Cop's Newest Arsenal: M113A2 Armored Personnel Carrier

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department's newest weapon against crime!

Crooks in Richland County beware, you can run, especially if it's over 40 mph, but you can't hide, the M113A2 is coming to town.


The next time you've got $2,000 bucks and are looking to supplement your crime fighting abilities, consider the M113A2 Armored Personnel Carrier.

That's exactly what the Richland County Sheriff's Department in South Carolina did, more big, BIG bang for their buck when they purchased their M113A2 from military surplus.

M113 Armored Personnel Carrier

The original M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) helped to revolutionize mobile military operations. The vehicles were able to carry 11 soldiers plus a driver and track commander under armor protection across hostile battlefield environments. More importantly, the new vehicles were air transportable, air-droppable, and swimmable, allowing planners to incorporate APCs in a much wider range of combat situations, including many "rapid deployment" scenarios. The M113s were so successful that they were quickly identified as the foundation for a family of vehicles. Early derivatives included both command post (M577) and mortar carrier (M106) configurations. Source - Global Security

Currently getting sandblasted over at Lonnie Roberts Auto Service, the carrier will be used by the department's Special Response Team (SWAT) for "hostile environments" such as suspects who have barricaded themselves, hostage situations, executing warrants and crowd control.



After getting sanded the carrier will then be painted "stealth" black and decorated with the Sheriff's department logo.

The net weight of the M113A2 is 23,880 lb. and carries up to 13 passengers. The fuel tank holds up to 95 gallons of diesel fuel with a cruising range of up to 300 miles which, we figured, means about 3.2 miles per gallon. (Yikes) With 275 HP, the top speed is 41 MPH with a 16'' clearance.

For $2000.00 the Sheriff's Department got a hell of a deal. You can't hardly buy a decent used car at that piece, especially one that carries up to a dozen people and withstand heavy artillery.

We'd consider getting one too but with the price of gas still hovering around three bucks a gallon, the cost of auto insurance, finding a mechanic and parking spaces, we'll have to pass.


By LBG

Image - RCSD
Source - The State



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