The Vietnamese People's Army continues to operate several hundred captured American M113 armored personnel carriers. These tracked vehicles, for example, are in service with the elite 201st Armored Brigade stationed in the Hanoi area.
"We all get along"
Amors of 201st Brigade of Vietnam People Army lining up for an inspection. T-62, BMP-1, BMP-2 and T-90S/SK could be seen which means the 201st operates a mix of Soviet/Russian and American assets simultaneously. pic.twitter.com/0eHMin6ZFn
— Lee Ann Quann (@AnnQuann) November 26, 2021
In 1975, this unit took an active part in the spring offensive, which ended with the complete defeat of the Saigon regime army supported by the United States.
Judging by numerous television and photo reports, the "one hundred and thirteenth" are currently in good condition. The 12.7-mm Browning M2 and 7.62-mm M60 American machine guns previously used as onboard weapons were replaced, respectively, by Soviet DSHK or NSV "Utes" and PKM.
73-mm CNG-9 "Spear" machine-gun grenade launchers are also installed on part of the machines, which turned out to be more convenient to operate than the bulky 106-mm overseas recoilless guns M40.
The armored personnel carriers were also equipped with new means of communication and night vision devices.
During the exercises, these armored vehicles have to interact with infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1, BMP-2, medium tanks T-62 and main combat T-90S / SK. The latter are considered the most modern in the land forces of this state.
They have powerful 1000-horsepower multi-fuel engines that accelerate 46-ton steel fortresses along the highway up to 60 km/h.
125 mm guns with high accuracy, in addition to cumulative, sub-caliber and high-explosive fragmentation shells, are also capable of using laser-guided long-range missiles. Thanks to the double cumulative warhead, they hit armored vehicles equipped with so-called "reactive armor".
To fight the enemy infantry, there is a paired 7.62 mm machine gun. The turret 12.7 mm anti-aircraft allows the commander to use it with the hatch closed.
Reliable protection is provided by multilayer armor, as well as a complex of optoelectronic suppression "Curtain", which makes it difficult to direct various anti-tank weapons.
Alexey Moiseev
