Type confidential in March 1963 as a mobile command post, the M577 has also be utilize as a mobile field aid post, artillery fire direction center, and infrastructure vehicle. Essentially a vertically expanded M113 armored staff carrier, the interior of the M577 has been reconfigured to accommodate extra communications equipment, map and tactical information boards, field desks or artillery plotting tables, and additional crewmembers. Each 577 is ready with an externally mounted electric generator capable of powering the additional equipment to reduce loading on the vehicle's inherit electrical system. In addition, each M577 is equipped with an integral expandable shelter which can be deployed when the vehicle is stationary. In a tactical situation, multiple M577 shelters can be linked together to create an enclosed working space. Like the M113, the M577 is amphibious, and is equipped with a diagram for load equalization, necessary to counteract the M577s high center of gravity. The M577 is equipped with a standard M113 driver's hatch and a single vehicle commander's hatch centered in the roof of the vehicle. The commander's position is prepared with a penile machine gun mount which may accommodate either an M2 HB caliber .50 machine gun, an M60 7.62mm machine gun, or a Mk19 40mm grenade launcher. The vehicle is equipped with an engine driven Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, filtration system which supplies the crew with purified air via a protective mask hose coupling, but does not over pressurize the crew compartment. Since its introduction, over 4,000 M577, M577A1, and M577A2 command vehicles have been produced for the United States Army.
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