- 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The M113 is an American made APC, first put in service inside of the US armed forces in the 1960’s to mainly replace outdated vehicles of its type, FMC would develop and produce the vehicle.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. As such the M113 SS.11 would be created, Italy was looking modify their M113 fleet to allow it to fill out more roles which in hand would allow for more flexiblility for the Italian armed forces. Italy previously had ordered a lot of French AMX-VCI’s in the 1960’s, part of the deal, and also to accompany those vehicles and arm them would include the purchase of French made SS.11 ATGM’s. Due to the fact the Italian army deemed the M113 better than the AMX-VCI in nearly every way, they would swiftly replace the AMX platform. Italy still had access to the SS.11 atgm they bought which then lead to a request in 1968 which aimed to create a new ATGM carrier based on the M113. This new ATGM platform had to be easy to maintain and allow for the installation of the armament requested, luckily for the Italian army, France already had an answer for the request made in the form of the Nord-Aviation NA.2 turret. The Italian army would get their hands on that turret and integrate it on a singular M113 vehicle. The only problem was that Italy was far too late in development that the specific armament quickly got outdated and outclassed, meaning that producing this variant of M113 and putting it in service would just be a huge waste of time and money, one of the main reasons it was not put in service was due to major second generation ATGM’s becoming more prominent, which meant the SS.11 would no longer be considered up to standard. During testing it did have some get positive feedback, the turret was able to fully travese 360 degrees and was rather lightweight which meant the M113’s mobility wasn’t greatly affected.The Nord-Aviation NA.2 turret was also able to use heavier SS.12 atgm’s but it doesn’t look like Italy had acquired any or had the chance to use them during testing. Overall the tests didn’t showcase any flaw in the platform as everything functioned as intended but came too late for it to be deemed useful. Ultimately the Italian M113A1’s would go unto use the American made TOW ATGM system and become the dedicated ATGM carrier for many decades.
Armament+Equipment
x1 Nord-Aviation NA.2 turret (Able to fire SS.11 and SS.12 ATGM’s)
x1 12.7mm or 7.62 machinegun
Specifications
Why it should be in game
By Gaijin adding this M113 variant, it would mean that the Italian ground TT has another ATGM carrier that can easily go at a lower BR to complement some of the lineups which would have a need for this vehicle. It would be a very easy implementation due to the M113 already being in game. The French turret can easily be modelled and could also be re-used to add several different vehicles for France which used it. The armament isn’t overpowered and neither is the main platform its based on.
Sources
Spoiler
Autoveicoli del l’esercito Italiano V4
AFV Profile, Missile Armed Armoured Vehicles
Jane’s weapon systems 1969-70
M113 in Italia Veicolo Trasporto Truppe e Derivati
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/m113-armoured-personnel-carrier/
Ракетно-противотанковое "Лего" по-итальянски. - Не теряйте мужества - худшее впереди! — ЖЖ
russian-tanks.com
M113 - Wikipedia
SS.11 - Wikipedia
http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/mezzi/m113-onnipresente-sui-campi-di-battaglia-e-nei-ricordi-di-intere-generazioni
M113 Specifications
AFV Database
SS-11 | Weaponsystems.net
Photos
Spoiler
