M114

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For the artillery piece, see M114 155 mm howitzer.

M114

General characteristics
Crew	3
Length	4.46 m
Width	2.33 m
Height	2.39 m
Weight	15,000 lbs
Armour and armament
Armour	44.5 mm
Main armament	.50-caliber M2 machine gun
Secondary armament	7.62mm M60 machine gun
Mobility
Power plant	8-cyl gasoline V8 Chevrolet 283 160 hp (120 kW)
Suspension	torsion-bar
Road speed	58 km/h
Power/weight	23 hp/tonne
Range	443 km

The M114 Command and Reconnaissance Carrier is a Vietnam War-era tracked armoured fighting vehicle, used by the United States Army. It was manufactured by the Cadillac Division of General Motors in the early 1960s.

The M114 is a lightweight, low-silhouette vehicle, designed to complement the M113 in command and reconnaissance roles. It looks like a sleeker, lower M113. It can swim, propelled by its tracks, and is light enough to be transported by cargo aircraft and dropped by parachute. The commander's hatch rotates 360 degrees with its .50 caliber machine gun and mount.

The M114 is constructed of aluminum and weighs 13,100 lb (5.9 tonnes) empty, with a combat weight of 15,093 lb (6.8 tonnes). It is powered by a Chevrolet V-8 motor. It had a three-man crew, and a top speed of 36 mph (58 km/h).The vehicle,however,suffered from poor crosscountry mobility because of the design of the front hull which protruded foward of the tracks.It was also underpowered and unreliable in sevice being withdrawn from use in Germany and scrapped in the mid 70's.Armor protection was only for small arms fire and shell fragments,any heavy machine gun or light anti tank weapon such as the LAW would easily destroy the vehicle. Examples at Ft. Lewis and in the desert in Idaho can be found with impact holes, which may be indicative of the armour protection.

It saw service in the Vietnam War, but was quickly withdrawn because it could not keep up with the larger M113s, which also had room for troops, and extra firepower when configured for Armored Cavalry (ACAV, mounting three machine guns and gun shields). It was also replaced in the reconnaissance role by the M-551 Sheridan light tank.

[edit] Variants

M114
M114A1 – new commander's weapon station allowing firing of the .50-cal machine gun from inside (manual and electrically-powered cupola), reinforced trim vane
M114A2 – (1969, initially called M114A1E1) replaced main armament with a Hispano-Suiza HS.820 20mm gun (designated M139 in US service)