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53-548: Work started in 1972 on a dedicated Firing Port Weapon to go along with the Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV) program also started at that time. A requirement for these vehicles was to have firing ports for troops riding inside, and so it was decided that a specific weapon also be developed. The Rock Island Arsenal headed up the project working with the M3 submachine gun (a World War II-era SMG),

106-781: A Firing Port Weapon created by Heckler & Koch based on the HK33 , and a modified M16 rifle pattern weapon. The qualities of the M16 were the most promising, and by 1974 it had been designated the XM231. Colt was given the contract and continued to work on the design. In 1979 the finalized weapon was adopted as the M231. Although most of the Bradley AFV's ports have since been removed, these weapons are maintained, and are used by crews for self-defense, close-quarters situations, and for firing from

159-520: A brass catching bag or evacuation hose system would have to be installed. MICV-65 MICV-65 , short for Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, 1965 , was a US Army project that studied a number of armored fighting vehicles that would replace the M113 and M114 as well as take on a variety of new roles. A number of designs were studied as part of the MICV project, but none of them entered service for

212-711: A claustrophobic environment where the men could not add to the fight. Military theorists turned to the concept when the Soviets were the first to follow the adaptation to this new style of combat, issuing requirements and then introducing the BMP in the late 1960s, followed soon after by the second German IFV Marder . In the 1960s the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning started exploring these concepts on their own initiative. The M113 normally sat its infantry section on either side of

265-631: A new steel/aluminum laminate armor that protected it against small arms up to the Soviet post-war 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun , which equipped the BTR-60 and BTR-80 . Like the earlier MICV vehicles, the XM723 carried nine infantry that were seated back-to-back with rifle ports and vision blocks. When the XM800 program was cancelled in 1975 the scout role was switched to the new vehicle as well. Throughout

318-536: A special side plate mounted inside the lower receiver and a selector that only has "safe" and "auto" positions. These weapons retain a 65% parts commonality with standard M16 rifles. Only the M196 tracer round was authorized for operational use, with the M199 dummy and M200 blank for training use. In an emergency, M193 ball ammunition was to be used. The heavier M855 ball and M856 tracer rounds were never to be used. Officially

371-584: A task force under the command of Major General George Casey urged the Army to continue with the program as information about the BMP started to become available. The Army once again turned to FMC, asking the impossible; lower cost, better mobility, lighter weight and better armor. FMC responded with an entirely new vehicle, the XM723, based on the machinery of the US Marine Corps LVT-7 . It featured

424-634: A total of 8,345 vehicles were produced between 1940 and 1944. Other Wehrmacht models were: Larger German half-track tractors were used to tow anti-tank and field artillery pieces. The largest of these were also used by mechanical engineers to retrieve bogged down vehicles or perform repairs such as engine maintenance. Maultier half-tracks used to transport supplies to forward units were essentially civilian trucks which had had their rear axles replaced by Panzer I or Panzer II running gear. A replacement half-track design introduced later in World War II,

477-532: A tracked vehicle, but failed. Holt bought the patents related to the "chain track" track-type tractor from Richard Hornsby & Sons in 1914 for £4,000. Unlike the Holt tractor, which had a steerable tiller wheel in front of the tracks, the Hornsby crawler was steered by controlling power to each track. When World War I broke out, with the problem of trench warfare and the difficulty of transporting supplies to

530-502: A variety of reasons. Nevertheless, experience gained in the MICV project eventually led to the M2 Bradley , which incorporates many of the MICV concepts. World War II opened with the concepts of armored warfare relatively undeveloped. Infantry and armor were generally organized as separate units, which led to problems when the armor would outrace the infantry and then have to stop at various obstacles like rivers or strongpoints. As

583-505: Is to produce a vehicle with the cross-country capabilities of a tank and the handling of a wheeled vehicle. The main advantage of half-tracks over wheeled vehicles is that the tracks reduce the pressure on any given area of the ground by spreading the vehicle's weight over a larger area, which gives it greater mobility over soft terrain like mud and snow, while they do not require the complex steering mechanisms of fully tracked vehicles, relying instead on their front wheels to direct

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636-856: The BA-30 , but found them expensive and unreliable. Although not a feature on American World War II vehicles, steering could be assisted by track braking, controlled by the steering wheel. In the US, 43,000 halftracks were produced by three primary manufacturers, the largest being the White Motor Company , the original designer, with a total of 15,414 accepted by the War Department. The other manufacturers, Autocar and Diamond T , built 12,168 and 12,421, respectively. These designs were produced under license in Canada, and were widely supplied under

689-629: The Kleines Kettenkraftrad HK 101 or Kettenkrad for short – Ketten meaning tracks, and krad being the military abbreviation of the German word Kraftrad , the administrative German term for motorcycle), to pull small artillery guns, for ammunition haulage, general transport and as a ground towing vehicle for the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. Built by NSU Motorenwerke AG Neckarsulm and Stoewer Werke Stettin ,

742-783: The Lend Lease program, with 5,000 supplied to the USSR alone. The fourth manufacturer of American-made half-tracks was the International Motor Truck Corporation division of International Harvester . IH built approximately 12,853 half-tracks, which were shipped to Europe for use by British and French troops. In 1942, they produced 152 M5 units and 5 M14 units at the Springfield Works; in 1943 they produced 2,026 M9 units, 1,407 M0A1 units, 4,473 M5 units, 1,600 M14 units, and 400 M17 units, all at

795-579: The M231 Firing Port Weapon , was eventually adapted for this role from a small number of potential solutions. The M231 is an open-bolt, full-auto only carbine variant of the M16. Meanwhile, a new task force, under Brigadier General Larkin, studied various 3rd party IFVs, including the German Marder, French AMX-10P , and even examples of the BMP captured from Syria. A second study looked at vehicles with tank-like protection known as

848-627: The Soviet Union , Kégresse returned to his native France, where the system was used on Citroën cars between 1921 and 1937 for off-road and military vehicles. The concept originated with the hauling of logs in the northeastern US, with the Lombard Steam Log Hauler built by Alvin Lombard of Waterville, Maine , from 1899 to 1917. The vehicle resembled a railway steam locomotive, with sled steering (or wheels) in front and at

901-656: The United States Army and United States Marines , continued after the First World War to develop armored cars and added tracks for the M2 half-track car and M3 half-track . There were many civilian half-track experiments in the 1920s and 1930s. The Citroën company sponsored several scientific expeditions crossing deserts in North Africa and Central Asia, using their autochenilles . After World War I,

954-509: The "Heavy Infantry Vehicle", but this line was rejected on cost grounds as well as the added logistical requirements for everything from additional fuel to requiring bridging as they were too heavy to be made amphibious. Larkin's study ended in 1976, adding a further requirement that whatever vehicle was selected it should be available in a version equipped with the TOW missile for the light cavalry role. FMC's XM723 seemed adaptable to both roles, and

1007-420: The 1943-introduced Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper , was meant to replace the 3-tonne and 5-tonne capacity models – only some 825 examples were built before the war's end. A common feature of virtually all German World War II half-tracks was the so-called Schachtellaufwerk overlapped/interleaved roadwheel arrangement with a "slack track" system possessing no return rollers under the return run of track, used from

1060-457: The APC but with the expectation that the infantry section would be able to stay in the vehicle and fight effectively, thus improving the vehicles firepower. On a battlefield that was assumed to be littered with chemical and nuclear poisons the idea of unloading the infantry did not seem like a good idea. Further, while the APC's moved to and from combat the infantry section in the back had nothing to do,

1113-528: The Canadians introduced a series of converted tanks known as Kangaroos . The Kangaroo pointed the way forward, offering much better armor than half-tracks and able to keep up with the tanks over rough ground. In the post-war era most armies, save Germany's, started introducing fully tracked vehicles in the dedicated armored personnel carrier role, including the Soviet BTR-50 , British FV432 , and

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1166-470: The FPW was not to be used detached from the parent vehicle, unless in an emergency. The operator's manual lists four precautions that would have to be taken to utilize the weapon outside of the vehicle. These included a note about the excessive muzzle rise of the weapon during firing, that the barrel collar would become hot when firing and should not be touched, that hearing protection should be worn, and lastly that

1219-588: The Germans with their armored Demag -designed Sd.Kfz. 250s and Hanomag -designed Sd.Kfz. 251s ; and by the Americans with their M2s and M3s . Half-tracks were widely used as mortar carriers , self-propelled anti-aircraft guns , self-propelled anti-tank guns , armored fighting vehicles and in other tasks. The Germans used a small 2 seater 1/2-ton class half-track "motorcycle", the Sd.Kfz. 2 (better known as

1272-621: The Hercules 160AX engines used by the other manufacturers; used IHC Model 1856 4-speed transmissions instead of the Spicer 4-speed transmissions used by the other manufacturers; had IHC Model FOK-1370 front drive axles instead of the Timken front axles used by their competitors; used IHC Model RHT-1590 axles in the rear instead of the Timken axles used by their competitors; and were constructed with fully welded armor with rounded rear corners instead of

1325-456: The M3 submachine gun, to allow the weapon to be used outside of the vehicle more effectively. Later this was dropped, and a new hand-guard introduced with a screw type locking mechanism to fix the weapon into the port. Late XM231s had no rear sights either. By the time the M231 was finalized the wire stock had been done away with as the weapon had a tendency to unfasten itself from the firing port and

1378-549: The Springfield Works; in 1944 they produced 1,100 M5A1 units and 1,100 M17 units also at the Springfield Works; and in 1945 they built 589 M5A1 and 1 M5A3 units at Springfield Works. The IHC half-tracks differed visibly from the White, Diamond T, and AutoCar units in several ways. The IHC units had flat front fenders instead of fenders with compound curves; used the International Red Diamond 450 engines instead of

1431-616: The US M113 . These vehicles generally suffered in terms of range and speed on hard surfaces, and many forces also adopted wheeled vehicles in addition to, or completely replacing the tracked versions. Examples include the British Saracen and most of the Soviet BTR series, which were far more numerous than the tracked BTR-50. In general, wheeled or tracked, these vehicles offered limited protection and were not expected to join in

1484-553: The US military wanted to develop a semi-tracked personnel carrier vehicle, so it looked at these civilian half-tracks. In the late 1920s the US Army purchased several Citroën-Kégresse vehicles for evaluation followed by a licence to produce them. This resulted in the Army Ordnance Department building a prototype in 1939. In September 1940 it went into production with the military M2 and M3 half-track versions. With

1537-614: The VRFWS-S was upgraded to a more powerful 25 mm caliber, emerging as the M242 Bushmaster . These vehicles evolved into the Bradley Fighting Vehicle that serves to this day. Half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination

1590-744: The XM734 but with thicker armor and sloping it wherever possible. Although the AIFV would go on to see a number of international sales, the Army rejected it for a variety of reasons. Testing of the XM701 completed in 1966, but the vehicle was eventually rejected as it was too heavy to be airlifted by the C-141 Starlifter that was rapidly becoming the basis for the US Air Forces strategic airlift system. The program may have ended there, but in 1968

1643-513: The actual fighting; they would keep the infantry in close proximity with the armor during maneuvers, and then offload their infantry before retreating to safer areas. In the US military they were derided as "battlefield taxis". During the 1950s this mode of combat was increasingly questioned. Germany had outright rejected them, instead going for the Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30 , the first infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). Similar to

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1696-540: The addition of a centrally mounted one-man enclosed gun cupola equipped with twin MGs or other weapons, and pintles for machine guns that could be fired from the rear of the vehicle though the top hatch. The result was a vehicle with dramatically improved firepower compared to the original M113. Showing promise, the Army decided to formally study new vehicles, forming the MICV-65 program. The primary concept studied under MICV-65

1749-657: The bolted armor with square corners used by the other three manufacturers. In August 1944, Allied forces liberated Paris . The first vehicle to enter the city was an M3 named "España Cañí" and driven by Spanish soldiers fighting under the French tricolor. There followed several days of parades in late August. One parade of 25 August 1944 was down the Champs-Élysées , with Charles de Gaulle leading throngs of Parisians, and French soldiers driving IH half-tracks. Half-tracks were used extensively in World War II, especially by

1802-457: The development the M139 had proven disappointing and development of a new 20 mm weapon, the VRFWS-S "Bushmaster", started in order to replace it. As the VRFWS-S was a risky proposition, development went ahead with the existing M139 in the meantime. At the same time, testing demonstrated that there was too little room in the cabin for the M16 rifle to be used through the firing ports. A new weapon,

1855-576: The early wars of the Arab–Israeli conflict . Half-tracks continued in use by the Israeli Army where they were deemed to outperform fully tracked and fully wheeled vehicles for non-combat payload tasks such as carrying telecommunications equipment. As of March 2008, 600 half-tracks were still officially listed as on active duty. Many Second World War half-tracks were sold off to civilian users either as surplus stock or later due to obsolescence when

1908-601: The first payload-carrying half-track. By 1909 this was replaced by a smaller machine with two wheels at the front and a single track behind, since rural wooden bridges presented problems. Stability issues, together with a dispute between Linn and Lombard, led Linn to create the Linn Manufacturing Company, builder of the Linn tractor , for building and putting onto the market his own improved civilian half-track–style machines. Lombard attempted to follow but, for

1961-458: The front, the pulling power of crawling-type tractors drew the attention of the military. With tanks coming onto the scene, however, the combination of tracks and wheels seemed impractical when fully tracked or six-wheel, four-wheel drive vehicles were available. The half-track saw a comeback in the 1930s, with development occurring in several countries that would use them in World War II. The White Motor Company, which had designed armored cars for

2014-670: The imperial garage, including Rolls-Royce cars and Packard trucks. The Imperial Russian Army also fitted the system to a number of their Austin Armoured Cars . From 1916 onward, there was a Russian project by the Putilov Plant to produce military half-tracks (the Austin-Putilov model), along the same lines, using trucks and French track parts. After the Russian Revolution and the establishment of

2067-482: The most part, remained a pulling machine. Linn would later register "Haftrak" and "Catruk" as trademarks, the latter for a half-track meant to convert hydraulically from truck to crawler configuration. Tractors used to tow artillery and designs with front wheels and tracks at the rear began to appear prior to the outbreak of war, often based on agricultural machines such as the Holt tractor . The basic half-track concept

2120-411: The rear door firing ports as intended. The M231 is different in many ways from a standard M16. The original Rock Island Arsenal FPW fired from an open bolt, with an extremely high rate of firing (1,200 rpm). The Colt XM231 introduced a special buffer and spring assembly, with three springs nested one within the other. This was done to allow the rate of fire to be lowered to 1,050 rpm, to prevent

2173-408: The rear, crawlers driven by chains instead of the driving wheels of a locomotive. By 1907, dog and pony show operator H. H. Linn abandoned his gas-and-steam-powered four- and six-wheel-drive creations and had Lombard build a motor home/traction engine run by an underslung four-cylinder Brennan gasoline engine to travel the unimproved roads of the day, with wheels at the front and tracks at the rear:

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2226-461: The reduced life span of tracks (up to 10,000 km) compared to tires (up to 80,000 km). The French engineer Adolphe Kégresse converted a number of cars from the personal car pool of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to half-tracks in 1911. His system was named after him: the Kégresse track , which used a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments. He applied it to several vehicles in

2279-505: The risk for soldiers opening fire from the moving vehicle of exhausting their magazine before the weapon was brought to target. The original Rock Island FPW had an 11-inch (280 mm) barrel, while the Colt prototypes and the production M231 both had 15.6 inch (396 mm) barrels. Initially the FPWs had no locking mechanism and had flip up sights, along with a metal wire stock akin to that on

2332-683: The small Kettenkrad to the nine-tonne capacity Sd.Kfz. 9 vehicle, and most famously used on Henschel's Tiger I and MAN's Panther main battle tanks. Half-tracks were extensively used after World War II until the late 1960s, mostly in form of surplus World War II vehicles. Half-tracks saw combat in the French colonial empire in the First Indochina War and the Algerian War ; in the Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts ; and

2385-488: The snow and ice of Canada in mind, Joseph-Armand Bombardier developed 7- and 12-passenger half-track autoneiges in the 1930s, starting what would become the Bombardier industrial conglomerate. The Bombardier vehicle had tracks for propulsion in the rear and skis for steering in front. The skis could be replaced with wheels in the summer, but this was uncommon. The Red Army also experimented with half-tracks, such as

2438-440: The stock was deemed to be dangerous in the confines of the vehicle. Or, alternatively, Army officials omitted the feature to discourage troops from employing the M231 in lieu of the issue M16 rifles. Likewise the intended mechanism to bring down the firing rate had been removed from the design again thus bringing the rate of fire back up to a rate of 1,100-1,200 round/min. These weapons are only capable of fully automatic fire, with

2491-490: The vehicle on benches, facing in towards the center. The School changed this arrangement by relocating the benches to the middle and having the infantry sit back-to-back, facing out. Covered rifle ports were cut into the walls, along with armored vision slots just above them, allowing the infantry to fire while under armor. This experiment led to the development of the XM734, similar to the Infantry School version with

2544-436: The vehicle, augmented in some cases by track braking controlled by the steering wheel. It is not difficult for someone who can drive a car to drive a half-track, which is a great advantage over fully tracked vehicles, which require specialized training. Half-tracks thus facilitate moving personnel and equipment successfully across varying terrain. The main disadvantage is the increased maintenance to maintain track tension, and

2597-674: The vehicles were equipped with a similar turret armed with the M139 20 mm cannon (a licensed version of the Hispano-Suiza HS.820 ) and an M60 -derived machine gun on a pintle mount. FMC continued work on their own in spite of losing the MICV contest, and started work on a private project known as the XM765 Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle based on the M113 machinery and generally similar to

2650-445: The war progressed the doctrine of combined arms became better refined, and the need for specialist vehicles to keep the infantry in close contact with the armor became increasingly important. Most of these vehicles were half-tracks , arguably the best known being the German Sd.Kfz. 251 and US M3 . Other forces adopted expedient measures; Red Army infantry would often ride on the top of tanks , an extremely dangerous position, while

2703-435: Was a new IFV. Two main proposals were submitted, Pacific Car and Foundry 's XM701 based on the M109 and M110 self-propelled artillery , and FMC 's XM734 based on the M113 . The program eventually selected the XM701 for further work. A requirement for a lighter scout vehicle also started at the same time, accepting two different proposals for the XM800 Armored Reconnaissance Scout Vehicle , one tracked, one wheeled. All of

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2756-443: Was originally showcased by the British during the war. With such tractors, the tactical use of heavier guns to supplement the light horse-drawn field guns became feasible. For example, in the British Army it allowed the heavy guns of the Royal Garrison Artillery to be used flexibly on the battlefield. In England, starting in 1905, David Roberts of Richard Hornsby & Sons had attempted to interest British military officials in

2809-480: Was renamed XM2 for the Infantry Fighting Vehicle and XM3 for the Cavalry Fighting Vehicle. The difference was primarily in the turret, with the XM2 having a single-man turret with the VRFWS-S cannon, and the XM3 including a larger two-man turret with both the cannon and a twin-tube TOW launcher. The primary reason for the two-man turret in the scout role was to give the commander a better field of view, in keeping with its battlefield observation role. During development

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