- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #105
I would like to suggest a very strange French AFV, the Giat M-113 Benus
For the demonstration, much of the ERA armour was removed to explaine the different type offered.
if you see the title and think “What? Would it be just an M-113 with the ERA package of the AMX 30B2 Brenus?” well, it’s close to being true.
the M-113 Brenus do add the ERA package of the Giat Brenus family. similar package that was given to the AMX 30B2. only in a bit lighter version. but not only that, but they also proposed a new turret featuring a 25mm M811 auto-cannon (same turret as the VBCI)
the M-113 Brenus was a Giat up-grade package that was proposed for export who aim to modernize the M113 protection. the M113 been used in large numbers around the world are often used as battle taxis. the armour is made of aluminium, the protection is not very reliable against heavy armament. everything of a calibre over 12.7mm is pretty much capable of penetrating it. in the modern battlefield, the RPG are a real treat to such vehicles as it would pretty much set those APCs at the blaze on a first hit. the relatively light armour of the M-113 is causing them to often fill the modern battlefield with wrecks. Giat proposed to massively add the Brenus ERA package at the front and side of the M113 APC to greatly improve his protection. the ERA armour has been adding 350mm of chemical protection and 50mm of kinetic protection, it could pretty much be immune to every portable weapon and HEAT rounds of a calibre under 90mm. with the addition of the M-113 hull, the armour would also immunize it against the 20mm and even the 25mm if there is a bit of distance.
while the proposition mainly offers improved protection, Giat took this occasion to also propose a modernization of the M113 armament. As the potential customer might look for a modernization of the M113 in general, it would be all to their advantage to also modernize the armament which in most cases only includes a 12.7mm in a pintle mount or the same armament in an open-top turret. the new turret being highly modern offered much better firepower which would allow the M113 to even engage medium armoured tanks.
the M113 Brenus was presented in EuroSatory in 2004 and 2006 but never went into export but Turkey had signed a contract to upgrade their M113 similarly. the model is possibly not even offered to export anymore.
Firepower
the main armament was a GIAT 25mm M811 , which would be more than good enough to engage the armoured target. capable to use APHE, APDS, APFSDS and HE rounds, the penetration range from 40mm (the APHE) to 90mm (APFSDS). The armament is a auto-cannon with adjustable fire-rate of either 120rounds/minutes or 400 rounds/minutes . the M811 is a dual feed cannon with 220 rounds belt ready to use (175 rounds on belt #1, 45 rounds on belt #2). the gun can switch between 2 types of rounds without the need to reload, they need to switch belts. the elevation reaches -7°/+45°, making it great against air vehicles. furthermore, the turret is electrically powered making it fast to rotate and the gun fast to elevate. the rotation and elevation speed of 60°/sec will make it great in urban combat and also pretty capable of fallow aircraft. to improve the vehicle’s combat capacity in the movement, the gun is also two-plane stabilized which is a huge advantage in combat.
day/night vision sight are also installed have a 1x/7x sight , Fire control integrates a laser Rangefinder and Infrared .
a coaxial 7.62mm GIAT AA-F1N is installed with a 200 rounds magazine and 200 more stored inside the turret.
while the turret already has enough ammunition to be enjoyable to play with, more ammo could be carried inside the hull without difficulty, only the actual number of ammunition is unknown. A total of 660 rounds of 25mm and 1200 rounds of 7.62mm is a fair guess
Mobility
The mobility of the M113 Brenus is unknown, but we can guess the top speed remains the same. assuming it was proposed in the later variants of the M113 (the M113A3) the top speed might still be 72 km/h with the General Motors 6V53T diesel 275hp engine . only the weight being significantly higher, the acceleration would suffer a lot making the top speed difficult to reach. the weight is not specifically shown as well, but it happens that we know the weight of the armour package which is 2.300 kg and the weight of the turret which is 2.250 kg, making the M-113 Brenus weigh about 16.6 tonnes . this remains pretty light for a tank of this kind. this should give 16.56 hp/tonnes which is still a good power/weight ratio to reach the speed of around 60 km/h in average road conditions. the vehicle is also amphibious even if it would be rather slow in the water
Protection
the armour protection of this specific model of M113 is one of its best features. amongst of the light tank, this specific vehicle would have outstanding protection. featuring the Brenus ERA package with a Chemical protection of 400mm and kinetic 100mm at 60° , the front and side would be simply immune to the 20mm rounds and every HEAT of less than 90mm. to that, we can also mention the vehicle’s armour, which is made of Aluminium 5083 . the protection of the very thick aluminium would give a RhA equivalent of 14-16mm which is not that bad. the front right side of the chassis is without ERA protection as the engine is there. in case of a hit, the Engine would break but the crew shall only be shaken. the turret is lightly protected, making it a vulnerable part of the vehicle. the front being only protected by 20mm, most HMG would easily penetrate it at close range. if it wasn’t for the Brenus Package. the Brenus ERA armour is particular in that matter. it does not explode on armour-piercing rounds and can provide effective protection against medium calibres such as 14.5mm 20mm and even 23mm. the brick will not detonate unless the HE rounds are used, offering effective protection against KE rounds. the protection is 100mm of KE at 60° and 400mm of CE. The crew of 2 men is the minimal need of this vehicle, but the third or fourth man could also be included in the standard crew to act as radio operator and loader.
8 smoke discharge are installed on the turret to provide a smoke screen. the turret is also equipped with a laser warning system and wired ATGM jammer.
Sources
Giat information on the Brenus package
1. Nita, M., 1999. Nowa Technika Vojscowa 10/1999
1. Hewish, M., 1996. Jane’s International Defense Review Volume 29
Nexter catalogue (who sell the kit for the AMX 30)
From Eurenco (who build the ERA kit)
- Army Guide
- https://www.military-today.com/apc/m113a3.htm
- https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexter-group.fr%2Ffr%2Fproduits%2Fitem%2F191-tarask%C2%AE-tourelle-modulaire-compacte-25-mm%3Ftmpl%3Dcomponent%26print%3D1#federation=archive.wikiwix.com
- M-113 Upgrading - Defense Update:
- M113 Brenus at Eurosatory 2006 – MYJPO
- https://www.armyrecognition.com/europe/France/Eurosatory/Eurosatory_2004_Pictures_Gallery/Eurosatory_2004_Picture_Gallery_page_4.htm
thanks to @sniperwhg & @Bossman919 for the additional source on the ERA
