M113 C&R Lynx
FMC Corp. command and reconnaissance vehicle accepted by Canadian Forces in 1968.
History and Service Notes
The Lynx was a command and reconnaissance vehicle built as a private venture in 1963 by FMC Corp., the manufacturer of the M113 armoured personnel carrier.
The Lynx used M113A1 components, including aluminum armour, but differed from the M113 layout by using only four road wheels on each side and placing the engine in the rear instead of the front.
The vehicle was amphibious and was propelled in the water by its tracks. Before swimming, crews erected a trim vane at the front, started bilge pumps, and mounted covers on the air intake and exhaust. In practice, crews often closed hatches and forded shallow streams at high speed.
The Canadian Forces accepted 174 Lynx vehicles in 1968. They replaced the Ferret armoured car and were issued to reconnaissance squadrons of Canada’s armoured regiments. A squadron consisted of three troops, each equipped with seven Lynxes: three two-vehicle patrols plus the troop leader’s vehicle. Nine Lynxes also equipped the reconnaissance platoon of an infantry battalion’s combat support company.
Many reservists trained on the Lynx as part of their basic reconnaissance training. In the Canadian Lynx, the crew commander’s cupola was located middle-right, while the observer’s hatch was rear-left. The commander operated the manually traversed M26 heavy machine gun cupola from inside the vehicle, but reloaded it with the hatch open. The rear-facing observer operated the radio and fired the pintle-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun.
The Canadian Lynx was withdrawn from service in 1993 and replaced in the regular force by 203 Coyote eight-wheeled reconnaissance vehicles in 1996.
Technical Specifications
- Crew: 3 (driver, commander, observer/radio operator)
- Combat weight: approx. 8.7 tonnes
- Length: 4.6 m; width: 2.4 m; height: 2.2 m
- Engine: GM/Detroit Diesel 6V53, 6-cylinder diesel, approx. 215 hp
- Max speed: 71 km/h on road; approx. 6 km/h swimming
- Range: approx. 520 km
- Armament: .50 cal M2HB machine gun in a manually-traversed cupola, plus a 7.62 mm C5/FN MAG
- Armor: aluminum hull, up to approx. 32 mm at its thickest point