In the U.S. Army, the M113 series have long been replaced as front-line combat vehicles by the M2 and M3
Bradleys, but large numbers are still used in support roles such as armored ambulance, mortar carrier, engineer vehicle, and command vehicle. The U.S. Army's heavy brigade combat teams are equipped with approximately 6,000 M113s and 4,000 Bradleys.
The M113's versatility spawned a
wide variety of adaptations that live on worldwide and in U.S. service. These variants together currently represent about half of U.S. Army armored vehicles. To date, it is estimated that over 80,000 M113s of all types have been produced and used by over 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the most widely used
armored fighting vehicles of all time.
[7]
M113 production was terminated in 2007. The Army initiated the
Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program to search for a replacement. In 2014, the U.S. Army selected
BAE Systems proposal of a turretless variant of the
Bradley Fighting Vehicle to replace over 2,800 M113s in service.
[8] Thousands of M113s continue to see combat service in the
Israel Defense Forces, although as of 2014 the IDF was seeking to gradually replace many of its 6,000 M113s, with
Namers.
[9]
