troung

Saturday » November 25 » 2006
Armoured vehicles headed to Afghanistan
David PuglieseCanWest News Service
Saturday, November 25, 2006

OTTAWA -- The Canadian Forces will ship more armoured vehicles to Afghanistan to help ease the wear and tear on the military's combat fl eet in Kandahar.
About 40 tracked M113 armoured personnel carriers will be shipped early in the New Year, a move that will give commanders another type of vehicle to use when the wheeled LAV-3, as well as Bison armoured carriers, are undergoing maintenance, said army spokesperson Capt. Sylvain Chalifour.
In addition, some of the Bisons now in Afghanistan will have to be returned to Canada for refi t work, so the M113s will make up for that shortfall, he said.
There are already several M113s in Kandahar, Chalifour added.
Afghanistan's terrain is exceptionally hard on vehicles and equipment of all types, according to military offi cials.
Army officers privately say the M113s are also needed to roll over some of the obstacles that have stopped or slowed down the wheeled LAV-3s. While the LAV-3 is well regarded by the troops, it has had diffi culty driving over some of irrigation ditches during fighting in the Afghan countryside.
Tracked vehicles, such as the M113, will be able to negotiate such obstacles better. Officers also say the M113 can keep up to the Leopard tank already in Kandahar.
In September, the military announced it was sending Leopards to Afghanistan in a bid to boost firepower and protection for its soldiers.
Earlier this week, one of the Leopards hit a mine during a training exercise outside Kandahar. The explosion blew off one of the tank's tracks, but it was repaired later that day. No soldiers were injured in the incident.
The future strategy of Canada's army is to switch to a predominantly wheeled vehicle fl eet which, according to senior offi cers, would be more easily transportable overseas.

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To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

-{SpoonmaN}-

Makes sense, I remember reading on this forum, I believe courtesy of the Colonel, that the older APCs the CF was using in Afghanistan were suffering from corrosion issues due to their age, so bringing in more rugged vehicles like the Gavin sounds like the ticket.

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"I have this to say to the people of Australia: Kick me, I'm different."

troung

Unless doing a Sparky don't call it the "Gavin"....

BFD15

This all brings up another question from me , But I have seen OoE, and others in the know indicate here and other forums that the MGS plan is dead in the water. If Canada is going to stay in the MBT game with Leo's for now and hopefully something newer down the road, should Canada not be looking at replacing the tracked M-113s with something more modern? It would seem the M-113s are being hailed as the proper tool to keep up with the Leo's in Afghanistan in the terrain containing lots of ditch obstacles. OoE, you probably know, but does the former PMO for the MGS now have a mandate to look at such purchases now that the wheeled transformation looks to be in question?

thanks

Officer of Engineers

The M113 still has alot of life left. They will last as long as the LEO 1C2. PMO LAV is still active though reduced. They're responsible for the mid-life upgrades to the COYOTE, BISON, and the LAV III.

PMO MGS is waiting for the defence review to be release in Feb.

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Chimo

-{SpoonmaN}-

I don't entirely know what you're on about but ok.

sappersgt

He's referring to a rant by the (in)famous Mike Sparks.

Officer of Engineers

The M113 is NOT called the Gavin. That name was given by Sparks. It is not the official designation of the vehicle. The CF does not refer to the M113 as the Gavin. We call it the M113.

-{SpoonmaN}-

Fair enough.