Australia’s M113 APC Family Upgrades

Australia’s M113 APC Family Upgrades (NSI News Source Info) October 30, 2008: The M113A1 family of vehicles was introduced into service in Australia in the mid 1960s, and arrived in time to see service in Vietnam. Additional vehicle variants were added until 1979, and there are 766 M113A1 vehicles currently in the Australian Army fleet. By February 2005, however, only 520 remained in service.

M113A1 & M1A1s, 1AR

A number of upgrades have been suggested for Australia’s APCs over the years, with a number of reviews and proposals for upgrades submitted for consideration. Many of Australia’s M113s remain in M113A1 configuration, with some having undergone repair and overhaul at 25,000 km. Bushmaster wheeled mine-resistant vehicles have replaced some M113s, but the M113’s lightweight tracked mobility remains important to Australian mechanized formations and externally-deployed troops. A plan approved in the late 1990s involved a “minimum upgrade” of 537 vehicles from 1996-1998, at a cost of about A$ 40 million in 1993 dollars, with a major upgrade to follow. That was derailed mid-stream by an unsolicited contractor proposal to combine the 2 phases. The end result was Australia’s LAND 106 project, which aimed to perform major upgrades to 350 M113 APCs. That program suffered from problems in its early stages, delaying any fielded modernization until 2007, but the program is said to be back on track now. The new Labor government has just added emphasis to that assessment, by expanding the program as part of Australia’s push for a “Hardened and Networked Army.”