IDF Armored Personnel Carriers

IDF Armored Personnel Carriers By Kyle Perry While most nations have both Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), an armored vehicle with some troop transport capacity and decent firepower, usually in the form of an autocannon, as well as Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) which sport a larger troop transport capacity at the expense of limited armament, usually various machine guns, the IDF leans hard into the APC category with some trademark flair.

In WWIII: Team Yankee Israeli, there are two vehicles that stand out as the main ways to bring your infantry into the battle up-close and personal. The first, as with many NATO or NATO-aligned nations, is the M113. Israel first received batches of M113s from the United States in 1970, to help replace the IDFs ancient fleet of surplus WWII-era halftracks. At this time, the IDF already had experience with the M113, facing against them when fighting Jordan during the Six-Day War and even managing to capture some in the process which were promptly repaired and sent into IDF service.

In true IDF fashion of making older equipment more viable in a modern-era, after facing numerous battles and low-scale conflicts and skirmishes, it was eventually upgraded including a new armor protection to protect it against the numerous RPG and missile attacks they faced.

However, in the 1982 Lebanon War, the IDF continued to suffer APC casualties, leading the M113 to be used less in front-line operations and be used more for support units and other roles. The work began on creating a better APC that could operate at the front lines while not being as vulnerable as the M113. By 1982, the Merkava series of tanks were rolling off the production lines and older designs were relegated to reserve units or being put into storage all together, leaving quite a few British Centurion tanks (Sho't in Hebrew) in storage facilities with no purpose.

The Centurion's were then converted into heavily armored APCs in a shockingly quick development sprint (less than 2 full years) before being deployed. The new APCs, now called the Nagmasho't featured the thick armor of the Centurion tank, as well as keeping the ERA upgrade, removed the turret and added a rail system for various weapon mountings, and created a large troop compartment inside. The result was an APC that had the ability to take RPG hits and keep their passengers safe, while returning fire.

M113 In Game The M113 in WWIII: Team Yankee Israeli has two major options. The first is the plain M113 that most NATO players and even Warsaw PACT players are used to at this point. However, Israeli players may pay the low point cost to upgrade them to the M113 Vayzata. This M113 has all the standard stats of the existing M113 but gains the Applique Armour rule, giving it significantly better front and side armor against weapons with the HEAT rule.

The M113 Vayzata can be built from the standard M113 model sprue and adding the Vayzata upgrade parts to it, allowing you to upgrade your existing M113s into the new variant.

The Nagmasho't The Nagmasho't is fairly unique as an APC and a cheap upgrade from the M113. It has the standard 3 passenger capacity, matching it with the M113, but has the Centurion's armor stats, allowing it to take hits from more than just HEAT based weapons and still having a chance at surviving. While the Nagmasho't is slower in all but Tactical speed from the M113, it does feature the better armor, as well as the 40mm grenade launcher MG, giving it the ability to throw out significantly more fire on enemy infantry and light vehicles in support of the infantry they are carrying.

~ Kyle