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M113 armored personnel carrier

Tracked armored personnel career M113 is a light 10.4-ton tracked armored vehicle protecting the crew from ammunition and missile fragments. These APCs can move troops and equipment across battlefields, while providing protection from small-arms fire and artillery. M113 can swim because of its tracks at the speed of 6 km/h. If the M113 is used as a platform, a cargo and personnel transportation vehicle can be assembled, or a command-post, medical support, communications, technical recovery vehicle.

The M113 is one of the vehicles most widely used in non-communist countries of the world and showed activity as transport for infantrymen of free nations. Among the important features of the M113 are smallness, lightness, and therefore easiness to use. It is designed as a light armoured personnel carrier for transporting 13 fully armed riflemen including the driver, but also serves as a cargo boat, ambulance, weapon carrier, command car and reconnaissance car.

Canada intends to dispose of old military equipment, despite proposals from defense companies to repair it and transfer it to Ukraine. This was reported 21 September 2023 by the CBC television channel with reference to the country's Ministry of Defense. According to the report, 67 of the 140 American M113 armored personnel carriers that are in service with Canada are “awaiting <...> final disposal or are being used as a source of spare parts” for the equipment remaining in service. According to the Ministry of Defense, these vehicles are in “poor condition” and will soon be replaced with new models.

Instead, the Canadian defense company Armatec Survivability, along with other defense companies, offered to repair the old armored vehicles and, according to the TV channel's report, transfer them to Ukraine. However, the Ministry of Defense said that "any equipment transferred by Canada must be suitable for combat operations." An even more important criterion, the defense department noted, is that it “must meet the specific needs identified by Ukraine and be equipment that Ukrainians know how to use and can maintain.”

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visited Ottawa on 22 September 2023 and asked for additional military equipment, including combat vehicles and tanks, to be transferred to Kyiv. According to the Canadian Department of Defense, Ottawa has provided Kyiv with funding in the amount of more than 8 billion Canadian dollars (about $6 billion) since the beginning of 2022. Of this, more than 1.8 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.3 billion) was allocated for military support. Canada has already distributed 8 Leopard 2A4 tanks, 39 new armored personnel carriers and 208 Roshel Senator armored vehicles to Ukraine.

Overall, Belgium plans to transfer to Ukraine 40 M113 APCs, which were decommissioned by the Belgian army more than 10 years ago. Belgium will soon hand over to Ukraine ten decommissioned US-made M113 tracked armored personnel carriers, which have been repaired and are ready for shipment, Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said 15 September 2023. “Today I can announce that the first batch of ten M113 vehicles has been prepared and will be sent to Ukraine as soon as possible,” the minister said in a written statement. Belgium, jointly with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, repairs and brings this equipment into working condition for subsequent transfer to Ukraine. The delivery will cost the Belgian budget 11 million euros ($11.7 million).

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder announced the Council of Ministers approved the 15th aid package for Ukraine on 16 June 2023. Belgium announcedthat it would repair and transfer to Ukraine, as part of the next aid package, a batch of American M-113 armored personnel carriers. Belgium will purchase and supply armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian forces, in this case tracked armored personnel carriers of the M113 type - which the Belgian army withdrew from service more than ten years ago. The vehicles will be restored to operational condition by Belgian industry before being delivered to Ukraine. The reports did not specify the number of armored personnel carriers and the timing of their delivery, noting only that the transfer will take place after the repair of military equipment decommissioned more than 10 years ago is completed. The cost of the deal is €11 million.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder agreed on this issue during the meeting of the contact group on military assistance to Kyiv held on 15 June 2023 in Brussels. As the minister clarified, the kingdom will take part in the training of Ukrainian drivers on the territory of another country. The Belgian Ministry of Defense had reported that it had supplied Ukraine with military assistance in the amount of €274.6 million. These are small arms, anti-tank grenade launchers, ammunition, medical supplies and underwater drones. Within the framework of the EU program, Belgium has provided training for 700 Ukrainian servicemen.

Belgium has roughly 190 M113 AIFV armoured vehicles in reserve. This military equipment has gone unused for years and in recent years the Belgian government has begun to get rid of these by selling them for a fraction of what they're worth. Now, however, they're valuable again. Normally it wouldn't be wise to send foreign equipment such as this to Ukraine due to the fact that they don't have the training nor spare parts to maintain the vehicles, but this is no longer the case. The United States has pledged to supply Ukraine with 200 M113s, as well as training and spare parts. Belgium needed to do its part as well!. On Belgian soil they collect dust, in Ukraine they can defend democracy and save lives.

The first shipment of National Guard equipment flowed two days after the president authorized support on 13 April 2022. The Connecticut, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia Army National Guard were part of a combined effort to send about 200 M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers to Ukraine. In Apeil 2022 Indiana National Guardsmen prepared M113 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 U.S. military stopped purchasing them in 2006, when they were replaced by the M2 Bradley, so the National Guard was able to provide them to Ukraine at no detriment to their mission. However, due to their size and the necessity to ensure the integrity of their armor, this made shipping them a large logistical movement.

Instruction for the drivers’ training portion of the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier maintenance course at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany is provided by the 1st Armor Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division as part of a security assistance package.

In 2016, Lithuania purchased 168 German ?577 APCs from the arsenal of the German army, spending a total of 1.6 million euros on this. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence signed a deal in November 2016 with its German counterpart to purchase 168 M577 armored personnel carriers (APCs). "The Lithuanian Armed Forces are buying command, indirect fire support, medical evacuation and training [variants of the] M577 armored personnel carriers [to] fill in the shortages of armored vehicles in the Lithuanian land force," Lt. Col. Ramunas Baronas, the commander of the Logistic Support Command of the Lithuanian military, was quoted as saying in the statement.

In 2019, the German enterprise FFG Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft mbH won a tender organized by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to modernize 22 M577 APCs the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Retrofitted M577 can be used to combat control PzH 2000 howitzers.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine received from Lithuania ?113 armored personnel carriers and ?577 Command Post Carrier, which Ukraine needed urgently. Ukraine will also receive ammunition and other necessary support for reserve training.

The M113 armored personnel carriers transferred by Lithuania are in Ukraine and are performing their combat missions. This was announced by Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvidas Anushauskas on June 16, 2022. He wrote "Today, at the NATO Ukraine Support Coordination Group meeting, I emphasized that due to the given or promised number of M113s, this armored vehicle becomes a significant part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Lithuania makes a significant contribution to this. Also, Lithuania offers to organize wide-spectrum military training for the armed forces of Ukraine. The Lithuanian army is evaluating the possibility of sending up to 10 instructors to the United Kingdom, which intends to conduct basic 3-week military training for 10,000 soldiers in the next three months. Ukrainian soldiers". The total amount of assistance provided by Lithuania to Ukraine reached € 115 million.

In a joint efforts with the Ministry of National Defence, on 16 June 2022 the Lithuanian Armed Forces handed over to Ukraine M113 tracked armored personnel carriers thus finalizing the recent EUR 15,5 million worth shipment of assistance to Ukraine. It also included 10 military trucks and 10 SUVs for demining operations which reached Ukraine in the beginning of June.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Lithuania had transferred 50 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. The Minister of Defense of Lithuania Arvydas Anušauskas reported about this. "“Lithuania has provided support to Ukraine and will continue to do so. Just three days ago, our APCs that we handed over already arrived in Ukraine, and now the number of M113 armored personnel carriers handed over to Ukraine is 50,” he said. Arvydas Anušauskas emphasized that approximately in November 2022, Lithuania should receive American JLTV armored vehicles to replace the handed over M113s.

It became known about the next transfer of armored personnel carriers from Lithuania to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 26 September 2022. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said that the country is preparing two batches of armored personnel carriers for Ukraine.

Landsbergis came to Ukraine on a working visit together with Simon Coveney, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland. The heads of departments discussed their assistance to Ukraine, nuclear safety, and the “green corridor” for the export of Ukrainian grain. After the meeting, the diplomats held a joint press conference in Odesa. "The difference from other states is that we, seeing Ukraine's need, give away part of our capabilities. We emptied the warehouses a long time ago. The limit (as far as we can give - BNS) is difficult to define, it depends on the situation in Ukraine. But we are considering all things," Landsbergis said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks with his Lithuanian and Irish colleagues Gabrielus Ladsbergis and Simon Coveney. The heads of foreign affairs of the countries discussed the functioning of the "grain corridor". In particular, Dmytro Kuleba noted that it is necessary to do everything necessary for the Odesa port to work at full capacity. The ministers also talked about the bilateral supplies of arms by Lithuania and the support of Ireland by the EU's efforts to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities.

Lithuania continued suitably supporting Ukraine militarily: the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 14 November 2022 received mobile heavy mortars mounted on M113 APCs from Lithuania. Lithuania handed over 12 items of M113 APCs: 10 with 120mm mobile mortars mounted on them and 2 for the role of fire control. Ukraine also received the 120mm ammunition for the weapons.

To date, Lithuania had handed over 62 items of different modifications of M113 APCs to Ukraine. “Lithuania continues fulfilling its obligations. I wish to thank all Lithuanian Armed Forces personnel and professionals of the National Defence System who arranged and implemented the logistical side of it at a very short notice,” says Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas.

On 06 January 2023 the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the Biden Administration's commitment of $3.075 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine. This includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $2.85 billion to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs, as well as the Department of State's announcement of $225 million in Foreign Military Financing to contribute to the long-term capacity and modernization of Ukraine's military. The Presidential Drawdown is the twenty-ninth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021. Capabilities in this package included 100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers.

According to Danish publication OLFI 30 April 2022, Denmark will send Ukraine 25 Piranha III armored personnel carriers, 50 M113 armored personnel carriers, and M10 mortars with thousands of shells for them. By July 2022 Danish armored personnel carriers M113G4DK were already involved in the Ukrainian army. The M113G4DK differs from the base M113 with an extended body, an extra pair of track rollers, and extra external fuel tanks. The Danish Armed Forces have used M113 armored personnel carriers since the 1960s. In 2020, the country announced the transition to more modern wheeled Piranha V armored personnel carriers. Danish M113s were upgraded in the 90s and 2010s. The armored personnel carriers received a 10.6-liter diesel turbo engine with a capacity of 300 hp, new tracks, external fuel tanks, and an improved braking and control system.

In a joint efforts with the Ministry of National Defence, the Lithuanian Armed Forces handed over to Ukraine M113 tracked armored personnel carriers in June 2022, thus finalizing the recent EUR 15,5 million worth shipment of assistance to Ukraine. It also included 10 military trucks and 10 SUVs for demining operations which reached Ukraine in the beginning of June. Lithuania provides and will provide all possible support to Ukraine’s statehood and independence, including military, financial, humanitarian and any other, against the Russian aggression.

Lithuania continues suitably supporting Ukraine militarily: the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 14 November 2022 received mobile heavy mortars mounted on M113 PACs from Lithuania. Lithuania handed over 12 items of M113 APCs: 10 with 120mm mobile mortars mounted on them and 2 for the role of fire control. Ukraine also received the 120mm ammunition for the weapons. To date, Lithuania had handed over 62 items of different modifications of M113 APCs to Ukraine.

By May 2022 the U.S. Department of Defense was urging the Portuguese government to send to Ukraine a batch of its M113 APCs to Ukraine, The M113s that Portugal sent to Ukraine, provided by the Portuguese Government, arrived 17 July 2022. According to the most recent information, the war vehicles were operating in Kherson, the Ukrainian region that Russia annexed. In total, Portugal donated 14 M113s, representing 10% of the country's fleet. And on 20 January 2023 the Government announced a new military support package for Ukraine that include a second set of 14 M113 armored vehicles.

The M113AS4s, an Australian upgrade to the American-made M113 armored personnel carrier, were loaded onto a large Ukrainian Antonov AN-124 aircraft in June before it takes off for Europe and the Ukrainian battlefields. The first four M113AS4 Armored Personnel Carriers being gifted to Ukraine departed RAAF Base Amberley last week. Loaded into a Ukrainian Antonov AN-124 aircraft, the four vehicles were the first of 14 M113AS4s to be provided by Australia. The Australian government’s military assistance package consists of over AUD 285 million worth of support including Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles, M777 Howitzers; anti-armour weapons, ammunition, unmanned aerial systems and a range of personal equipment.

The M113AS4 Armoured Personnel Carrier is a longstanding in-service ADF armoured fighting vehicle capability, designed to transport infantry soldiers on the battlefield. Developed in Australia, the AS4 is a modernised variant based upon the highly effective M113 series which have served the Australian Army and many other forces with great success since the 1960s.

In the middle of the debate on the shipment of Leopard battle tanks from Ukraine, in January 2023 the Spanish Ministry of Defense began the transfer to the Slavic country of the 20 M113 promised in August, known in Spain as TOA (Transporte Oruga Acorazado) , after a set-up that began in September and the completion of the necessary procedures (permission from the US as the owner of the technology). The TOA is an armored vehicle in service with Army units for more than half a century, it is the oldest armored vehicle in service, and its replacement has already been approved, although the replacement vehicle development program has not yet been finalized. The Spanish Army had come to have around 1,300 TOA.

YPR-765

The military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have spoken about the YPR-765 tracked armored personnel carriers, which they used in the Bakhmut direction against the Russian invaders. The Dutch-made IFW YPR-765, with a remarkable and unique silhouette, is often seen on the roads of Ukraine’s east and south nowadays. Day and night, without stopping, they are chasing the russian occupiers out of Ukrainian land.

These tracked APCs arrived in Ukraine from the Netherlands as military aid for the defense against a full-scale Russian invasion that had begun in February 2022

On April 19, 2022, the Dutch Prime Minister announced via his Twitter account, that the Netherlands will send heavy combat equipment to Ukraine including armored vehicles, after a phone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian Army received its first YPR-765 armoured infantry vehicles from Netherlands, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed on 14 May 2022. The YPR was introduced to the Dutch army in 1979 and the army is now making plans for the replacement of the vehicle.

In 2012, the armed forces of the Netherlands decommissioned the YPR-765. Most have been replaced by a combination of CV9035NL, Fennek and Boxer vehicles. The Dutch Army only uses the YPR-806 A1 PRB (pantserrupsberging) and YPR-KMar (Koninklijke Marechaussee). At the beginning of 2022, the country had up to 500 such armored vehicles in storage.

Days after Russia commenced its invasion of the country on the 24th of February 2022, the Dutch Ministry of Defence declared it would no longer provide details on arms deliveries to Ukraine. According to foreign sources, the Dutch army could provide no more than 40-50 vehicles. The Ukrainian side, in turn, wrote about 300 units, but such information, obviously, did not correspond to reality. However, the moral and physical obsolescence of armored personnel carriers and the superiority of the Russian army have done their job - the number of Dutch vehicles is constantly declining.

David Axe reported 17 May 2022 "The Ukrainian army appears to be forming a new mechanized infantry unit.... The unit is training on mostly donated equipment: ex-Polish T-72M1 tanks, ex-Dutch YPR-765 armored personnel carriers and ex-British and ex-Turkish infantry equipment.... A brigade riding in a mix of Polish, Dutch and Ukrainian vehicles is likely to run into logistical problems as maintainers struggle to source a frankly bizarre mix of spare parts."

Basically, the YPR-765 is an improved version of the American M113 APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier). Most of the Dutch YPRs are built by licence in the Netherlands by the DAF Company, which is well known for their solid trucks. The YPR-765(PRI) armored personnel carriers is armed with a 12.7mm Browning M2 heavy machine gun.The main version of the YPR is equipped with a 25 mm gun and carries a vehicle commander, gunner, and driver plus an additional eight infantry troops. If necessary, an automatic 40 mm MK19 grenade launcher can be mounted on the armored personnel carrier.

The YPR-765 are being actively used by the Ukrainian assault units of one of the military units that holds the defense line in Donbas, ArmiyaInform reported. According to the military, in combat conditions, the YPR-765 demonstrated that the combat vehicle helps effectively fight against Russian invaders.

The armored personnel carrier successfully delivers the landing party to the required place, and can also evacuate the wounded from the battlefield and has high cross-country ability. The Ukrainian military says that this armored vehicle is simple and reliable: even with high maneuverability and sharp turns, the "goose does not take off". Although, according to them, this often happens with Soviet-era infantry fighting vehicles.

Compared to the Soviet-era fighting vehicles, these armored personnel carriers are much more maneuverable and easier to control, they are equipped with an automatic transmission and easy to maintain. The armor can easily withstand a hit from a large-caliber machine gun and even a grenade launcher.

Ryabov Kirill noted: "As practice has shown, the mobility of the Dutch armored personnel carrier is insufficient even for the Ukrainian landscape - and in such conditions the vehicle can get stuck. The level of protection does not match the current threats. Own armor and mounted protection blocks can only withstand bullets and some types of small-caliber projectiles. Modern armor-piercing ammunition or large caliber systems pose the most serious threat..... As a result, the entire delivered batch of YPR-765 machines will be destroyed under certain circumstances, and individual samples will be lucky to become a trophy. As a result, equipment from the Netherlands will not help the Kyiv regime in any way and will not affect the processes of its forced demilitarization ".

A =mini scandal emerged in Australia over Canberra’s decision to stuff its Vietnam War-vintage military equipment into Kiev, with local military experts questioning how the aid that has been announced could possibly add up to $110 million AUD, while opposition leader Peter Dutton said it’s “frankly embarrassing” that Australia is sending equipment to Ukraine that’s so clearly “not fit for purpose.” “You can’t just clear out the garage from Defense of old vehicles that you don’t want anymore. That’s not the response of a developed nation like ours,” Dutton said, dubbing the aid package the equivalent of a “garage sale.”

The media has had a field day attacking the Albanese government, characterizing the assistance – particularly the M113s, as absolute “obsolete boneyard vehicles” from the Vietnam War era that would have little impact on the Ukrainian battlefield. Other observers said Canberra’s “stingy” “hand-me-down aid” is fueling perceptions of Australia as “using Ukraine as a dumping ground.”

Dutton suggested that instead of sending the 1964-vintage M113s, Canberra should give Kiev its newer Hawkei light four-wheel-drive protected mobility vehicles, produced by Thales Australia, and ramp up production so that Australia’s own military “doesn’t go without.”

“The M113 is a fairly old armored personnel carrier on a tracked chassis, which has participated in many conflicts, not just the Vietnam War, but also the wars in the Persian Gulf, and other military campaigns involving the United States and its allies,” veteran Russian military expert Alexey Leonkov, editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, told Sputnik. “They were generally successful in these wars, as well as local conflicts which we can characterize as colonial wars. That is, the losses were not so great,” the observer explained.

“But in Ukraine, these APCs showed from their very first deliveries that they cannot withstand the intensity of the conflict,” with armor vulnerable to heavy weapons, including the 30mm automatic guns fitted to Russian attack helicopters, Leonkov said. In other words, the Russian expert noted, if the main purpose of an armored transport is to safely deliver troops to the frontline, in the case of the M113, doing so is possible only by happy accident, and if Ukrainian forces don’t happen to run into heavily-equipped Russian forces.

“That is, in the majority of cases, if such an APC finds itself in a zone of heavy fire, the best thing that Ukrainian troops and mercenaries can do is to leave the vehicle. Because if someone stays behind and hopes that the M113’s aluminum armor will save them, they’ll play too high a price. We’ve seen a great deal of footage from the front lines showing these APCs knocked out, stuck in off-road conditions. They’ve proven absolutely unsuitable for this theater of operations,” Leonkov said.

Ultimately, Leonkov said, Australia, the US, NATO, and the West in general have indeed used Ukraine as a dumping ground for their “armored junk,” allowing them to clear out inventories as the military-industrial complex ramps up production of modern equipment. “They’re profiting on it. But of course, this is profit gained on the blood of Ukrainian service members. But Australia, like other countries supplying weapons to Ukraine, is absolutely not interested in this.”

Recent reports that Australia sent over AUD $70 million of its military assistance to Ukraine without formal approval, declarations, or export permits is further confirmation of such profiteering, since shipping junked vehicles to Ukraine is cheaper than having to recycle them domestically, according to Leonkov. “If Australia’s anti-corruption legislation really works, if it is serious, I think they’ll sort it out. If they don’t, we can confidently say that such legislation is merely a formality,” the observer summed up.