Channel: Science & Technology
Uploaded: July 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Author: BlacktailFA
Length: 07:15
Rating: 3.33
Views: 547
It's time to set the record straight on one of today's most scoffed and ignored armored fighting vehicles --- The M113 Gavin Armored Personnel Carrier.There are lots of mistruths floating about concerning the M113, and what it is capable of. Most of these myths emerge from 1) half-cocked assumptions,2) urban legend, and 3) what could best be described as "fuzzy military science".For example;1) The average person only knows Aluminum in the form of beverage cans, and FAR less of aircraft Aluminum. Thus, they often have little (if any) appreciation for the fact that 1.5 inches of Aluminum repels all shell splinters, blast concussions, and all small arms fire of .30-caliber and below --- which collectively comprise at least 70% of all threats to AFVs.2) The notion that M113s are highly vulnerable to mines comes primarily from images of troops riding atop their M113s in Vietnam with sandbags covering the floor. Given that this is all the general public has ever seen of M113s vs. mines, this view has prevailed.This assumption completely ignores the simple fact that M113s were operated like this ONLY in Vietnam, by inexperienced and practically untrained conscripts, and that no armed force has ever rode atop their M113s like this in any conflict since.Accounts of M113s surviving mines and IEDs with little damage or casualties are also unknown to those who believe this myth, and sometimes omitted by those who spread it.3) Because Medium and Heavy Tracks are the most hyped fighting vehicles in the Western World, they receive most of the attention --- including when they chew up roads under their enormous 30-70 ton girth. This is automatically blamed on their tracks, as wheels are less-widely associated with massive road damage (due to their usually-lower WEIGHT, but this is rarely factored in).Given that Light Tracks are not as fashionable (despite using the same class of propulsion, continuous tracks), they are thus automatically assumed to be pavement-destroyers because of heavier vehicles --- that ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATE this paradigm --- steal the spotlight.What you will find after sorting through the myths and lies about the M113 Gavin is something that 50 nations who bought 80000+ of them (and still use them after 40+ years) already knew all along; that the M113 is the most successful AFV the world has ever seen.It's the AK-47 of fighting vehicles --- and it's not even Russian!