US pushing Portugal to cede some M113 APCs to Ukraine


The U.S. Department of Defense is urging the Portuguese government to send to Ukraine a batch of its M113 APCs to Ukraine, Matt Carlson reports in Outdoor Enthusiast Magazine, meaning the vehicles that served in the National Army for about 30 years at the Santa Margarita Army Camp.
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Portuguese M113 at Tancos, Portugal on October 29, 2015, during Trident Juncture 15 exercise (Picture source: NATO/A. Markus)


The Portuguese government has been delaying its response to Washington’s request following a NATO meeting at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany, to discuss assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Portuguese authorities have already ordered GNR to make available to Ukraine four of its Iveco M 40.12 WM/P 4x4 armored vehicles, which the security forces adapted and upgraded when they intervened as part of police stabilization in Iraq.

In the U.S. too, hundreds of M113s are being shipped to Ukraine, taken from National Guard stocks and Army surplus. Last April, U.S. soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division prepared the shipment of M113 Armored Personnel Carriers onto truck trailers at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on April 21, 2022. The 3rd ID divested the armored vehicles to support the Presidential Response requirements for the European Theater of Operations for the purpose of providing immediate military assistance to Ukraine. The pictures released by the U.S. Department of Defense will provide different variants of the M113 armored vehicle including ambulance versions.


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U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ethan Tessier, a mechanic with the Unit Training Equipment Site (UTES), Michigan Army National Guard, provides maintenance on an M113A3 Armored Personnel Carrier at Fort Custer Training Center, Augusta, Michigan, May 2, 2022 (Picture source: U.S. Air National Guard/Master Sgt. David Eichaker)