M163 VADS

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"Who ever said the pen is mightier than the sword has obviously never encountered automatic weapons."

– Gen. Douglas MacArthur

The M163 VADS (Vulcan Air Defense System) is a Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) developed by the United States Army to deal with low flying aerial threats. The VADS is one of the many vehicles derived from the M113. It is essentially a 20mm Vulcan rotary cannon, usually used in fighter jets, mounted on an M113 chassis.

Unlike most anti-air vehicles the M163 does not have an integrated targeting system, instead relying on the judgment and skills of its gunner to engage threats. The M164 VADS is equipped with a radar system, but it only detects the range to the target, not the speed or direction.

In Team Yankee

USA

The Stat Card

The only weapon of this adorably tiny vehicle is the M168 20mm Vulcan Gatling AA Gun, which is capable of close to 3000 RPM. This gives the gun an absurd ROF, 7 while halted and 4 on the move. This is especially epic as the M163 has the special rule Dedicated AA, meaning that it can fire at its full rate of fire (either 7 or 4 depending on if it has moved) at aircraft, rather than only rolling 1 die. The VADS also has the special rule Radar, meaning that it ignores the +1 penalty for shooting at aircraft, and increases the AA range by 12 inches. This thing will absolutely shred aircraft within its 32-inch range.

If there are no aircraft around, the M163 VADS is quite decent at dealing with lightly armored vehicles and infantry. The M168 Vulcan has an AT rating of 6 meaning that, say, a BMP (either 1 or 2) will get glanced by this weapon on a 4+. However, the Firepower rating is only 5+, so only 1/3 of your penetrating hits will knock out the tank.

As for defense, the M163 VADS has the standard defense of the M113 chassis, except for the top. The top armor rating is 0 because of the gunner's open-topped turret. Long story short, any airborne weapon system with an AT rating greater than 6 is an auto-pen, so make sure you take down aircraft before they tear you a new one (which you should have been doing anyway). Artillery's ability to hit the top armor also means that these cute but vulnerable death machines should be hidden from any possible spotters.

You get 2 VADS in a platoon for 3 points and 4 for 6.

Israel

We won't need the Amphibious floats in a desert, right?

For the Israeli commander, this unit is a strictly better Shilka in most cases. Its main gun has near identical stats: superior to the Shilka with a faster dash speed, better stationary ROF and front armor that might actually protect you from .50 cal fire and autocannons.

The Shilka has 1 less shot while stationary (ROF 6 vs 7). It also features weaker armor from the front and sides which is only relevant for autocannon fire: anything heavier like a LAW will be going through your soft-skinned chassis. Additionally, the Shilka features much worse dash speeds.

However, your trade-off is a weaker top armor which may be a dealbreaker to some players. In a world of infantry dominance, artillery is an auto-include for almost every combined arms list. This means units with top armor 0 are in serious trouble, given that you have a 50% chance to survive a mortar hit from an AT3 shell, from artillery units like the M106 and the Gvozdika. Additionally, the front armor may prove irrelevant considering the prevalence of AT10 autocannons and light tanks (think T-62s and Leopard 1s) which auto-penetrate both the Shilka and VADS alike.

TL;DR: +1 to courage, assault, counterattack. +2 to skill. More vulnerable to artillery than the Shilka. Superior firepower as an AA piece or a fire support vehicle.

IRL

See that helicopter, gunner? I don't want to.

The M163 VADS entered service in 1968 as a stop gap vehicle to supplant the M42 Duster as more advanced air defense platforms could be developed (though not always successfully) and was used by both the Americans and Israelis. Unlike its portrayal in Team Yankee, the effectiveness of the M163 VADS in its intended role was always somewhat questionable. While its 20mm M61 Vulcan gun had sufficient firepower, it was a relatively short-ranged weapon by anti-aircraft armament standards. Combined with the lack of a search-and-track capable radar, the M163 VADS would have great difficulty engaging the sort of targets it was intended to engage, namely low-flying aircraft and helicopters.

In any case, the VADS was rarely used for its designed purpose, with the notable exception during Operation Peace for Galilee, where an Israeli VADS shot down a MIG 21. Instead the M163 was mostly used to support ground forces, like during Operation Just Cause in Panama where a VADS sank a PDF patrol boat.

The M163 VADS was integral to Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Battalions which were attached to Mechanized and Armored Divisions in the 1980s. Each Battalion was made up of 3 Batteries of which two Platoons were equipped with 4 M163s (If you were wondering the 3rd Platoon was made up of Stinger missiles). These batteries would then be attached to the various battalions of the division to provide local air defense, mostly against helicopters in the VADS case.

The VADS ended up serving longer than intended, due partially to the lack of any drastically better alternatives offered that would give return on investment proportional to cost, due partially to the lingering bad taste in the mouth left by the M247 "Sergeant York" the last time they tried to replace it, due partially to the brutally lethal reputation of the Stinger SAM so widely deployed to every infantry battalion, but mostly due to US politicians having the wit to avoid picking fights with nations that have an air force worthy of the name since around 1941. The VADS was eventually replaced by the M1097 Avenger and M6 Linebacker, which is a Bradley variant that replaces the TOW antitank missiles with Stinger Missiles. Though the last VADS in America were retired in 1994, it continues to serve in several other countries. When the VADS fires its gun in anger, they are invariably engaging enemy dismounted infantry in a direct fire support role, ever since the first ones were rolled onto firebases in Vietnam. One hundred rounds of 20mm autocannon fire per second per vehicle are universally agreed to be quite effective, though I don't know if it should get "Brutal" in-game in Team Yankee, which seems to be reserved for the nastiest of the nasty.

The early versions of VADS in Israeli service were called the Hovet, or "Boxer." Since 1998 they've been upgraded and the new version is called the Machbet, or "Club." The Machbet has vastly improved sensors and fire-control system over the VADS, plus four launch tubes for Stinger SAMs bolted onto the side of the turret.

Israeli Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	Merkava - M60 Patton
Transports:	M113 Armored Personnel Carrier
Troops:	IDF Infantry Platoon
Artillery:	M109 Howitzer -M106 Heavy Mortar Carrier -M125 Mortar Carrier
Anti-Aircraft:	M163 VADS - ZSU 23-4 Shilka - M48 Chaparral - Redeye SAM Platoon
Tank Hunters:	Pereh - M150 TOW - Jeep TOW
Recon:	M113 Recce - Jeep Recce
Aircraft:	AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter - A4 Skyhawk