FMC Lynx Reconnaissance Vehicle

     Notes: The Lynx was originally called the M113 ½ by FMC, and it competed against the General Motors M114 for US Army requirements in the early 1960s and lost to that vehicle for the US Army contract. (Quite simply, the M114 had a cheaper RL cost.) The US Army then released the vehicle for export sales, and when they sold the vehicles to Canada, Canada chose the name Lynx for the vehicle, and it stuck for further export sales. Though tangentially related to the M114, as both are based on the M113, it is not simply another variant of the M114. However, like the M114, the Lynx uses a shortened version of the M113’s suspension, and also uses the same General Motors 6V53 212 horsepower engine as the M113. It uses the same aluminum armor as the M113 and the same driver controls and transmission.  It is much lighter and therefore much more agile than the M113.  It is amphibious and uses the same preparation and flotation system as the M113l it also has the same poor freeboard as the M113.

     The Lynx has a crew of three, including a commander, driver, and RTO/observer.  The driver is on the front left.  On Dutch versions of the Lynx, the RTO is on the front right, and the commander is at the center of the vehicle in a cupola with a machinegun that can be aimed and fired (but not reloaded) from under armor.  (Dutch versions are known as the M113 C&V.) On Canadian Lynxes, the commander’s cupola in in the middle right, and the RTO is on the rear left; the cupola is otherwise the same as on Dutch M113 C&Vs.  In both cases, the RTO has a pintle-mounted MAG machinegun. Dutch M113 C&Vs later had their cupolas replaced with an Oerlikon GBD-ADA turret mounting a 25mm KBA autocannon. Dutch M113 C&Vs and Canadian Lynxes also have numerous small differences in internal arrangements, radios, etc.

     Canadian Lynxes were withdrawn from service in 1993, and Dutch Lynxes shortly thereafter.  Both countries passed their Lynxes on to further export customers, most notably Bahrain and Chile.  Other users of the Lynx include Iran.  The US tested both Canadian and Dutch 25mm-armed variants, and Britain also tested the Canadian variant. Canadian Lynxes are also liberally scattered around Canada in static displays or running examples, and in museums. They are also found in private collections in the US and Canada. By and large, however, most Lynxes were scrapped or became range targets. M113 C&Vs are largely still in service with export countries or in storage in the Netherlands, though some have also become range targets.

M3 Stuart

     Notes: The M3 was a design evolved from the earlier M2 light tank in the 1930s.  They were used by the Allies; after World War 2, many of them were bought by Latin American and other countries, which still use them to this day.  About 500 of these vehicles were built with diesel instead of gasoline engines.  The M3 is generally inadequate for modern antitank use, and most of them are used as infantry support vehicles. 

     The M3A1 is an improved M3.  About 200 of them were built with a diesel engine.  Differences include a new turret and removal of the driver's machineguns for more ammunition space for the main gun. Extra fuel tanks may be added to improve the range.

     The M3A3 is a further improved M3.  It has a new turret, and the hull is stretched to allow for more ammunition carriage, more internal fuel, and better suspension.  These vehicles were not built with diesel engines. 

     The M5 has twin gasoline automotive engines instead of the modified aircraft radial of the M3.  It also has improved frontal turret armor.  The M5A1 has an improved ammunition storage layout.

M3 Bradley CFV

     Notes: This is the same vehicle as the M2 Bradley IFV, but used by scouts (CFV stands for Cavalry Fighting Vehicle).  The main difference is that in the CFV, racks for extra ammunition and supplies take some of the space used by troop seats in the IFV version.  In addition, the firing ports are closed off, and the M231 firing port weapons are not carried. 

     The M3A2 is the same thing to the M2A2 Bradley II IFV that the M3 is to the M2; i.e., a Cavalry Fighting Vehicle variant of the Bradley II IFV.

     The M3A2 with the Stingray System is a standard Bradley CFV fitted with an advanced optics jamming system.  When in use, the operators of all vehicles and electro-optical systems (including thermal imaging and other night vision devices), image intensifiers, laser designators, laser rangefinders, and coincidence rangefinders must make a Formidable: Electronics roll in order to use their systems of that type.  The Stingray system does not have any effect on purely optical sights such as binoculars and telescopic sights.  This device is turret mounted and aimed in the same manner of a weapon, but operates on all electro-optical systems within a 90-degree arc of the facing of the turret.  Jamming range is 5 km.  These vehicles were first deployed, but not used, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The M3A3 Bradley III is a Cavalry Fighting Vehicle variant of the M2A3 is a design along the same vein as the M3 and M3A2.  It is an incredibly rare vehicle, with perhaps 25 of them ever built or converted.

M10A2 Abrams Battle Command Vehicle (BCV)

     Notes: This is an M1A2SEP Abrams tank extensively modified for use by battlefield commanders.  In this role, the main gun, coaxial machinegun, and ammunition are removed to make room for extensive battle management electronics.  A dummy cannon barrel and machinegun barrel are fitted in their place, and the only difference externally between the BCV and a genuine tank are the large amount of antennas the BCV sports.  Inside, the turret and hull carry extensive vision gear, including 2^nd thermal Imaging and image intensification.  The vehicle has a complete suite of three networked Pentium III-class computers built to tougher military specifications to take the vibrations of travel; these computers have a wireless LAN and battle management and land navigation software, including complete maps of the world (by 2000, these are based on 1997 satellite photos.  The system has a large LCD touch-screen for input, with a trackball and keyboard as backups.  The BCV has a set of at least five radios, from tactical radios to long-range, and for communicating with aircraft and directly with computers on aircraft such as JSTARS.  A laser designator is provided, along with software to produce firing solutions for any sort of fire support from mortars to heavy bombers.  A secondary function of these vehicles is signal intelligence, with a crew position and computer for an intelligence officer who has a secondary role of intercepting and analyzing enemy broadcasts. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These vehicles, due to their rarity, were initially issued only to US Division and Brigade commanders or Armored and Mechanized Infantry Divisions, and rarely found their way to lower headquarters.  They were never encountered in Reserve or National Guard divisions, with the notable exception of the 49^th Armored Division's commanding general's vehicle (TX ARNG).

M24 Chaffee

     Notes: This is an American-built, WWII-era, light AFV, now out of service in the US Army but still serving in many smaller armies.  The M24 is of conventional layout.  The Chaffee was meant to replace the M3/M5 Stuart series of light tanks.  The vehicle is not NBC-sealed.  Taiwanese Chaffees have their 75mm guns replaced by French 90mm guns, their M1919A4s replaced by MAG machineguns, and plug-ins for the crewmembers’ protective masks.  Some of these vehicles have had their bow machineguns replaced by flamethrowers. 

M41 Walker Bulldog and Variants

     Notes: This is a US-built light tank of 1950s vintage.  By 2000, the remaining Bulldogs were in Third-World use or reserve status.  Most were heavily modified with external stowage, range finders, or lugs for reactive armor.  The M41 is the basic version, being a standard sort of light tank.  The M41A1 has rearranged ammunition storage.  The M41A2 has an improved engine.  The M41A3 adds one of the first night vision systems fitted to an armored vehicle.

M114 C&R

     Notes: The M114 was based (somewhat loosely) on its larger brother, the M113 APC, but is a much smaller vehicle.  The vehicle is sometimes called the M113 ½ or the Lynx, though the latter title more properly belongs to the M114 variant used by Canada and the Netherlands after the M114 ceased production. The M114 C&R (Command & Reconnaissance) was designed in 1960 as a scout and leader’s reconnaissance vehicle, to serve as an armored alternative to the Jeeps typically used by scout units at the time.  It looks very much like a shrunken M113, but is actually very different than the M113.  The M114 is not an APC, and has no provision for troops other than its crew.  It is about two-thirds the size of the M113, and only just over half its weight.  The suspension components are perhaps the most like the M113, but the M114 has only four roadwheels instead of the M113’s five. The engine is also smaller, a Chevrolet 283-V8 gasoline engine developing 160 horsepower. This engine is in the rear instead of the front. The rear door is round, and there is no ramp.

     The standard M114 had the M2HB on a pintle on a cupola, and required the commander manning the machinegun to expose himself to possible enemy fire when using the M2HB.  At the rear the one passenger had an M60 machinegun on a pedestal mount.  The M114A1 changed the commander’s machinegun mount to one that allowed him to aim and fire the M2HB from under armor, with the hatch closed. (He could not reload the machinegun from under armor.) The M114A2 had a hydraulically-powered cupola with an external mount for the M139 20mm autocannon, which was aimed and fired from within the vehicle, and contained all of its ammunition within the external mount. All M114s had a rack on the rear door for 3 M72 LAWs (not included below).

     The M114 had a short service life with the US Army, ending service in 1979, branded as a failure, as it proved unsuited to US Army tactics and the conditions present in Vietnam. Some ended up as range targets (there was one on the LAW range at Ft Benning in 1984 when I went to Basic). Others were sold off, most notably to El Salvador, where they were eventually modified almost beyond recognition.  Some were also sold or donated to various police departments in the US, Mexico, and Canada; some are still in police service, and one can be seen in the movie Die Hard.

M551 Sheridan

     Notes: This light tank was originally designed for scouting duties and to provide light firepower for airborne divisions in the US.  They had a long career with the US Army, replacing the earlier M41 Walker Bulldog, but by the late 1980s they had been replaced in US service by the LAV-75 and M8 Buford light tanks in airborne service, and heavier tanks and Bradley CFVs in other units.  The 152mm gun is a large weapon for such a light vehicle, and the recoil is very violent.  In addition, some of the bugs in the fire control system were never worked out.  Whenever a conventional round (but not a Shillelagh missile) is fired from the main gun, roll 1D10; on a 1-2, minor damage is inflicted on the rangefinder.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The only users of the M551 at the time of the Twilight War were the OPFOR units stationed at Fort Irwin in southern California and Fort Polk in Louisiana.  These were largely restored to functional status at the time of the Mexican invasion, often still with the modifications used to make them look like enemy vehicles, and in this way were able to make many surprise attacks and accomplish infiltrations at night for reconnaissance.