The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation (FMC), which had produced the earlier M59 and M75 APC. The M113 bears a strong resemblance to both earlier vehicles. It was the first aluminum hull combat vehicle to be put into mass production. Much lighter than earlier vehicles, its aluminum armor was thick enough to protect the crew and passengers against small arms fire, but light enough to be air-lifted and air-dropped by C-130 and C-141 transport Planes.
The original concept was that the vehicle would be used solely for transportation, bringing the troops forward under armor and then having them dismount for combat, afterwards the M113 would retreat to the rear. It entered service with the U.S. Army in 1960 and required only two crewmembers, a driver, and a commander. The M113 could transport between 11–15 passengers inside the vehicle. Its main armament was a single .50-caliber M2 Browning machine gun operated by the commander. In 1961, it was sent to U.S. Army European Command to replace the infantry’s M59 APCs. The M113 first entered combat in April 1962 with the South Vietnamese army (ARVN)
The versatility of the M113 spawned a wide variety of adaptations that appear worldwide and in U.S. service. These variants together currently represent about half of U.S. Army armored vehicles. It is estimated that over 80,000 vehicles in the M113 family have been produced and used by over 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the most widely used armored fighting vehicles of all time. In the United States, M113s have been adopted by numerous law enforcement agencies. Production of the M113 was terminated in 2007 when the U.S. Army initiated the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program to search for a replacement up-armored type vehicle.
