Hi all

Juast want to confirm the version of M113s in Just Cause.

Pretty sure they're A1s with some modifications - grenade launchers for example).
There's no external fuel tanks to make them A2s......

cheers!

Unlike foreign users, US Army M113A2 never had external fuel tanks. They appeared on M113A3.

So the vehicles in Panama were actually M113A2.

A2 variant is determined by modified suspension and some additional smaller changes. They had a provision for mounting external fuel tanks, but as mentioned before US Army never used them. They became a standard item on A3 variant.

although to answer my own question, the tanks were removable?

So likely A2s?

Definitely - see above.

Cheers Pawel, much appreciated!

A2s in US use didn't use the external fuel tanks with a few notable exceptions; the M981 FIST-V was based off of the A2 as was the M1064 120mm mortar carrier and had external fuel tanks that were permanently affixed with no internal fuel tank. So they aren't removable.

The M113A3 was a fairly rare APC in the 1980s. Units like the engineer company and HHTs in the ACRs used the A3, but with the M2/A1/A2 replacing the M113A2, the A3 just wasn't widely fielded.

The M113A1 was long gone by the late 1980s when the US invaded Panama. So any US M113 variant you see without external fuel tanks is an M113A2. As late as 1990 in Germany, there was still the 8th Infantry Division that was fully equipped with infantry battalions with the M113A2 and M901 ITVs until their deactivation in January 1992.

Did the lateral steering controls get replaced by the "steering wheel" in the A-2, A-3, or mid-point of production? Possibly depot rebuild item? Did the "steering wheel" method of control also replace the pivot-steer used for water operations?

My 11B time was 73-78, 2d AD in TX and FRG (2AD FWD), and All of the troop carriers in the BN were A1s. We did have a few M106s in CSC that were still gas powered though.

The A3 model has the laterals replaced by a steering yoke, not really a wheel. The pivot steer is acheived by turning the yoke to the extreme left or right, engaging pivot steer.

M113A3 driver's position.

Just a FYI/comparison, when I arrived to 1-69 Armor in 2nd BDE, 3ID in January 1990, we had M113A3s (Maintenance & Medics), M106A2s (Mortar Platoon) and M577A2s (Command Posts/Aid Stations) in our HHC. Our Infantry battalion (1-15IN) were in M2A2s with E Company still in ITVs but the E Companies deactivated during the Summer of 1990. Fall 1991, the line company 1SGs received M113A3s as their combat vehicle, based on the lessons learned from Desert Storm.

I didn't see a M1064 until I was at the NTC in 1995 when 3 ACR brought their newly fielded mortar carriers for a rotation.

John