M548 cargo carrier
- M667 "Lance" missile carrier
- M730 Chaparral missile carrier

As of 2005, these variants are in U.S. military inventory:

M1059/A3 Smoke generator Carrier
M1064/A3 Mortar Carrier
M1068/A3 Standard Integrated Command Post System Carrier
OPFOR Surrogate Vehicle (OSV)

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of the M113 APC at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup:

M901 Improved TOW Vehicle, a variant of the M113 APC, on a road in the Laubach Wald area of Germany, during the Confident Enterprise phase of REFORGER / AUTUMN FORGE 83, 27 September 1983.

SPC Derik Stevens, a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic with Bravo Field Maintenance Company, 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, picks up a compartment cover belonging to an M1068 Standard Integrated Command Post System, Fort Hood, TX, 21 March 2014. The Camp Pendleton, CA, native repairs the revolutions-per-minute gauge on the vehicle to display the proper information. The M1068 vehicle is based on the M113 APC.

M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, date and location unknown. From ARMOR: The Professional Development Bulletin of the Armor Branch PB 17-00-4 (US Army), July-August 2000.

A video cameraman films M-113 armored personnel carriers as they move along the pier toward a Military Sealift Command vehicle cargo ship. The vehicles, along with other equipment and ordnance, are being redeployed to the United States in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia, 17 June 1991.

M901A1 Improved TOW Vehicle (ITV), variant of the M113 APC, serial number CAA01404, registration number KZ016, built by FMC in Santa Clara, CA. This vehicle was Lot 1095 of The Jacques M. Littlefield Collection, Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, Portola Valley, CA, auctioned 11-12 July 2014 by Auctions America. Courtesy: Auctions America by RM.

Military vehicles (M-151 w/trailer, M-1008 CUCV, M-113 APC, others) and ground support equipment are transported on a floating causeway to shore from the vehicle cargo ship USNS ALTAIR (T-AKR 291) during Exercise GALLANT EAGLE 86, CA, 14 July 1986.

M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) Photo Gallery

M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) with TOW anti-armor missile mounted.

M113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during scout training at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland in 1965
M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during scout training at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland in 1965.

M113 tracks of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam.

M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) training, Fort Jackson, SC, 20 June 1966.

The M1059 smoke generator consists of an M113A2 APC with two M54 smoke generators. This track belongs to the 31st Chemical Company (Army), Fort Irwin, CA, 19 Mar 1997
The M1059/A2 or A3 smoke generator consists of an M113A2 or A3 APC with two M54 smoke generators. This track belongs to the 31st Chemical Company (Army), Fort Irwin, CA, 19 Mar 1997.