"Combat buses". The American M113 armored personnel carrier became the most massive armored personnel carrier in history. The tracked combat vehicle, adopted in 1960, is still used in the armies of many countries. At the same time, the design turned out to be so successful that it served to create various specialized military equipment: from self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and staff vehicles to self-propelled mortars and flamethrowers. Since 1980, more than 80 thousand M113 armored personnel carriers and other combat vehicles built on its basis have been assembled. For example, the Soviet BTR-60, created at the same time, was sold around the world in a series of 10 to 25 thousand vehicles.
Among other things, the M113 tracked armored personnel carrier became the world's first combat vehicle, the hull of which was made entirely of aluminum. The use of aluminum armor made it possible to reduce the weight of the combat vehicle, while maintaining an acceptable level of protection against small arms fire for the crew and the landing force. At the same time, the armored personnel carrier is still in service with the American army, where the timing of its replacement is constantly shifting. The American military expects to completely abandon this machine in all units until 2030, that is, 70 years after it was put into service.
Creating a legend
The need for a new armored personnel carrier in the United States was realized during the rearmament of the ground forces with new models of military equipment. After the end of World War II, the US adopted light tanks M41 "Walker Bulldog", medium tank M48 "Patton III", heavy tank M103, which was in service with the Marine Corps, as well as new anti-tank self-propelled guns M56 "Scorpion" and other samples military equipment. Under these conditions, the military also wanted a new armored personnel carrier that could be used as a universal vehicle and that would meet new technological requirements and its time.
BTR M59
Work on a new machine began in the 1950s with the development of tactical and technical requirements. The basis of the future car was based on the principle of "battle taxi" or "battle bus". It was planned to create an armored vehicle with a closed body, which could deliver a motorized rifle squad to the battlefield. Dismounted, the paratroopers immediately had to engage in battle with the enemy. Based on a certain concept, a number of requirements were presented to the new armored personnel carrier: air transportability; the ability to overcome deep water obstacles; large power reserve; the possibility of transporting an infantry squad; good protection; high cross-country ability. Separately, the high versatility of the vehicle was stipulated due to the ease of adaptation of the self-supporting body of the armored personnel carrier for solving certain tasks required by the military.
In 1956, engineers from the American Food Machinery Corporation (FMC), who had extensive experience in the development and production of such equipment, began to create a new armored personnel carrier. Back in the early 1950s, the company created successful models of tracked armored personnel carriers, in which the future M113 was also easily guessed. These were the M75 armored personnel carriers, which took part in the Korean War, and the more advanced amphibious M59. The latter, in addition to the ability to swim, was smaller and was significantly cheaper to manufacture. Until 1960, the M59 armored personnel carrier was produced in an impressive series - more than 6 thousand vehicles.
The company has prepared two main prototypes for testing, including the T113 with aluminum plate armor. For production, special aviation aluminum was used, which was not inferior in strength to steel. Two examples were presented with lighter and heavier aluminum armor. The second version was the prototype T117, which differed only in its steel hull. Tests have shown that the T113, with its thicker aluminum armor and less weight than the T117, provides the same level of protection for the crew and troops, which is why the military chose this model. After improvements in 1960, an improved version of the T113E1 armored personnel carrier was officially adopted by the American army under the designation M113. Initially, it was a gasoline-powered combat vehicle, but already in 1964 it was replaced from mass production by the T113E2 model, which was put into service under the designation M113A1. A more advanced diesel engine was installed on this armored personnel carrier.
Created at the turn of the 1960s, a light amphibious tracked armored personnel carrier (only the first modifications were floating) turned out to be a very successful vehicle that could carry a crew of two and up to 11 infantrymen in full gear. In the future, the armored personnel carrier became the basis for dozens of various specialized combat vehicles, and was also repeatedly modernized. There are three major vehicle upgrades - M113A1, M113A2 and M113A3, the last of which was carried out in 1987.
Technical features of the M113 armored personnel carrier
The layout of the American M113 armored personnel carrier is traditional for most tracked armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in different countries. The transmission and the engine are located in the front of the body, the place of the mechanical drive from the axis of the body is shifted to the left side. The commander of the armored personnel carrier, who also plays the role of a shooter, sits in the center of the combat vehicle, at his disposal is a turret to monitor the situation. In the troop compartment in the rear of the hull there are places for 11 infantrymen. 10 of them are sitting on folding benches along the sides facing each other, the 11th paratrooper is sitting on a folding seat facing the exit ramp through which the soldiers left the car. The engine compartment is separated from the rest of the combat vehicle compartments by a special fire barrier, while the crew and the troopers can move freely between the compartments.
The body of the armored personnel carrier is made of aluminum armor (a special alloy with the addition of manganese and magnesium) by welding. The body itself is a box-shaped design, which awarded the armored personnel carrier with a recognizable silhouette. The thickness of the body armor ranges from 12 to 44 mm. The frontal part consists of two 38 mm thick armor plates, the upper of which is located at an angle of 45 degrees to the vertical, the lower - 30 degrees. The sides are arranged vertically, their upper part has 44 mm armor. The initial version of the booking provided protection for the landing force and the crew from the fire of 7, 62-mm small arms and fragments of shells and mines, in the frontal projection, the armor kept hitting 12, 7-mm armor-piercing bullets from a distance of up to 200 meters.
The chassis of the M113 armored personnel carrier externally remained unchanged throughout the production of the combat vehicle. Applied to one side, it consists of five double rubberized road wheels, a double rubberized sloth and a double drive wheel. The suspension of all rollers is torsion bar, individual. On the base 1960 model, only the first and last road wheels on each side of the combat vehicle were equipped with shock absorbers.
The M113 was powered by a Chrysler 75M V8 8-cylinder gasoline engine with 209 hp. This power was enough to accelerate an armored personnel carrier with a combat weight of 10, 2 tons up to 64 km / h when driving on a highway, afloat the car could reach a speed of 5.6 km / h. Movement on the water surface is carried out by rewinding the tracks. The power reserve when driving on the highway was estimated at 320 km.
As the main armament, the well-proven large-caliber 12, 7-mm Browning M2NV machine gun was installed on the M113 armored personnel carriers, which the designers placed next to the commander's cupola. Machine gun fire could be conducted not only at ground, but also at air targets. The ammunition load of the machine gun consisted of 2,000 rounds. At the same time, the paratroopers could not fire at the enemy, since there were no loopholes in the sides of the corps for firing from personal weapons.
The main modifications of the M113 armored personnel carrier
The need to modernize the new armored personnel carrier arose quickly enough. Already in September 1964, the United States began to mass-assemble a new version, which received the designation M113A1. The new combat vehicle was very close to the model adopted in 1960, differing primarily in a new diesel engine, as well as a transmission. The armored personnel carriers of this modification received the 6V-53 Detroit Diesel engine, which develops a maximum power of 215 hp. at 2800 rpm. Also, the combat vehicle received a new transmission manufactured by General Motors, together with a diesel engine, it constituted a single power unit. The use of a diesel engine increased the fire safety of the armored personnel carrier, while the new engine also provided fuel economy. Together with the installation of new fuel tanks, the capacity of which has grown to 360 liters, these steps have brought the maximum cruising range to about 480 kilometers. At the same time, the modernization led to an increase in the combat weight of the armored personnel carrier by about 900 kg, which did not affect the mobility of the combat vehicle due to compensation by the engine of greater power.
The next updates affected the tracked armored personnel carrier already in 1979. The new model received the M113A2 index. The program for creating this model was primarily aimed at improving the reliability and operational characteristics of the combat vehicle. The main changes concerned the suspension and the engine cooling system. The new hydromechanical transmission provided the armored personnel carrier with six speeds forward and one backward (on the previous model 3 + 1), the use of high-strength torsion shafts made it possible to increase the ground clearance of the machine from 400 to 430 mm, and bringing the total number of shock absorbers to six (shock absorbers appeared on the second rollers) positively affected the ride and ease of travel over rough terrain. Also, optionally, two external fuel tanks could be installed on the armored personnel carrier, which were located on both sides of the rear ramp. A set of smoke grenade launchers was also developed specifically for the M113A2. With all the changes, the model began to weigh 11, 34 tons and almost completely lost its buoyancy.
The last major modernization of the M113 took place in 1987, and the updated model was designated the M113A3. The main innovations concerned increasing the security of the crew and landing forces and took into account the experience of conducting recent local conflicts, including in the Middle East. In the course of work on this model, the designers managed to significantly improve the armor protection and mobility of the combat vehicle. To increase the security of the landing force and the crew, additional steel armor plates were played, which were installed on the main aluminum armor of the hull in the form of additional screens, the connection was bolted. The use of hinged armor provided all-round protection of the vehicle from the fire of 14.5-mm heavy machine guns, and in the frontal projection, the armor withstands the hit of 20-mm armor-piercing rounds to automatic cannons from a distance of 200 meters. In addition, an anti-splinter lining made of composite material, which protects soldiers from fragments of flying main armor, contributed to the increase in the protection of the landing. The bottom of the hull was also reinforced with additional steel sheets. Two external armored fuel tanks were finally registered in the rear of the combat vehicle, replacing the tank located inside the hull. At the same time, the dimensions of the armored personnel carrier also changed, which grew in length by 44 cm. The solution with the removal of the fuel tanks from the hull, increased the survivability of the crew and the landing force.
As a result of all the changes, the combat mass of the M113A3 increased to almost 14 tons (without additional armor, 12.3 tons). The increase in the combat weight of the vehicle required the designers to increase the power of the installed engine. The power plant has been seriously redesigned. At the heart of the new model is the 6V-53T Detroit Diesel turbocharged diesel engine. Its power increased to 275 hp, while the designers were able to reduce fuel consumption by 22 percent. Thanks to the increase in power, the armored personnel carrier not only retained its speed characteristics, but also seriously improved its dynamics and acceleration. With the new engine, the combat vehicle accelerated to 50 km / h in 27 seconds instead of 69 seconds for the previous modifications. In addition, the comfort of the driver has improved, who controlled the armored personnel carrier not with levers, but with a car steering wheel.
