In the late 70's early 80's Mech inf Bns in Germany had anti tank plts using M-113A2 w Dragon launchers. Question: How many reloads were carried and how were they mounted. Also how many in a crew?
Thanks

Are you referring to M-175 mounts? Those could be removed from the TC cupola and used on M2 and M122 MG tripods.

M47 Dragon Medium Anti-tank Weapon System

When I was in Mech, the standard combat load of M47s was four rounds issued per track from the ASP (Ammo Supply Point) before movement to our GDP (General Dispersal Position).

Dragons were operated by a single soldier. The best place to fire one was from the M175 mount on n the track. The m113s were parked in pre-dug hull-down firing positions allowing for observation and good lines of fire for the Ma Duece and M175 mounted Dragon missile.

Quite possibly one of the worst weapons ever fielded. I had some old hands in my unit that swore that they never saw a dragon hit its target over 10 years in uniform. My Plt Sgt. was burned when a Dragon misfired at launch. It was slow and short-ranged. Had to fire it with the targets MG range, good chance the gunner would be killed before he could guide the missile to impact. Bad weapon.

Things finally got much better when the Javelin came along.

Well, considering the condition of the equipment we had, the fact that most USAREUR line units were understrength (we had two out of three platoons with 6 man squads, including the driver and TC), and the frontage of our defensive positions at the GDP, it wouldn't have mattered much if the s**t hit the fan. None of us would have survived more than ten minutes past the first wave of T-72s rolling across the frontier. My company was attached to 1 Sqdn 2nd ACR in the event of hostilities.

Just for fun I added the mount to one of my 1/16 RC battle tanks. Ironically none of the Mech vets I know or the 11-b-20s remember them ever being fielded. Does anyone have a photo?

I was mech from 1981-85. Every line platoon M1113 in the battalion (36 tracks, 12 per line company) had an M175 mounted. HQ (3 tracks), TOW platoon (2 M901s) and mortar platoon (2 M125s) were the only ones without it.

Here's a photo of an M113 from 2/11 Cav sometime in the late 1970s - early 1980s:


Note the M175 mounted on the TC's cupola.