M274 Mechanical Mule

The M274 Mule was a small four-wheel drive, gasoline powered utility truck used by the United States military, officially the Truck, Platform, Utility, one-half ton, 4x4, and also called the Military Mule or the Mechanical Mule. Introduced in 1956 to supplement the quarter-ton jeeps and the three-quarter-ton weapons carriers in airborne and infantry battalions, it grew out of a vehicle that Willys-Overland designed at the end of World War Two to carry wounded on litters over ground a jeep could not reach, which the Army bought in small numbers in 1948 as the Jungle Burden Carrier. The Mule carried up to half a short ton, offered its driver no protection, and had a driver seat that could be removed so the vehicle could be driven in reverse to make room for cargo. About 11,240 were built before production ended in 1970, and it was often fitted with weapons such as machine guns, recoilless rifles and TOW anti-tank missile systems, especially in the Vietnam War. The Army kept it in service until the 1980s.