- Yes
- No
The M113 is an American made APC, first put in service inside of the US armed forces in the 1960’s to mainly replace outdated vehicles of its type, FMC would develop and produce the vehicle. Due to the positive characteristics of the M113 platform, such as it being highly modular, many countries sought to acquire this platform to incorporate inside of their respective armies to fill out several different roles. Many new M113 variants would start showing up across the globe, with each country either adding more armaments or improving the vehicle to suit operational needs by giving it certain modifications. Italy would be one of the many countries who would have a period of years that experimented and conducted several tests on the M113 platform to attempt to enhance the overall usability of the vehicle. During the late 1960’s/Early 1970’s the Italian army started to modify several M113 platforms in hopes that they could help out in areas in which they’d be deemed useful. In this particular case the OTO Melara assisted by Hispano Suiza would create a dedicated anti air platform due to a request from the Italian army, this variant of the M113 was equipped with the HS 820 20mm cannon in a fully rotating and protected turret. 2 prototypes would be created and be extensively tested inside the Nettuno grounds in Italy. Not much is known about the tests, they did produce positive results however ultimately it sadly this variant wouldn’t see itself being produced en mass. The base M113 platform was basically untouched, so it retained the same engine, armour and general layout from any regular M113. This means if it faced any sort of enemy fire it would be taken out easily due to the lack of armour present on the base variant. The mobility was only just slightly effected but due to the main armament being somewhat lightweight the difference was negligible, so it was still highly mobile both on and off-road. In terms of the main armament, the 20mm HS 820 was used on many different military vehicles of the era, in the special mount the elevation angles were very good and allowed it to effectively engage air targets, the depression angles were also good so if there was a need to engage enemy ground targets it could’ve also been used in that secondary role if needed. The firing rate of the HS 820 ranged from 900-1000 rounds a minute. More interestingly depending on the need, the cannon could either be configured to be belt-fed or have a special 50 round drum magazine. Overall this project was promising but was most likely dropped to save money for other projects that at the time they prioritised.
Armament+Equipment
x1 Hispano Suiza HS 820 20mm cannon (able to fire APDS,HEF-I,API-T and more)
x1 7.62mm/12.7mm Machine gun
Specifications
Spoiler
Why it should be in game
By Gaijin adding this M113 variant, it would mean that the Italian ground TT has another possibile low-tier AA vehicle which can be placed inbetween the M42 and the R3. Considering the fact it would be a fairly easy model to make as it wouldn’t take as much time for Gaijin to create. The platform in itself is in no way OP and if Gaijin want to prevent this vehicle to be used against ground targets they could just not give it any APDS rounds. Even if it is an M113 it would still be mobile since the main 20mm is not that heavy and in addition the armour is lackluster so it can easily be taken out by pretty much anything it encounters.
Sources
Spoiler
M113 in Italia Veicolo Trasporto Truppe e Derivati
Autoveicoli del l’esercito Italiano V4
AFV Profile, Missile Armed Armoured Vehicles
Hispano Suiza aircraft cannon development
Jane’s weapon systems 1969-70
Jane’s weapon systems 1970-71
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/m113-armoured-personnel-carrier/
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FASTPANEL
M113 - Wikipedia
Hispano-Suiza HS.820 - Wikipedia
http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/mezzi/m113-onnipresente-sui-campi-di-battaglia-e-nei-ricordi-di-intere-generazioni
M113 Specifications
AFV Database
Photos
Spoiler
