I'm moving from being impressed by some of the procurement decisions of the Brazilian Marine Corps, to be down right giddy.
Yeah. Giddy like a school girl.
I present the latest exhibits in why I'm impressed. The above M113 has been modified by Israel IMI and I'm being told that its a flotation kit.
Along with horsepower and other upgrades, coupled with the buy of AAV's from USMC stocks (that will also be upgraded to the latest standard) with lastly, the purchase of a few more Piranha IIIC vehicles and you have the makings of a fully mechanized Brazilian Marine Corps.
And they didn't have to bust the bank to do it. Did I mention that the old M113 could carry approx 10 Marines? Did I mention that with these upgrades it should be an extremely viable vehicle in expeditionary warfare? Did I mention that there is a glut of MRAPs on the market so if the need should arise they can be acquired cheaply and quickly (so there really isn't a need for these vehicles to be built to resist IEDs...if you run into them then you simply pull those vehicles from storage)?
Congratulations to the Marines from Brazil. They cracked code and solved the issue of mechanization and budget with a few simple, common sense solutions.
There is also a bigger MTVL version...
ReplyDeleteOne of possible entries to the AMPV include an upgraded M113...but i dout the army will go for it.
As for the USMC buying a army vehicle...good luck with that!
the USMC has the pieces in place too. it just requires the determination of the right mix of AAV/ACV and MPCs.....once they decide what the mix is and actually set aside MONEY to make the purchases then all will be well in Marine land. as it is now, Brazil could theoretically cross broken terrain at a faster rate than the USMC if all you could depend on was motorized vehicles.
DeleteSol, have you ever had a look at these
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aris-spa.it/difesa_arisgator_ingl.html
Cheap as chips I would imagine although the M113 is not the most modern of pieces of equipment
yeah but they don't seem very practical. the nose is so long that it would affect mobility on land and if you disposed of the kit then you no longer have amphibious capability which might be needed later. additionally i'm a bit worried about the buoyancy with that kit. i think the IMI version should allow a bit more flotation despite the vehicle being heavier.
DeleteI think there are a few youtube videos about of it swimming but I think your point remains, you can get 'good enough' at 'cheap enough'
ReplyDelete