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M901 (or possibly M981 FIST - they are virtually identical from the outside) of the US Army in MERDC camouflage during an exercise. Note the M1 helmet being worn by the crewman.

The M901 and M981 turrets appear slightly different to me in the front where the ports of the TOWs are/would be respectively.

(Confusingly the front of the turret is usually pointing towards the rear when the weapon isn't in it's firing position)


The M901 is to the left. They had to look alike from a distance so I guess they didn't bother making the the turret perfectly identical.

Also the majority of M901 pictures show M113A2 hulls where as the M981 ones show them using M113A3. Considering it was only in service from 1987-1991 they could have used either version since the A3 only entered service in 1987 as well. I'm going out on a limb and say that the M981 was born as a part of the modernization program that led to the A3 just like the M901 entered service in 1979 the same year the A2 came in and was likely a by-product of that upgrade program. Too much of a coincidence even for the mysterious procurement ways of the military.