Russian forces then reportedly recovered the APC.
Fast, nimble and maneuverable with good cross-country mobility is how one Ukrainian M113 driver described the APC.
The classification is also notable.
US Army infantrymen armed with M16A1 rifles unload from an M113 armored personnel carrier during a training exercise on September 17, 1985. Image: NARA
Yet, the conflicts of the late 20th century showed the APC still had a role to play.
It had a range of 483 km (300 miles).
It utilized a three-speed automatic gearbox and steering differential.
U.S. soldiers charge out the rear doors of an M113 armored personnel carrier during field training exercises in January 1984. Image: NARA
In addition to being light enough to be air transportable, the M113 was moderately amphibious.
The rubber tracks shroud actually controls the flow of water over the tracks while swimming.
During the war, the M113 became the primary workhorse of the U.S. military for moving ground forces.
A U.S. Army M113 APC travels down a South Korean road during exercise TEAM SPIRIT ’84. The M113 is equipped with a .50-caliber MG and TOW anti-tank missile launcher. Image: NARA
However, it was actually with the Jordanian Army.
A significant number were destroyed in attacks on Syrian forces.
Some 5,000 M113A2 and M113A3 APCs remain in service with the U.S. Army.
An M113 armored personnel carrier and an M60 main battle tank on maneuvers during a field training exercise in May 1979. Image: NARA
These have been steadily upgraded and enhanced over the past two decades.
The M113 also remains in service with the militaries of around 50 nations.
U.S. Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division drive through a muddy field in an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier during exercise Combined Resolve IV in 2015. Image: Spc. John Cress Jr./U.S. Army
American soldiers demonstrate the capabilities of an M113 armored personnel carrier to Egyptian observers during the joint Exercise BRIGHT STAR ’83. Image: NARA
Members of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team fire rounds from an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier mortar during live-fire exercise. Image: Cadet Jarvis Mace/U.S. Army National Guard
M113 armored personnel carriers cross a stream during Exercise TEAM SPIRIT 84 in South Korea. Image: NARA
In August 1966, an M113 armored personnel carrier from the Australian 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse crosses the Dong Nai River during operations in Vietnam. Image: Australian War Memorial
Leathernecks of the 3d Marine Division’s Headquarters Battalion hitch a ride on an Army tracked personnel carrier during an operation southwest of Quang Tri. Image: U.S.M.C./CC BY 2.0
An Australian M113A1 APC gets bogged up to the sponsons in marshy terrain in Vietnam. You can see the British-made M74C turret on this M113. Image: Australian War Museum/CC BY-NC 3.0 AU
M113 armored personnel carriers move through the town of Stockhusen, Germany during REFORGER ’83. Image: Staff Sgt. Jim Pearson/NARA
Ahead of Operation Just Cause, a column of U.S. Army M113 armored personnel carriers passes Howard Air Force Base while en route to Panama City. Image: PH1(Sw) J. Elliott/U.S. Navy
In the days prior to Panama declaring war on the United States, this column of M113 armored personnel carriers relocated from Naval Station Rodman. Image: PH1(Sw) J. Elliott/U.S. Navy
A U.S. M113 APC uses a laundromat for partial cover in Panama City during Operation Just Cause. Image: U.S. Army
Lithuanian soldiers of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf provide security from an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier at 7th Army Training Command in Germany. Image: Spc. Nathaniel Nichols/U.S. Army
Senior Sgt. Vladislav Romanenko stands in front of an M113 APC at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Image: Ukraine Ministry of Internal Affairs
