Military Tuesday : US OPFOR Vehicles
After discovering unconventional military vehicles like the massive WWII 800mm “Dora” railway gun to more practical modifications of armoured vehicles by Israeli engineers as showcased at Israel’s Yad La’Shiryon Museum, I recently found this photo of of a modification kit produced by BAE Systems to convert a M113 APC for the OPFOR role. At least that’s what I think it is from its cryptic caption “Opp Forces Surr Training System”. (probably stands for Opposing Forces Surrogate Training System 
)
© BAE Systems
OPFOR (OPposing FORce) vehicles are essentially US Army vehicles dressed up to mimic the silhouette of their enemy counterparts (in this case, this M113 is intended to represent one of the Russian BMP family of APCs) While Russia is no longer perceived as the most dangerous threat to American interests nowadays, the ex-Soviet Union exported huge amounts of weapons and military doctrine across the globe decades ago and these weapons are still likely to be fielded by potential threats in future conflicts.
This M113 however, isn’t the most ingenious of modifications since you can’t really simulate a low profile BMP (2.45m in height, including turret) with a 2.5m tall M113 (excluding turret).
Below are two photos of more realistic (not to mention more imaginative) OPFOR vehicles as showcased at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) site.
A Visually Modified (VISMOD) HMMWV aka Humvee transformed into the BRDM armoured vehicle.
A OSV-T - essentially a modified M113A3 with a M2 Bradley turret - being used to simulate a BMP. More info on the OSV-T can be found at Global Security.
The USAF had a similiar (now defunct) programme known as Aggressor - I have seen profile illustrations of Northrop F-5s being painted in Russian desert camouflage and Soviet style stencilled serial numbers in some old magazines - gotta see if I can find out more on the Net.
Check out the BAE Systems Multimedia Library (tons of next-gen armour prototypes) or the Joint Readiness Training Center’s OPFOR vehicles.
MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide
P.1000 Ratte Super-Heavy Tank
Armour Photos at Israel’s Yad La’Shiryon Museum
ACE Armoured Vehicle Scale Model Boxart
Armada International’s Complete Guides
