Meet the new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle

In mid-December, the Army will receive the first of nearly 150 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles from British Aerospace for what is officially described as the "Engineering and Manufacturing Development" phase.

What they're really doing is testing out the replacement for the M113 armored personnel carrier in Army brigade combat teams.

The M113 does seem to be due for replacement. This vehicle is old — as in it entered service when John F. Kennedy won the presidency.

Also read: Army Stryker gets lethality upgrade

It's stuck around for 56 years, even as it became obvious that it could not keep up with the M1 Abrams main battle tank nor the M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

The AMPV will likely continue its testing for at least another four years, according to an Army release. Per a handout from April 2012, the Army is looking for five variants of the AMPV.

The first is a General Purpose vehicle, capable of mounting a "crew-served weapon" (let's be honest, it will likely be a M2 heavy machine gun), with a crew of two and capable of carrying six personnel.

This will often serve as an escort for convoys, medevac missions, and even be used as an emergency supply vehicle.

The next vehicle is a Medical Evacuation Vehicle, intended to pull wounded troops from the fight, and to help deliver medical supplies forward (to treat casualties on the spot and prepare them for evacuation).

The vehicle can carry four litter patients, six ambulatory patients, or a mix. Given that the AMPV is being used in the heavy brigade combat teams, this is meant to handle the aftermath of an armored vehicle being hit.

The third variant is the Medical Treatment Vehicle. You might think at first that this is redundant with the MEV, but these are very different things.

The MEV is intended to get wounded troops to medical treatment. The MTV is meant to be a place where troops are treated. This vehicle – really a mobile emergency room – will be also to carry one litter case, and has a crew of four.

The Mortar Carrier is variant number four. Pretty much the same 120mm mortar used in the mortar carrier variants of the M113 and the Stryker will be in the AMPV.

It will carry the crew for the mortar and 69 ready rounds.

The final version is the Mission Command Vehicle. This is where officers at battalion level and higher handle their fights. This vehicle will have a crew of two and two mission personnel.

In other words, the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle looks to finally be the end of the line for the M113 … eventually. But there were over 80,000 M113s of all types produced, according to the current owner of the design, BAE Systems.

That's a lot vehicles to replace.