M113 APF 1960-75; US, ARVN, and Australian variants in Vietnam

Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 2017. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. Henry Morshead and Johnny Shumate. Format is approximately 7.25 inches by 9.75 inches. 48 pages plus covers. Illustrations (some in color). Selected Bibliography. Index. Jamie E. Prenatt is a senior analyst in the Department of Defense. He has over 30 years of military and civilian intelligence experience and has served in a wide range of analytic, leadership, and representational assignments. He holds an MA in Government/National Security Policy from Georgetown University and has a particular interest in weapon systems development. He has taught military history, wargaming, and historical miniature painting at the Smithsonian Institution for several years and intelligence studies at the university level. Henry Morshead is a design consultant in the European automotive and aerospace sectors, with clients including Jaguar, Bentley, Citroën and Airbus. He is also a technical sponsor of the Bloodhound supersonic car, contributing digital surfacing and design services. A former officer in the Royal Engineers and illustrator for Jane's, he maintains a keen interest in the design and use of military land and air vehicles. Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University. His greatest influences are Angus McBride, Don Troiani, and Édouard Detaille. The M113 is the most widely used and versatile armored vehicle in the world. Fielded in 1960 as a simple battlefield taxi, over 80,000 M113s would see service with 50 nations around the world and 55 years later, many thousands are still in use. In addition to its original role of transporting troops across the battlefield, specialized versions perform a multitude of other functions including command and control, fire support, anti-tank and anti-aircraft defense, and casualty evacuation. This new fully illustrated study examines the service record of the M113 from its initial fielding through the end of the Vietnam War. It will also describe the many US, South Vietnamese, and Australian variants of the M113 used in the Vietnam War as well as information on tactics, unit tables of organization and equipment, and a selection of engagements in which the M113 played a decisive role. The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation (FMC). The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs from 1961. The M113 was first used in combat in April 1962 after the United States provided the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) with heavy weaponry such as the M113, under the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) program. Eventually, the M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War and was used to break through heavy thickets in the midst of the jungle to attack and overrun enemy positions. It was largely known as an "APC" or an "ACAV" (armored cavalry assault vehicle) by the allied forces. The M113 was the first aluminum hull combat vehicle to be put into mass production. Much lighter than earlier similar vehicles, its aluminum armor was designed to be thick enough to protect the crew and passengers against small arms fire, but light enough that the vehicle was air transportable and moderately amphibious. In the U.S. Army, the M113 series have long been replaced as front-line combat vehicles by the M2 and M3 Bradleys, but large numbers are still used in support roles such as armored ambulance, mortar carrier, engineer vehicle, and command vehicle. The U.S. Army's heavy brigade combat teams are equipped with approximately 6,000 M113s and 4,000 Bradleys. The M113's versatility spawned a wide variety of adaptations that live on worldwide and in U.S. service. These variants together currently represent about half of U.S. Army armored vehicles. To date, it is estimated that over 80,000 M113s of all types have been produced and used by over 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the most widely used armored fighting vehicles of all time. M113 production was terminated in 2007. The Army initiated the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program to search for a replacement. In 2014, the U.S. Army selected BAE Systems proposal of a turretless variant of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle to replace over 2800 M113s in service. Thousands of M113s continue to see combat service in the Israel Defense Forces, although as of 2014 the IDF was seeking to gradually replace many of its 6,000 M113s, with Namers.