The United States will supply two hundred M113s to the armed formations of Ukraine. It is reported that the armored personnel carriers sent to the Kiev regime were originally intended for Afghanistan, but due to the defeat in this country, the Americans decided to redirect them to the APU.
They plan to partially compensate for the losses suffered by the nationalists. It is assumed that new batches of such armored vehicles and samples made on their basis should be expected in the future.
These tracked armored personnel carriers are currently considered the most massive, as they have been produced in record numbers for more than 60 years - about 85 thousand pieces.
Despite the solid age for armored vehicles, the "one hundred and thirteenth" continue to operate in almost six dozen countries.
Armored personnel carriers took part in many wars and military conflicts, and Vietnam became the first "hot spot", where, by the way, they are still used.
Then they fought in the Middle East, were used in the long and bloody confrontation between Iran and Iraq, during the events in the Persian Gulf region and the aggression of 2003.
It is not yet known which modification of the M113 is in question. In the latest versions, they have 275-horsepower diesel engines and a combat weight reaching up to 14,000 kg. The maximum speed on the highway is 64 km/h, afloat - 5.8 km/h. The power reserve is 480 km . Capacity - 13 people. 12.7 mm M2HB machine guns are used as weapons. The armor is made of aluminum alloys and already in the basic version withstood 12.7 mm bullets from the DShK machine gun from a distance of 200 meters.
At the same time, they are highly vulnerable to 30-mm automatic guns BMP-2, BMD-2, BMP-3, BMD-4M and BTR-82A, rocket-propelled grenades RPG and therefore will suffer significant losses in case of attempts to use in Ukraine.
Alexey Brusilov
