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The M113 armoured personnel carriers are American produced military vehicles that have operated in the Australian Army since 1964. An initial pair of M113s was purchased for trials purposes in 1962. Either 817 or 840 were acquired by 1979, comprising nine different variants. A long-running modernisation program that commenced in the 1990s resulted in 431 M113s being upgraded between 2007 and 2012. All of the upgraded M113s remain in service as of 2020.
In Australian service, the M113 has equipped armoured transport and reconnaissance units as well as mechanised infantry formations. It has also been used as a support vehicle by many other units. The type played an important role in Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1972. Some M113s were deployed as part of peacekeeping missions in Somalia during 1993 and Rwanda between 1994 and 1995. Larger numbers of M113s operated in East Timor from 1999 to 2002 and 2006 to 2008.
Despite the upgrade program, the Australian Army's M113s are now obsolete and they have not been included in recent deployments due to their vulnerability to attack. A project to replace the M113s with infantry fighting vehicles is underway, with a decision on the type to be procured scheduled for 2023. It is planned that the replacement vehicles will begin to enter service from 2025 and the M113s will be retired when this process is complete.