Can anyone refer me to any website that shows how tow launchers were mounted on m113 in the mid 70s ?

cheers M

Try this link:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/169232/

Its the Modern Canadian Armour Site

Darryl

The TOW carriers in the 1970s used an elevating/retractable pedestal mount...all manually operated.

Hobby Fan makes a very good conversion set. It has the correct folding .50 Cal mount too.

Are you looking for any particular user Nation...U.S., Canadian, Danish, Israeli?

Looking for those used by the US 7th in germany

You can take a look at TM 9-1425-472-12 for some drawings...

HTH

H.P.

I completely agree with Jason. Hobby Fan makes the only accurate conversion. Azimut put out a conversion, but it is totally inaccurate in the mounting system. It does however have a "Cap" which the Hobby Fan conversion lacks.

I have both, and will use them to one day to build this version of the M113 TOW Cap.

If you need them, I do have several exterior photos, but no interior ones.

Dave

I would love some pics. I've been thinking about getting the Hobbyfan conversion for the longest time but lack of good reference pics have turned me off.


Erik

As Requested





























Hope these help. Some are good, and others are so-so, but not alot of photos available.

Dave

There are some interior pics in Andrew Telford's album on Photobucket (Dutch and IDF variants) :

http://s78.photobucket.com/user/ATelford/library/M113%20TOW/#/user/ATelford/library/M113%20TOW?sort=3&page=1&_suid=1371564315379012836084195043962

HTH


H.P.

Not to completely hijack this thread, but what are the other two M113 variants in the background in this photo? And thanks for sharing the others.

Thanks Frenchy this is what i have been looking for.

milojko,

Be careful with the interior pictures that Frenchy provided. Although similar, the US version from the 70's is different.

The driver's area would not have the updated steering wheel etc., of the A3. The crew heater did not have the protective screen and the rear area would have the bench seats on each side of the crew compartment. Also, the ground mount tripod would be stored to the right front of the commander's area. There are probably others that I don't remember.

Dave

Dave,

The M113A1 TOW CAP pics are very interesting. It must have only been used for a few years before the M901 ITV came into service.

Cover, Artillery Protection...correct?

The operator's manual I have for the M901 ITV is dated June 1979. A 1978-1979 time frame would make sense as the Army only began testing prototypes in 1976. The first TOW systems began being deployed in 1970 and the CAP (indeed "Cover, Artillery Protection") was only introduced in 1975. So its likely these vehicles lasted close to a decade in active Army service before being completely phased out.

Some of my pics of a Canadian one. Wish I had a digital camera back then - or carried more film! (2010 is the year I put them online, actually taken in the late '80's)









Jim

Here are two TM drawings that should help with the differences Dave has mentioned :






A few more storage drawings :







HTH

H.P.

1/50th Inf (Mech), 2nd Armored Division had these issued to the Combat Support Company in the Battalion in 1977. New units when issued, all forest green. Although we had the ballistic blanket for overhead cover, as the photos show, they were really impractical to use and restricted the field of fire of the TOW. We didn't use the CAP.

And the gunner really got a workout when having to unlock the stowed pedestal, shove the launcher up and lock into position, then get into a position to track, acquire and launch a missile.

Like the M151A1C with the 106mm recoiless rifle, the anti-armor lads in the Mech Infantry units didn't think we had a long life expectency should the ballon ever have gone up at the Fulda Gap. We did become great believers in life insurance tho!

thanks

are there any photo interior sites you may know of?

I don't know of any sites that have internal shots for the US version (wish I did)

As far as how long it was used, I was in Germany with the 1st ID from 77-80. We had the TOW Cap, and yes they rarely operated with the Cap up. It pretty much labeled them as anti-tank assets, so they operated with it stowed. Common SOP was put it up only if receiving artillery fire. I suspect it would not have been used even then. They probably would have just buttoned-up and moved. They were replaced by the ITVs in 81-82 timeframe. European units would most likely have been the first to receive those.

This is the only pic I have of one. Any idea what year this could be?





Erik

Those in the pics with the Dual Tex paint are 7th Army by way of the paint job.

Try some image searches for "Reforger" exercises in the late 70's and early 80's and you'll find plenty.

Your picture is from the late 70s or possibly 81-82 (more likely the 70s). What gives it away is the MERDEC paint scheme and the solid green uniforms. In the 80s, the army started wearing BDUs and repainted vehicles in the NATO color scheme.

Thanks, that's what I suspected given the MERDC paint scheme. I didn't notice the all green uniforms, so like you said that narrows down the time frame.




Erik

Perhaps 79-82? The arm patch looks like a unit in Korea. Guys that had been to Korea swore their equipment was usually older than that in the U.S. or Germany. We still had this vehicle in the 3rd ACR, Ft. Bliss in '81 sans the "cap" or stowage racks. I didn't see ITVs until 82 when I was shipped overseas to W. Germany.

You're probably right, that doesn't look like any German landscape I've ever seen.



Erik