Again, the exact dates are not clear, but you can see some with, some without smoke grenade launchers. I suspect this photo was taken during later the stages of the conflict, as the mantlet-mounted .50 cal didn’t seem common (if at all) during the initial phase.
Giant tray for ostrich eggs? 
I thought so! 
Seriously - what could it be? mattress? palette? 
Gimme some time, working on it.
Pads to spread the load out when crossing/operating in a mined area.
WOW!Thx!!I haven’t come across anything like this …
You can see something similar on Puma CEV.
Check the blue black square in the second photo, you can see how the bottom looks on the first photo.
They appear larger in the lower photo …
Maybe they come in different sizes.
True…
I do not think they are the same thing. According to the Desert Eagle Production’s ‘Cruel Cats’ book, the blue square boxes on the Puma contain ‘mine shoes’:
No, but rather the same principle I guess: spreading the load on a larger surface.
I am trying to find out if the one on the M113 is for the vehicle or the personnel, edited the “track” before the load part
It would be interesting to see what the mine shoe in the box actually looks like. I do not imagine that the width of the box would hold anything much wider than the tracks anyway.
Found this when doing some research. Israeli designed mine shoes for soldiers - spread the weight to avoid setting a mine off.
Wonder who the got to test the first pair? 
Maybe those large pads are to be laid on uncleared surfaces for personnel.
