Armored Personnel Carriers are lightly armed and armored all-terrain combat vehicles designed to provide transport for infantry units.
They afford the infantry better protection and off-road mobility than motorized transport or troops provided only with LPCs. APCs have enough armor to withstand small arms fire and shell fragments, but are easily knocked out by heavy weapons. As such their role is to transport the infantry into the direct fire zone of the battlefield, but to not engage the enemy directly. They are typically equipped with a heavy machinegun on a pintle mount or small turret for defensive purposes.
Both tracked and wheeled versions are popular, the formerly ubiquitous half-track having fallen from use in recent decades. APCs are almost universally amphibious and air-portable. Some types can even handle swimming in the sea. This gives APCs capabilities that the otherwise much more capable IFVs lack due to their extra weight. An NBC protection system is generally fitted.