US Soldiers prepare M113 vehicles for Ukrainian defense

29 April 2022

19 1 minute read

Abone Ol

The U.S. Indiana National Guard has announced that its Soldiers are preparing M113 tracked armored personnel carriers for transport, as part of a U.S. initiative to support Ukrainians in the defense of their nation.

“Hoosier Guardsmen inspected, repaired and test drove M113s to ensure they are fully operational,” the news release says.

The U.S. will donate almost 200 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine as part of an $800 million aid package, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

The U.S. is rushing in long-range artillery, other weapons and ammunition as the battle shifts to the east and south of Ukraine. Washington has delivered $3.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February, according to the State Department.

The U.S. Army’s long-servicing M113 tracked vehicle will help Ukraine to repel a renewed military offensive by Russia. It is was the first aluminum hull combat vehicle to be put into mass production, it introduced new aluminum armor that made the vehicle much lighter than earlier vehicles; it was 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 a command vehicle. The U.S. Army’s heavy brigade combat teams are equipped with approximately 6,000 M113s and 4,000 Bradleys.

Abone Ol