For roughly the last 20 years the US government has had
a policy of destruction of armoured vehicles rather than selling them through
the disposal system as in earlier times. The following pictures show the
wastage this policy brings about. You will note in some of the pictures that
not even the engines (which are a standard civilian product) have been removed.
Instead they too have been scrapped: not a good return on the tax dollar!
What you see here is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. Normally
unwanted vehicles are taken straight out of service (it doesn't matter
whether they are worn out or not) and used as range targets, nothing is ever
scavenged off them, they often still contain batteries and fuel! Of course
the public never gets to see this wastage, but plenty of military personnel
do!
This is what an M113A1 should look like. In this case an
Aussie - "ARVL" (Armoured Recovery Vehicle Light).
(I cannot locate the origin of this picture, so
if it belongs to you and you object to me using it, please contact me.)
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As you can see, the vehicles have been "bathtubbed" (cut down
to just above track height). The upper armour and missing mechanicals are
not in evidence.
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This track shot is very interesting. Shortly before it was scrapped
this vehicle had a new set of track pads installed. There are 123 of them to
each vehicle at a cost of approximately US$15 each! Thus there is $1845 plus
labour cost, of tax payers money at a minimum sitting on this wreck.
Although it is hard
to tell even by looking closely at this picture, the track appears to be
within specification and quite usable - more wastage - replacement cost is
somewhere between $25 to $40 per link. The road wheels show
minimal "chunking" and are themselves quite usable (road wheel rubber is
not replacable and thus road wheels are considered a high wear item).
Wouldn't you think they would have salvaged components and saved the
taxpayer some money?
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The rust is of no consequence. Track gets a surface coat of
rust within a few days of being put into use.
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We are looking at the front of the vehicle, facing to the
rear. The vertical piece of gray coloured metal in the centre of the
pictue is the corner post of the engine bay. The green vertical post to
the right is the drivers seat mount (still with seat pad). The large
semi-circular green metal object is a portion of the driver's coaming
where the periscopes mount.
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Not the same vehicle as above, but this is the view from the
opposite direction. Clearly visible are the torsion bars and at lower
right the bilge pump.
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This one still has an engine and driveline intact.
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This engine bay is/was very complete.
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