M106A1
U.S.Armored S.P.Mortar :
During
WWII many country did not think that armored personnel and weapon carriers
for conveying infantry and weapons in the battlefield were very useful. As
the mobility of tanks increased, it became impossible for infantry on foot
or in unarmored wheeled vehicles, partly armored halftrack personnel
carriers, etc., to perform operations in concert with tank troops.
Motorized infantry in wheeled or half track personnel carriers were also
vulnerable to nuclear weapons. Owing to the improvement of projectiles
adapted to explode in the air to kill exposed men, it became necessary to
give armor protection to advancing infantry. By the beginning of the
1970's carriers for giving proximity fire support to combined arms
teams comprising tank force, mechanized infantry and armored cavalry
reconnaissance force, were developed on the basis of the armored personnel
carrier. In 1954, the US Army Material Command declared a plan for a
light, full track, amphibious air-portable armored personnel carrier. The
M113 was started jointly by the weapon manufacturing Div. of Food
machinery Corp. (FMC) of San Jose, California, and by Kaiser Aluminum
Chemical Corporation (KACC) of Bistol, Rhode Island. Later, four each of
the improved models, M113E1 and M113E2,
were made. After tests the M113E2 was officially accepted as the M113
Armored Personnel Carrier in June 1959. As the M113 family, the following
vehicles were manufactured : M106 Armored S/P 107mm Heavy Mortar
Carrier; M125 Armored S/P 81mm Mortar Carrier; M132 Armored support flame
thrower, M730 S/P AA Missile; M741 Armored S/P 20mm machine gun; M577
Armored Command Post Car; M548 Cargo Carriers, etc. As the M113's
successor with a longer range of action the M113E2 with a diesel engine
was constructed in May 1965. After tests, the M113E2 was officially
accepted as the M113A1 Armored Personnel Carrier.
The production of the above mentioned family including the M113A1 totalled
60,000 units by 1975. From 1964 on, the M106A1 Armored S/P 107mm Heavy
Mortar Carrier was supplied to the following units : Heavy Mortar platoons
of support companies in tank and mechanized infantry battalions of armored
divisions, mechanized divisions or infantry divisions, and mortar squads
of armored cavalry platoons. The M106A1, a light weight carrier of the M30
107mm heavy mortar, permitted both the mounted and dismounted firing of
the mortar. It had a crew of six and its dimensions were 4.93m long, 2.86m
wide, 1.99m high, weight 11.9 tons. As auxiliary armament, an M2
50-caliber (12.7mm) Browning heavy machine gun was mounted. Its maximum
speed was 68 km/h, range 483km.
(From Tamiya Manual) |