Exclusive: Italy readies massive transfer of 400 M113 armored carriers to Ukraine.

M113 armored personnel carriers are being prepared for transfer from Italian Army storage sites, reinforcing reports that Rome intends to send hundreds of the Cold War-era vehicles to Ukraine as part of its ongoing military aid.

A set of photos circulating on Italian social media shows M113 armored personnel carriers on highway low loaders and dozens more sitting in long rows at what appears to be an Italian Army storage and maintenance site. The imagery does not declare a destination, but it lines up with information that has circulated for weeks in Rome and Kyiv: Italy intends to transfer a substantial number of legacy M113s to Ukraine, with figures up to 400 vehicles discussed by people familiar with the aid packages. The vehicles in the highway shot carry the usual signs of depot movements, dirt-streaked hulls, missing side skirts on some, and transport markings. These vehicles, even if they are ancient, are still working and efficient on the battlefield. The large amount of them is also important: with 400 of them, Ukrainian forces will have better improved capabilities on the battlefield.
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The M113 is a tracked armored personnel carrier able to transport an infantry squad with protection against small arms fire and artillery fragments, equipped with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and known for its mobility and versatility (Picture source: NSTRIKE on X).

Designed in the United States and fielded from the early 1960s, the M113 was built in the tens of thousands and adopted by more than 40 nations. Italy produced and operated large fleets, using the hull as a base for command posts, ambulances, mortar carriers and specialized support variants. A standard troop carrier configuration typically mounts a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun on a ring mount for the commander, sometimes with a shield or light turret. Armor is aluminum, not steel, which keeps weight down but requires smart tactics and add-on protection if the vehicle is to operate near anti-armor threats. The upside is mobility. With a combat weight around 12 to 13 tons depending on kit, the M113 can traverse soft ground and narrow rural tracks that bog down heavier platforms, and its powerpack is simple enough for quick swaps in the field.

Italian M113s have appeared through the years with local modifications. Engines on the most common variants are dieselized, replacing early gasoline models, and many received upgraded transmissions and radios to match current standards. The troop compartment takes a full squad, typically 11 people including the crew of two, which is the whole point of a carrier: bring infantry, dry and relatively protected, to the edge of the fight. Roof hatches allow for dismounting under partial cover. Italian depots have also maintained mortar carrier versions with 81 mm or 120 mm tubes, command post vehicles with map tables and additional generators, and medical evacuation variants that trade roof armament for litters and medical gear. If even a fraction of the rumored 400 hulls are a mixed batch, Ukraine could spread them across several roles, not only as straight personnel carriers.

For Ukraine, the value is scale and speed. Kyiv already fields M113s sourced from several partners, meaning crews, mechanics and logisticians know the platform. Spare parts are interchangeable across many national stocks. They move troops, ammunition and signals gear, and they do it in mud, snow, and rutted tree lines where wheeled trucks slow down or expose themselves longer than necessary. With a 12.7 mm gun and optional 7.62 mm coax or pintle weapons, plus smoke dischargers when fitted, the M113 gives suppressive fire during a dash and helps a unit survive artillery fragments that would shred soft-skinned vehicles. Operators in Ukraine have also been seen adding quick field armor, cages, or even cage-like roof structures to counter small drones. An older tracked carrier becomes relevant again when loitering munitions are roaming overhead, because even modest overhead protection and rapid movement can decide whether a squad reaches its start line intact.

The highway photo indicates movement from storage to repair, which implies an Italian effort to put parked vehicles through inspection, parts replacement and repainting. That process can be done in batches, with a predictable cadence, and it keeps pressure off front-line donors that rely on their newer 8x8 fleets. The M113’s modular design, removable powerpack and simple running gear support this model. If Italy clears out the back lots and returns a few hundred hulls to serviceable condition, Ukraine gains a logistics base that is measured in brigades, not companies. The carriers can serve as command-and-control nodes with modern radios, as ambulance tracks that shorten the golden hour, or as mortar carriers that move fast after firing. In the drone age, mobility and dispersion are survival tools.

Italy has balanced cautious public messaging with concrete deliveries, often confirming packages after the fact and withholding variant lists for security reasons. The approach resembles other European donors that avoid advertising schedules yet keep material flowing. Transferring M113s ticks several boxes in Rome. It supports Ukraine with useful mass while retiring aging fleets that the Italian Army has already been replacing with more modern platforms. It also fits a NATO-wide pattern of sending legacy stocks that are rugged, interoperable and easy to train on. If the 400 figure bears out, the shipment would rank among the more substantial single-type transfers from an EU member this year, at least in tracked vehicles, and it would come at a time when Ukraine is reconstituting mechanized units after a hard winter. None of this changes the fact that the front is lethal to lightly armored carriers. The M113 will need to be used smartly, in covered approaches, at night, under electronic camouflage and drone overwatch. But Ukraine has learned those lessons at cost and has adapted accordingly.