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Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. They usually have only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), or mortars. They are not really designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry the troops to the battlefield safe from shrapnel and ambush. They may have wheels or tracks. Examples include the American M113 (tracked), the British FV 432 (tracked), the French VAB (wheeled), the German Boxer MRAV (wheeled) and the Soviet BTR (wheeled).
History
During World War I, when the tank was developed, the British Mark V tank was designed with a small passenger compartment to carry troops. By some definitions this can be considered the first armoured personnel carrier. The first specialised APC was the Mark IX of 1918.
During World War II, half-tracks such as the American M3 and the German SdKfz 251 played a role similar to the armoured personnel carriers that were developed later on. Another forerunner to the APC during this time was the British Universal Carrier. Often, APCs were simply armoured cars with the capacity for carrying troops, but they evolved into purpose-built vehicles to suit the demands of motorised warfare from World War II.
In 1944, the commander of 2nd Canadian Corps, General Guy Simonds, ordered the conversion of 72 US-produced M7 Priest self-propelled howitzers to personnel carriers. They were due for replacement anyway, as the howitzer barrels were worn out. The howitzer was removed, and the resulting hole was plugged with whatever steel was available. The vehicle was called Kangaroo, after the workshop which did the conversion. Later in the war Canadian-built Ram tanks were used as a basis for the majority of conversions, as they were then obsolete and the original Kangaroos were worn out.
After the war different specialised APCs were developed. The United States developed a series of tracked vehicles, culminating in the M113 "box on tracks", of which 80,000 were made. The Soviet Union developed the wartime BTR-40 into a series of 8-wheeled APC.
At the end of the 1980s, Israel converted captured T-55 tanks to APCs, reminiscent of WWII conversions. The result is one of the best protected APCs in the world, called IDF Achzarit.
Technology
Most armoured personnel carriers use a diesel engine comparable to that used in a large truck or in a typical city bus (APCs are often known to troops as 'Battle Taxis' or 'Battle Buses'). The M113 for instance used the same engine as the standard General Motors urban bus. A single M113 moving at top speed generates as much noise as a General Motors urban bus moving at top speed. However, the typical armoured personnel carrier can carry only six to ten soldiers while a typical urban bus can carry thirty to fifty seated passengers, and hundreds when standing passengers are included.
Most APCs are amphibious. Usually tracked APCs are powered by their tracks in the water, and wheeled APCs have propellors or water jets. Preparations for amphibious operations usually comprises checking the integrity of the hull and folding down a trim wane in front. Swimming required fairly still waters, and good entry and exit points. Speed in water is typically 3-6 km/h.
Armour on APCs are usually simple steel or aluminium armour, sufficient for protection against small arms fire and most shell fragments. Just about any type of anti-tank weapon can defeat the armour of an APC.
The usual armament for an APC is a 12.7 (.50) or 14.5 mm heavy machine gun. This is mounted on top of the vehicle, either on a simple pintle mount, sometimes with a gun shield, or a small turret. Sometimes an automatic grenade launcher is used instead.
The APC in action
Romanian Transportor Auto Blindat APCs that made infamous front-line news in 1989 were mostly eight-wheeled, massive Romanian clones of the Soviet BTR-60 APC. Soldiers hated this machine, with uncomfortable access from above and heavy latches that seemed designed to snap one's fingers off. Limited visibility and clumsy maneuverability in an urban environment might have contributed (along with bad will, of course) to the numbers of deaths through crushing during the Romanian Revolution.
The idea of the APC has arrived in the modern era to become the IFV, from which troops can fight, firing their weapons from ports in the vehicle, instead of just being transported by it; examples being the U.S. M2 Bradley or Russian BMP series.
Actual combat experience has however shown that infantry cannot fight effectively from their vehicle and a mounted attack is practically suicidal. As a result, most infantry vehicles no longer have firing ports; most of those on the M2 Bradley for example have been covered over by additional armour protection. They have been omitted completely from newer designs. As a result the main distinction between an APC and IFV is now simply that an IFV mounts an automatic cannon of 20 to 40 mm calibre for heavier fire support and anti-armour capability, while an APC is armed only with machine guns.
Many APC designs have been converted to IFVs by the addition of such an automatic cannon, and many chassis's are produced in both machine gun and grenade launcher armed APC and cannon armed IFV form. The reason for doing this may be cost, or the need for more interior space on some vehicles, as automatic cannon and their ammunition supply may reduce the number of infantry that can be carried.