Six of the Philippine Army (PA) refurbished M-113A2 armed
personnel carriers (APCs) demonstrated the accuracy and firepower of its . 50
caliber remote-controlled weapons system (RCWS) Monday.
Demonstration of this capability took place at the firing range
of the PA's Mechanized Infantry Division at Camp O' Donnell, Capas town,
Tarlac.
There, crewmen of the newly-acquired M-113A2 showed visiting
media personnel, ranking defense officials, including Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin, their capability to pick up and neutralize targets well above
the 500 meter range.
This was made possible by the APCs' laser-targeting system
which has the capability to lock and track targets, MID public affairs office
chief Major Filemon Tan said.
He added that these six APCs are different from the older
armored fighting vehicles as they no longer need gunners or military personnel
to fire their weapons.
Tan said the firing of the guns can be made safely inside
the vehicle.
The six APCs were transported to Tarlac last July 8. It
arrived in the Philippines
It was part of 28 APC order deal with Israeli defense
manufacturer Elbit Systems Ltd worth Php882 million.
The contract was signed on June 22, 2014.
Fourteen of the M-113s will be configured as fire support
vehicles, four as infantry fighting vehicles, six as armored personnel
carriers, another four as armored recovery units.
Upgrades include installation of 25 mm unmanned turrets,
12.7 mm (.50 caliber machineguns) RCWS and fire control systems (FCS) for 90 mm
turrets.
The PA 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 PA its armor capability and are
organized into a 14-vehicle mechanized infantry companion for deployment with
regular units.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=806332
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