Can anyone tell me what is on the side of this M113?

http://www.combatreform.com/M113A3GAVINriotcontrolvehicleinIRAQ.jpg

I see two Claymore anti-personnel mines and the boxes look like sliding armor plates that allow the crew inside to see through (probabaly) bullet proof armored glass. That's just a guess on the plates.

Darn, I went to the reference, and that bogus name "GAVIN" is incorporated into the file name. Another attempt to give that name some legitimacy with the M113 series.

That variant is called an EM113A2 Rapid Entry Vehicle. Here are a few links:

http://news.cnet.com/2300-1008_3-6192018-14.html

Here is a thread on Missing-Lynx:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47209/message/1202895822/EM113A2+REV

Here is a link with some detailed system information:

http://www.pica.army.mil/Voice/Voice2007/070511/070511%20inventions.htm

EM113A2 Rapid Entry Vehicle

The Enhanced M113 Rapid Entry Vehicle, Spiral 2, is a modified M113A2 Armored Personnel Carrier with bulldozer variant, which is lightly armored, full tracked and air transportable.

The purpose of this invention is to provide rapid-entry, non-lethal crowd-control and rescue-squad insertion capability into the center of detainee compounds during riots.

This will increase Soldier survivability by providing improved situational awareness and the ability to move and fire from within an armored vehicle.
Innovative features of the original REV include six Modular Crowd Control Munitions that can spray non-lethal rubber pellets into a crowd, a larger periscope for greater visibility, windows and Bradley firing ports modified for shotguns that fire non-lethal bullets.

The Spiral 2 version contains all these features as well as a bulldozer blade which provides the capability to breach detainee-constructed barricades.
The Spiral 2 also has a Bradley-style ventilation system that allows warfighters to fire the mounted shotguns within the vehicle with the hatches closed without worrying about a build up of fumes.

Hand Packed Plastic Shaped Charge Assembly
The Plastic Shaped Charge Assembly for remote destruction of buried improvised explosive devices is an on-the-spot assembled hand-packed shaped-charge assembly that is emplaced via robot to destroy known or suspected buried improvised explosive devices or unexploded ordnance.

The Plastic Shaped Charge Assembly allows Explosive Ordnance Disposal operators to penetrate deeper through rocky soil and asphalt to destroy buried IEDs that otherwise are not accessible to lower-performance shaped charges.

Furthermore, due to the low fragmentation plastic housing, it destroys IEDs with an almost non-existent level of collateral damage, making it ideally suited for use in urban terrain where the minimization of such damage is highly desirable.

No other current focused weapon is capable of equal performance with equivalently low collateral damage.

Thank you Brent for the info

Thanks for the info. It still seems like an odd variant.

It may seem odd.... But given the current real world situations of urban combat, it's practical in a way. It beats going to some completely new vehicle... Why when you have older stuff that can be modified to work in the given situations.