The 114 units of M-113s armored personnel carriers (APCs) coming from the United States as a donation for the AFP Army Mechanized Infantry Division (MID) are running and in good operational condition.
Mechanized Infantry Division (MID) public affairs office chief Major Filemon Tan said in an interview said, “All of 114 M-113s coming are operational and in running condition. However, we will still check it here before accepting them for service.”
The APCs are declared “excess defense articles” meaning the Philippines did not pay for the acquisition except for the shipping and refurbishment costs.
The APCs are expected to arrive in November once the contract for shipping and transportation of the vehicles have been completed. Completion of the delivery is expected by the second quarter next year.
The MID operates around 343 AFVs (armored fighting vehicles) and APCs.
Around 85 percent of these AFVs are on green status (fully mission capable) while another 10 percent are on yellow status (undergoing repair) and five percent are on red (beyond repair).
One hundred and fifty of these are the United Kingdom-built GKN “Simba” with the remaining AFVs consisting of US designed V-150 and V-200 APCs, M-113s, Turkish made ACV-300s and British Scorpion CVRTs.
These vehicles give the Philippine Army its armor capability and are organized into a 14-vehicle mechanized infantry companies for deployment with regular units.
By: JMC/PFN – PNA
