Her hull also proved less than desirable when attempting to cross ditches and fording streams proved a chore. She was also deemed underpowered for the cross-country role and lacked much in the way of crew protection - particularly from land mines. Key limitations of the M114 became her poor mechanical reliability, especially when exposed to the rigors of the jungle environment. Her reconnaissance value in the Vietnam War was eventually replaced by the more capable, four-man M551 Sheridan light reconnaissance tank of 1969 mounting its powerful 152mm main gun. In all, her tenure would last just over a decade. The newer M114 served a short operational life in service with the United States Army, seeing some action in the conflict though being subsequently forced into early retirement after just a few years of use. The M114 was not as lucky as her older sister, a mount who found success in the Vietnam War and essentially ushered the way for the smaller M114. In contrast to the 80,000 M113 systems built, a little over 600 M114s were ultimately delivered to the US Army. The M113 also survived in a variety of useful battlefield forms beyond her initial APC offering and went on to become a dedicated guided-missile launch platform, armored assault vehicle, dedicated command vehicle and smoke screen generator variant to name a few. The M113 of 1960 would go on to see extensive service on a global scale and be featured in the inventories of a multitude of American-friendly nations as a do-all, be-all multi-role platform. The M114 Command and Reconnaissance Carrier followed the ubiquitous M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) series into operational service.
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