M578 light recovery vehicle

M578 LRV
M578 LRV
	An early US Army M578, circa 1965.
Type	Armored recovery vehicle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	Israel, United States, United Kingdom
Wars	Vietnam War ; Lebanese Civil War ; Gulf War
Production history
Designer	FMC Corp.
Manufacturer	FMC Corp. (vehicle body), General Motors (transmission) Bowen-McLaughlin-York
Produced	1962
Specifications
Mass	54,000lbs/ 24,493.998k
Length	18 ft 3.8 in (5.583 m)
Width	10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Height	8 ft 7.5 in (2.629 m)
Crew	3 men: Crane operator in cab right front Rigger in cab left front Driver in hull left front
Main; armament	.50-caliber M2HB machine gun
Engine	General Motors 8V71T; 8 cylinder, 2 cycle, vee, supercharged diesel; 345 hp @ 2,300 rpm
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Operational; range	450 miles (724 km)
Maximum speed	37 mph (60 km/h)

The M578 light recovery vehicle (G309) was an American Cold War-era armored recovery vehicle. The M578 utilized the same chassis as the M107 self-propelled gun and M110 self-propelled howitzer. The M578 provided maintenance support to mechanized infantry and artillery units. Its primary mission was to recover damaged light armored vehicles from the battlefield using its crane boom.

Operation[]

The cab could rotate 360°, and had a 30,000 lb (13,600 kg) capacity winch^[2] which ran through a crane on the cab. Another winch, 60,000 lb (27,000 kg) capacity,^[2] was mounted on the front of the cab. Access to the cab was through a door on each side and by double doors in the rear, while the crane operator and rigger both had vision cupolas in the cab roof.

Users[]

Austria: Austrian Army
Brazil: Brazilian Army
Denmark: Royal Danish Army
Egypt: Egyptian Army
Greece: Hellenic Army
Israel: Israel Defense Forces
Jordan: Royal Jordanian Land Force
Lebanon: Lebanese Armed Forces
Morocco: Royal Moroccan Army
Portugal: Portuguese Army
Turkey: Turkish Army
Thailand: Royal Thai Army
United Kingdom: British Army
United States: United States Army
South Vietnam: Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Vietnam: People's Army of Vietnam
Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabian Army
Yemen – Yemen Army^{[citation needed]}

References[]

^ Defense Industry Bulletin, April 1968, p. 47.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Ripley, Tim (1992). The new illustrated guide to the modern US Army. Salamander Books Ltd. pp. 138–139. ISBN 0-86101-671-8.