- Ukrainian forces use tracked armored personnel carriers for an array of dangerous tasks on rough terrain
- American-designed M-113s from the 1960s handle many of the tasks
- Now there's a Ukrainian-made alternative that improves on the M-113: the Skif
Ukraine has lost roughly 500 of the 4,100 M-113 armored personnel carriers its allies supplied. Now a Kyiv manufacturer is building a replacement—and improving on the 1960s American design.
Meet the the Skif by UkrArmoTech, Ukraine's answer to America's iconic M-113 "battle taxi," thousands of which perform an array of lifesaving tasks in Ukrainian brigades.
Designed to match the 14-ton M-113's high speed, impressive maneuverability, flexibility, capaciousness and ease of use, the Skif also improves on the American vehicle's biggest flaw: its thin armor. If it works as advertised, the Skif could speed infantry to and from front-line positions, help wounded troops evacuate to field hospitals and—with add-on weapons—defend against drones or even join mechanized assaults across the 1,200-km no-man's-land.
As a bonus, the tracked Skif could do all these things on rough terrain where Ukrainian forces' other most useful vehicles—its wheeled infantry mobility vehicles—tend to get mired.
The OSINT account Special Kherson Cat helpfully collated the Skif's specifications as the vehicle enters builder's trials.
- Weight: up to 15 tons
- Engine: 360-hp diesel
- Crew: driver, commander, gunner
- Troop capacity: 8
- Armor: protection against 14.5-millimter machine gun rounds and fragments from 155-mm artillery
- Armament: 12.7-mm or 14.5-mm machine gun
The Skif's capacity and mobility specifications are similar to the M-113's, but the Ukrainian vehicle has roughly double the protection compared to the American vehicle, which was designed in the 1960s.
It's tall order to replace all the M-113s Ukraine has received from its allies in the 50 months since Russia widened its war of aggression, so don't expect an all-Skif military any time soon. Ukraine has taken delivery of more than 1,600 M-113s, including thousands of standard APC variants as well as specialized models with cargo beds and gun turrets.
The war has been hard on the M-113 fleet, however. The Ukrainians have lost around 500 of the vehicles in combat—and surely written off many more owing to wear and tear.
Trending Now
High demand
Given than a single mechanized brigade might want to possess 100 or so M-113s for various roles, it's easy to imagine overall demand in Ukraine for 10,000 M-113s and similar vehicles. While Ukraine may continue to receive M-113s from allies, it would benefit Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian industry to tap a domestic source for analogue—and improved—vehicles.
It's worth noting that the Americans' own next-generation APC, the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, costs around $2.5 million per vehicle. A made-in-Ukraine APC, even one with a significant number of imported components, would surely be much cheaper.
Still, it's unclear whether Kyiv is willing to spend potentially $1 billion on a large fleet of new APCs when there are other, seemingly more urgent, priorities. Namely, drones.
But inasmuch as Ukrainian forces still need to maneuver under armor and over rough terrain along or near the wide no-man's-land, they should do so in vehicles that balance mobility and protection. The M-113 already balances those competing requirements pretty well. The Skif may balance them even better—and Ukraine would own the supply chain.
