Russian army touts outdated M113 as prized war trophy
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a U.S.-produced M113 armored personnel carrier, seized from Ukrainian forces, will be put into service in the Russian army. However, the propaganda does not mention that both sides of the ongoing war engage in similar actions. The M113 is one of the oldest and least valuable pieces of NATO equipment that the West has provided to Ukraine.
The "trophy" presented by the Russians is essentially a 70-year-old piece of equipment. M113 armored personnel carriers, developed by the Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation (FMC Corporation), have designs that date back to the Vietnam War, with their history beginning in the 1950s.
The Russians boast about their captured M113
Over the years, these carriers have been used by the armies of many countries worldwide, many of which are currently Ukraine's allies. This has resulted in large shipments, with several hundred M113 armored personnel carriers already at the front lines. They are among the most numerous Western vehicles in the Ukrainian army.
The Russians regard such a trophy alongside more valuable loot, including the captured Abrams tank and the Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle, which former Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu inspected.
Russians have also captured the Leopard 2A6, the latest NATO tank sent as part of support to Ukraine. However, the German side's reaction was quite telling, indicating that such situations are primarily of a propaganda nature and do not cause major NATO concerns, such as the loss of sensitive technology or the potential "cloning" of Western equipment by the Russians.
Russians overestimate the value of NATO trophies
An employee of the KNDS company, quoted by the media, claimed that replicating these technologies is unfeasible for the Russians. Before reaching Ukraine, the equipment is stripped of sensitive technologies.
For example, Abrams tanks had their depleted uranium armor removed by the American side, replaced with tungsten inserts, before being handed over to Ukraine. In the case of F-16 fighters serving the Ukrainian army, the Link-16 data link standard was absent. Regarding the old M113 carriers, there is no question of sensitive technology. Their design is so simple that, according to Ukrainians, they in many ways resemble popular John Deere grain combines.
The actions of both Russians and Ukrainians in reclaiming enemy equipment demonstrate that both sides struggle with shortages of various types of vehicles. During an operation to retrieve a Russian BMP-2 from a lake, Ukrainian soldiers noted that "if they had sufficiently modern equipment, they might not have to risk their health and lives to capture such a trophy."
