Mastranaza M-114 APC

     Notes:  This vehicle is an El Salvadoran modification of the M-114 Lynx – sort of.  In 1978, El Salvador took delivery of 27 used Woodmaster tractors – essentially M-114s stripped of their armor and rebuilt as agricultural tractors.  Mastranza in El Salvador immediately got to work on them, re-plating them and otherwise trying to get into working order.  One of the vehicles produced from these Woodmaster tractors became an M-114, with a raised roofline and topped with an armored cupola mounting an M-2HB. To help augment the skimpy armor protection, the Salvadoran M-114 APC variant has wire mesh covering the front and sides of the vehicle; this is basically chain-link fence with a tighter mesh to it.  This mesh is used to pre-detonate HE-type rounds (primarily meant as a defense against HEAT rounds).  However, this is not as effective as true spaced armor or even the type of bar/slat armor used on vehicles like the Stryker, and stops only 1D6 of penetration damage instead of the normal 2D6 of damage.  Egress for the troops is through a large circular door in the rear face.

     The biggest problem that Mastranza had was the engines.  The Woodmaster does not have the same engine as the M-114 – it uses a different engine, a Chevy V-8 gasoline engine that produces 160 horsepower.  The gasoline engines were limited in range, unreliable, prone to breakdowns, and tended to overheat when used in their new role in armored vehicles.  Within a year, Mastranza replaced those engines with 134-horsepower LDT-465IC V-6 multi-fuel engines (normally run on diesel by the Salvadorans) adapted from M-35A2 2.5-ton trucks.  Though the range was improved, speed was decreased, the engines are considerably heavier than the gas engines, and the engines still regularly overheated; this limits the M-114 APC variant’s utility as an APC, as it often cannot keep up with the convoys it is supposed to be protecting and could easily break down at the wrong moment during an assault.

     Some sources I have consulted say that the Salvadoran M-114 APCs have been withdrawn entirely from service, some others say that they are still used, but only infrequently, and some say they are still in regular service.  I’m not sure which one is right. One thing’s for sure – it really is a strange sort of Frankenvehicle.

*This primitive version of spaced armor stops only 1D6 of penetration damage.