[PH] M113A2 FSV - Retired Hero back in Action

[UnknownVariable]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

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Introducing

M113A2+ Fire Support Vehicle
Old Dog with New Tricks

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Elbit - SABIEX Upgraded M113A2+ with FV101 CVR(T) Scorpion Turret
Credits to @SergeantNeyoX for helping me much on the research of this vehicle

M113A2+ Fire Support Vehicle of the then Mechanized Infantry Division (Now Armor “Pambato” Division) during the Combined Arms Live Fire Exercises of the joint US-PH Balikatan Execrice in Crow Valley Tarlac, 2019

OVERVIEW

The Philippine Army’s acquisition of M113 armored vehicles began in 1967 with an initial purchase of 15 M113A1s, followed by periodic batches totaling 150 units by 2006. In the late 1990s, following the decommissioning of the FV101 Scorpion light tanks, the Philippine Army repurposed approximately 34 Scorpion turrets by mounting them onto M113A1 hulls, creating Fire Support Vehicles (FSVs) for counter-insurgency operations. They were seen to participate in various operations such as in Zamboanga City Siege (2013) and Lamitan Siege (2001).

In 2015, the Philippine Army received additional 114 M113A2s through the U.S. Excess Defense Articles (EDA) Program, all of which were operational by 2016. That same year, Elbit Systems, through its subsidiaries OIP Land Systems and Sabiex International, was contracted to upgrade 28 ex-Belgian M113A1Bs to the M113A2+ standard as part of the Capability Upgrade Program. This included 14 FSVs fitted with Scorpion turrets upgraded with new fire control systems the installation of night fighting / thermals capability such as the OIP EOPTRIS 2.0 (previously Aris 2.0 Optronics from Sabiex), which provided laser rangefinders and thermal optics for enhanced day and night operations. By the end of 2016, all 14 upgraded FSVs and additional M113A2 units were delivered.

In 2017, Elbit was once again awarded with upgrading 44 M113A2s from the U.S. EDA stocks by installing 12.7mm Dragon remote-controlled weapon stations (RCWS), with deliveries completed by 2019. As of 2024, reports indicate the Philippine Army operates 18 M113A2+ FSVs, suggesting four additional units may have been part of subsequent upgrade phases (or may have been turrets transplanted in-house due to the lack of optronics upgrade from OIP Systems). Nowadays, the M113A2+ FSV now serve in the Armor “Pambato” Division of the Philippine Army.

SPECIFICATIONS

Characteristic	Details
Type	Fire Support Vehicle
Mass	10.8 tons
Length	4.86 m
Width	2.69 m
Height	2.02 m
Crew	3 (commander, gunner, driver)
Max speed	64 km/h
Propulsion	General Motors 6V53, 6-cylinder two-stroke diesel212 hp (158 kW)
Transmission	Allison Transmission Division TX-100 automatic gearbox, with one reverse and tree forward gear ratios
Armament	76mm L23A1 low-pressure gun
Possible Ammo	HEAT, HESH, HESH-TP, HE, Cannister, Smoke
Electro-Optic System	OIP Sensor Systems EOPTRIS 2.0

Differences on the un-upgraded Scorpion turret and upgraded version:

As one can observe, the older standard FV101 CVR(T) turret would retain what is presumably the standard BAE Systems Sights it came with (unsure if it has day/night capabilities) but the newer one would have the larger EOPTRIS 2.0 FCS Optronics sticking out:

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EOPTRIS 2.0 Optronics and possible turret drive upgrade

It is unsure if the M113A2+ FSV of the Philippine Army received this Turret Drive upgrade but it was reported that the commissioning of the M113A2+ FSVs were delayed for a bit since the electrical kit was still missing - which could have been this one.

Credits to @Thomas_Belgium for pointing out to me Sabiex and OIP’s connection to Elbit and each other, and to @vickers43850 for your well made Sabiex SK105A2 proposal that included the EOPTRIS 2.0 Optronics.

IN-GAME

This is going to be a bit hard to place in game. Suggestions from @SergeantNeyoX reddit post say to place it around ~4.3 to 5.3 BR rating. While it is somewhat mobile and will have some of the earliest thermals-equipped vehicles in the game, it is also quite tall, has a low velocity round, and very vulnerable.

In the context of the ASEAN subtree proposal, although this was not included - it would be a viable sidegrade to the Thai Type 21 (FV101 Scorpion) which also received the same thermal sights upgrade (possibly with FCS) with the addition of new engines fitted in.

Technically speaking, the A2 standard of the M113 series did not include any armor upgrades but Elbit’s overhaul (especially with the new transmission) makes it an A2+ standard and the sides do have what look like are mountings for applique armor similar to FNSS’ A3 upgrade which would be rated for 14.5mm protection which is also present in the AIFV/ACV-300 IFVs that the Philippine Army also operates. However since its yet to be seen for the applique armor to be installed, armor protection level of this particular vehicle would remain at rifle caliber at most. There is also the option of wooden applique armor which was infamously seen during the 2016 Siege of Marawi on the older M113A1 FSVs.

MORE PHOTOS

Spoiler

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA5DgsMYnbI

SOURCES

Again, HUGE thanks to @SergeantNeyoX for helping me on this suggestion.

Books & Publication

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). (2024). The Military Balance 2024 (65th ed., p. 307). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003485834

The Philippine Army – Developing a Modernisation Strategy

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M113 Firepower Capability Upgrade and History:

Erroneous Reports Clarified on Acquisition of M113 APC for the Philippine Army ~ MaxDefense Philippines
Philippine Army receives first batch of upgraded M113A2 RCWS-equipped APC from Elbit Systems ~ MaxDefense Philippines
M-113 with Scorpion turret
https://www.army-technology.com/news/newsphilippines-receives-final-batch-of-m113a2-apc-from-us-4803302/
Philippine army to acquire more upgraded M113A2 APC Armoured Personnel
M113 FSV of the Philippine Army – romeo1tangosmilitaryanddefenseblog
Redirecting...
AFP Materiel Technical Specification Archives Main

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Sabiex International:

Sabiex International
Sabiex International

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Sensor and Ammo:

EOPTRIS Family - OIP Sensor Systems
Contents

ADDENDUM:
Edits have been made, here are they:

• HEAT round does not exist (thank you @GTP_Paulie for pointing it out)
• FCS most likely was not installed and only the sighting system is (more info on the comments section, c/o @Caernarvon02, thank you)

I encourage everyone to post more info on this if you guys have (honestly theres barely out there that says about the specifics except the broad "they put the scorpion turret on top of the M113 hur durr). Thanks!

[magikvfx]

I believe this is a good suggestion but 4.3-5.3? Are you serious? Has to be higher.

[Константинович7]

This would fall under PT-76B situation. Slow, (at least armored), easy target but with a working weapon.

[magikvfx]

Yes but the PT-76B is much less modern. This thing would look very out of place at 4.3-5.3.

[Константинович7]

If the game took in count the date of service of a vehicle, vehicles like PT-76B, M41D and much other SPG like the PzH 2000 would be much higher in BR.

[magikvfx]

Yeah, but this vehicle doesn’t fit at all within the suggested BR.

[GTP_Paulie]

I wonder if they received any assistance from Australia in the conversion, as we created a similar conversion in the 1970s on our M113A1, creating the M113A1 MRV.
Also, is there really a HEAT round for this gun? Anyone got details on performance of said shell? The HESH would be around 90-something mm pen, which could upper front plate a Panther.

[Caernarvon02]

would be a good counterpart to the PT76, an m113 with a scorpion turret

[UnknownVariable]

@GTP_Paulie

I wonder if they received any assistance from Australia in the conversion

Im pretty sure they at least got inspired from it but from what I know, there was no Australian support on the conversion (tbf it was literally just lifting up the turret into the M113 lol).

@GTP_Paulie

Also, is there really a HEAT round for this gun?

Thank you for pointing this out, I think I mixed up HEAT with the HESH-T. The suggestion has been edited to remove HEAT (tbf 90mm pen HESH can still pack quite a punch).

Sorry for the delay in the replies, my forum account had some problems so I couldnt use it for a bit.

[UnknownVariable]

I think the reasoning was that its a really low velocity gun (which isnt that big of a gun either) and very vulnerable. On the ASEAN subtree proposal and Thai subtree proposal, the Thai FV101 CVR(T) is placed around rank 3 which would be around the 5.0 BR range and I think its somewhat reasonable.

Although I do understand that such a low BR for something with thermals could be a bit problematic but I would say 6.0 is probably going to overtier it.

EDIT: Actually now that I think about it, if it is to retain its laser rangefinder, have a stabilizer, and the makeshift wooden armor then you can probably push it past 6.0 since you could function like a mortar - lobbing shells with your lrf lol

[Caernarvon02]

there was never any HEAT shell made for the L23 76mm. the Cockerill 90mm which some scorpions used did have a HEAT shell though. unfortunately those turrets didn’t make it to these guys

[Caernarvon02]

@UnknownVariable

turret would retain what is presumably the standard BAE Systems FCS it came with (unsure if it has day/night capabilities)

Hi, the Scorpion didn’t have a Fire control system, all gun and turret controls were manual but the sights were later upgraded to have nvd and tvd capabilities. the screen as you see in the photograph you added replaces only the periscope/sight combination which Scorpion and Scimitar used

[UnknownVariable]

It was really difficult to find much info on this so this is very much appreciated. Wouldnt the OCU in the picture act as an FCS or is it literally just a display screen for the gunner sight instead?

[Caernarvon02]

just a display for the sight. The gun would still be manually fired, elevated and traversed in this kind of modification. the name of the book my extract was from was “Scorpion and Scimitar British Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicles, 1970-2020” by David Grummitt. Ive used it as my main source in a bug report to do with Scimitar so its seen as legit by gaijin. All information in the book on the scorpion/scimitar turret will be applicable to M113a2 FSV.

[UnknownVariable]

Ahh thanks! I suppose in the SK105, it does seem to have a separate FCS unit. Although I dont think there would be noticable change in-game right (or does it maybe mean theres no hunter-killer system since theres no fcs?). Also the gunner does seem to grip onto the aiming rotation thingy on his right hand so yeah you are probably right.

Anyhow, ill update the suggestion. Thank you so much for the info.

[Caernarvon02]

It doesnt appear that a modification for a hunter-killer style system has been made. which is a good thing for war thunder as it means your gun cant be disabled from a FCS being damaged, this is a current issue on the scimitar which should be getting fixed as my bug report was accepted. Hopefully that error wont be made on this vehicle too. make sure all mentions of replacements of sights arent called FCS to avoid a mistake

[BasherBenDawg8]

@magikvfx

Yes but the PT-76B is much less modern. This thing would look very out of place at 4.3-5.3.

It doesn’t matter if it’s from 2080, BRs are balancing factors, and as such it should be placed at a lower BR where it belongs, not a BR based on its time period.

[GTP_Paulie]

The PT-76 has more modern features than this M113 anyway. HEATFS instead of HESH. Two plane stabilizer. I don’t think an M113 firing a low muzzle velocity HESH round would feel out of place fighting WW2 vehicles in War Thunder at all.