- 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The M113 is an American made APC, first put in service inside of the US armed forces in the 1960’s to mainly replace outdated vehicles of its type, FMC would develop and produce the vehicle.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. During the mid to late 1970’s the Italian army had been testing several variants of the M113 platform, one of the main roles they were looking for would be a dedicated self-propelled anti-air vehicle which would be cheap and could be mass produced in a short amount of time. As such OTO Melara began to work on a solution, initially a prototype was created which integrated the American maxon mount with x4 12.7mm machineguns. At that point it was regarded as something sub-par compared to other AA vehicles of the era although the Italian army likely was still using it together with the Breda Bofors as one of their main AA weapon systems. The initial proposal was dropped however some of the key design features would be kept. Some time passed and for the first time at the Fabbrica d’Armi dell’Esercito di Treni this variant of the M113 with x2 Rehinmentall RH202 20mm cannons would be shown in a public setting. What was done in the design department included the complete removal of the 12.7mm machine guns and the modification of the original maxon mount to allow the installation of the previously mentioned Rehinmentall 20mm cannons. The RH202 was widely used by many nations and inside the Italian armed forces it was the primary armament installed on the Fiat 6616. The munitions it could use included APDS,HVAP-T and HEFI-T. The rate of fire would be around 800 rounds a minute. The mount in itself is quite obscure as this variant of the M113 sadly wasn’t documented as well as others, but that said the elevation angles and traverse was likely very similar to the original, if not slightly better. This variant would be extensively tested well into the late 1970’s but would ultimately be dropped, further down the line the SIDAM-25 would be created, which was also based on the M113 although it was a slightly modified variant.
Armament+Equipment
x2 Rehinmentall RH202 20mm cannons (able to fire APDS,HVAP-T and HEFI-T)
x1 7.62mm/12.7mm machine gun
Specifcations
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, or depending on the munitions they choose to give it, between the R3 and SIDAM-25. It wouldn’t be very op considering the platform its on is very weak, and only gets more weaker as it goes up in battle rating. The main upside would be the firepower which would help balance out its weaknesses. Although this is an obscure vehicle, with time i think a decent model could be created and be added unto the game.
Sources
Spoiler
M113 in Italia Veicolo Trasporto Truppe e Derivati
Autoveicoli del l’esercito Italiano V4
AFV Profile, Missile Armed Armoured Vehicles
Jane’s weapon systems 1969-70
Jane’s weapon systems 1970-71
20mm Rheinmetall Rh-202 | Weaponsystems.net
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
FMC ACRC
Rheinmetall Mk 20 Rh-202 - Wikipedia
Medium calibre weapons – automatic cannons 20–35mm | Rheinmetall
Photos
Spoiler
