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Topic: Canada buying 100 Leapord 2's A6's from the Netherlands. Done deal!! (Read 1939 times)
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Chet Malone
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Canada is buying 100 Leapord 2 A6 tanks from the Netherlands. The money that was allocated for the cancelled MGS system ,654 million is being used to fund the new tanks. Cdn. troops to get new tanks in Afghanistan Updated Thu. Apr. 12 2007 10:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070412/gates_oconnor_070412/20070412?hub=TopStoriesIn an effort to bolster resistance against Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced a two-part plan that will provide soldiers with new tanks by this summer. O'Connor said the Canadian government will purchase 100 Leopard A6M tanks from the Netherlands, which will replace the 17 aging Leopard C2s currently being used. "Our Leopard One fleet is almost 30 years old and we are one of the last two countries in the world to use them," O'Connor said on Thursday during a press conference in Quebec City. The tanks are slated to arrive in Canada by the fall of 2007. As CTV first reported six months ago, Ottawa has also opted to buy second hand. The defence minister announced a new deal with Germany to lease 20 Leopard A6M tanks which will arrive in Afghanistan as early as summer 2007 to help strengthen efforts against an expected Taliban spring resurgence. "They'll be able to take on any tank in the world," O'Connor said later in an appearance on CTV's Mike Duffy Live. He said the new tanks will offer soldiers stronger firing capabilities, faster land speeds and more armour to protect against roadside bombs. RELATED: Will the Taliban try to reclaim Kandahar? Analysis: Modern tanks will not halt the Taliban Atlantic Canada pays bloody price for mission "These tanks are going to have much heavier armour protection against mines. ... The engines are much more powerful so they can move a lot quicker across country -- perhaps twice as fast as the Leopard One," he said. The defence minister said the acquisition of the 100 tanks, the leasing of the 20 Leopard A6Ms, training and logistics support over five years will cost a total of $650 million. Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier said the tanks are necessary in order for our troops to respond to the changing tactics of an adaptive enemy "who occasionally can have success -- as unfortunately they did this past week." Indeed, it was a bloody week for Canadians in Afghanistan, after eight soldiers were killed in attacks -- the most ever in a single week since the mission started in 2002. Critics O'Connor said on Mike Duffly Live that the announcement of more tanks doesn't mean the government is planning to extend the troop commitment in Afghanistan beyond Feb. 2009. "Two-thousand-and-nine still holds," said O'Connor, "and somewhere in 2008 the cabinet will have to discuss what we're doing, if anything, beyond that. "The tank purchase doesn't affect this." Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said the purchase of the new equipment sends a "clear message that we will remain there after February 2009." On Mike Duffy Live, Coderre called the mission "noble, and we are supportive of that mission." But he added that Canada still is not doing enough in terms of aid, development and diplomacy. NDP defence critic Dawn Black said Canadians should be concerned over the "clear escalation" of our involvement in the war effort in Afghanistan. "It clearly shows an escalation of what the government's doing with this misguided mission in Afghanistan -- an escalation with tanks and an escalation in a loss of human lives," Black said on Mike Duffy Live. Some defence analysts are skeptical. "We're in an arms race now with the insurgents, and we're not winning," said Steven Staples, director of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa and author of "Missile Defence: Round 1." "The events of the last week show they're able to adjust their weaponry to overcome whatever armour we deploy." The 100 tanks purchased from the Netherlands are expected to arrive in Canada by late August or early September. "They have been well maintained because the Netherlands planned to sell them. They are in very good condition," O'Connor said. The tanks will be refurbished -- the work will be contracted out to a Canadian company -- and 20 of the upgraded tanks will be sent immediately to Afghanistan to replace the leased German Leopard A6M's. CTV's Paul Workman has reported on the incredible heat endured by personnel inside the aging Leopard tanks, which are not equipped with air conditioning. O'Connor confirmed today that both the leased German tanks and the 100 tanks purchased from the Netherlands will be equipped with air cooling systems. Spring offensive NATO is in the midst of Operation Achilles, a spring offensive meant to pre-empt an expected Taliban campaign. Insurgent attacks are typically stepped up after winter snows melt and mountain passes reopen, allowing militants to travel more freely. Six Canadians were killed and a seventh was seriously wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb was detonated. Two more were killed on Wednesday by another roadside bomb. Eight NATO leaders met in Quebec City on Thursday to discuss how to better coordinate their efforts in Afghanistan. The U.S. has extended its presence in Afghanistan at least until the end of the summer, while Poland and Australia have committed more troops to southern areas of the country, which is believed to be enough to carry NATO forces through the hazardous summer months. For months, the U.S. and NATO have called on other member nations to make a greater contribution to the campaign. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates repeated the call on Thursday, saying NATO commanders have asked for thousands of more police and Army trainers in Afghanistan. "NATO has asked for about 3,400 training positions, and quite frankly, we're having trouble," Gates said after meeting with O'Connor and other defence ministers from countries with troops in Afghanistan's southern region. O'Connor has also urged countries to remove caveats on their soldiers so they can participate in the heavy fighting in the south. The U.S., U.K. and Canada have handled most of the actual combat operations against the Taliban. On Mike Duffy Live, O'Connor denied earlier reports that Gates was also calling on Canada to ramp up its military commitment in Afghanistan. "He didn't bring that up in our meeting today," said O'Connor. "We had representation from eight countries today that are fighting in the south, and he didn't bring that up to us. So maybe in has somebody else in mind. ... We're really pulling our weight. With files from The Associated Press |
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Mike Blais
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Seems like an awful lot of tanks for a mission wherein their use is, or has been, negligible to say the least. Like the G-wagon, (now unusable beyond the wire at almost a hundred grand a pop) then the Nylas (No contract for parts, built in South Africa) and the first tanks (like what, did some tanker general suddenly realize it gets hot in A-stan?) , I fear the response is just another knee jerk reaction by those who wish to retain power. A hundred tanks.... sheeesh... not that I am adverse to purchasing some tanks, but a hundred?
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Dave Brydon
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I personally would have preferred spending some money on Canadian flown, close support attack helicopters. I love tanks as much as the next person, but I certainly do not think we need a 100 of them. The 20 we have in theater now, I feel provide limited support at best to our troops in Afghanistan…more along the line of visual support, vice practical. However, I may be able to provide an answer as to why we bought them: 1) MND, O’Connor (Tanker) 2) CDS, LGen Hillier, (Tanker) 3) VCDS, LGen Natynczyk (Tanker) 4) Col Atkinson: special assistant to the CDS (Tanker) Do you see a theme here  Cheers, Dave |
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ranrad
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Cheesh , it does seem like an overkill, as far as numbers...hmmm, but in all fairness Gen Hillier was the one advocating getting out of tanks, as obsolte today...dont know about the others....i recall the Centurions very well, i spent most major excercises in Germany with the RCD, usually with my APC, and i recall moving out to battle one morning , early and in a 1/2 mile we lost 3 tanks to various problems.. one a blow engine , one a blown tranny....but they did have a deadly gun...best of its era im told...I do hope they are gonna put the tanks to more use over there,... maybe they need one of those flails they used in WW2 to safer clear as a convoy goes?  maybe we need more and better recce and get after the cowards again.. run em to ground... ranrad |
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Mike Blais
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Hmmm, I always thought O'Connor's background was airforce and thats the reason Boeing is making out so well as far as the airforce spending spree is concerned. Never-the-less, the remainder are tankers so I guess you point, Chet, still has merit. Six hundred and forty three million is a lot of bucks, considering the original mandate was for seventeen tanks and, even though I have yet to hear of a incident wherein the tanks were engaged in actual combat, the political knee jerk reaction after last weeks losses to purchase a whopping hundred just boggled my mind....
Particularly when the backbone vehicle of the mission, the LAV-III, in now running into problems that are severe enough to dictate repatriation to Canada and replacement from Canada every eight months. Theres are a lot of LAV's in Afghanistan and rotating them in and out so often is going to cost huge. My point, be realistic on the tanks and spend most of that that six hundred million on implementing the next generation of APC before we get tot6 he point wherein the lads are cruising around A-stan in your and my favourite, Chet, the ole M113....
Of course, there is another solution.
Find the politicial courage to stand up and demand one of those wimp nations in NATO provide both the tanks and the troopers to drive em...
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Chet Malone
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"Amen to that brother"
Problem being, Ottawa never listens to the field commanders, who told them this very problem would happen in a few years, even Hillier himself dismissed it and went on as business a usual. The LAV's are good vehicles, but as the Americans are findind out about the problems their having with the Stryker in Iraq, they are not as reliable or as sturdy as they were first made out to be. Due to their wheeled design they are finding out that they can only install so much armour protection, before the vehicle just runs itself into the ground with suspension, and powertrane problems, blown turbo's from engine overwork and stress due to the extra weight of the armour, they are adding on.
Hillier has said the LAV's in the stan will be shipped back to Canada and refurbised and replaced by a fresh batch that have just come out of the refurbishment program out west.
As for the M113, well thats just a coffin on tracks, the yanks did some refurbishment and added a few things on to the ones their using in Iraq, but they are only used for engineer's or specific tasks, not troop carriers. God forbid we start using them in the Stan for carrying people, I don't want to see that!! Thats would be cruel.
Cheers
Chet.
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3RCR 1980 - 1984 Baden
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4RCR London 1992 - 1999 Reg force cadre
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Mike Blais
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Speaking of....
Armoured patrol vehicles beset with woes
MURRAY BREWSTER
Canadian Press
OTTAWA — At the height of fierce fighting in Afghanistan last summer, more than a quarter of Canada's new fleet of heavily armoured RG-31 Nyala patrol vehicles were in the shop with maintenance problems, army records show.
The sturdy South African-built trucks, which resemble a sport utility vehicle on steroids, were beset with a series of electrical and software glitches, many relating to the roof-mounted, remote-controlled machine gun.
The former director of the Nyala project at National Defence says the army aims to have 95 per cent availability for its fighting vehicles.
“We were running into a couple of systemic problems,” Mike Moggridge, who recently stepped down as program manager, said in an interview.
“We do our best to provide the best performance. The only thing worse than trying to introduce a new piece of equipment into theatre during an operation is not to deliver that capability at all.”
Over the last 18 months, Canada has purchased 75 Nyalas at a cost of about $91-million. The big-wheeled trucks were hurried into service as the threat of Taliban roadside bombs became more intense.
Mr. Moggridge said none of the faults were a safety concern for soldiers, most of whom like the RG-31 for the protection it affords against improvised explosives.
The V-shaped hull deflects the force of mine blasts away from the vehicle and its occupants.
The head of the army, Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, told troops in Kandahar two weeks ago that continuous clashes with the Taliban along the kidney-busting Afghan trails were taking an unexpectedly harsh toll on LAV IIIs, Bisons and Nyalas.
The wear and tear of fighting did sideline one or two vehicles last year.
But Nyala maintenance logs, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show the vehicles arrived with a series of minor defects.
The first 50 vehicles rolled into the war zone with 100 amp alternators, which were “quickly cooked every time soldiers turned on jamming equipment,” meant to foil improvised attacks, said Mr. Moggridge.
The alternators could not handle the combined load of the remote-controlled machine gun system, newly installed Canadian radios and the jammers. Eventually the electrical system was upgraded to handle 280 amps.
In addition, a software glitch in the remote weapons system caused the roof-mounted machine to jam, a fault that could only be corrected by the crew climbing outside of the vehicle to clear the chamber manually. Once again, army mechanics devised a fix.
Between mid-June and mid-July last year, 13 of the 50 Nyalas — some with as few as 550 kilometres on them — were deemed “non-mission capable” by the army.
“Yes, that is high and in my mind unacceptable,” Mr. Moggridge said.
The ratio has since improved, with only one or two of the current complement of 75 RG-31s down for maintenance at any time, he said.
Currently most of the issues faced by mechanics involve battle damage, or wear and tear.
The front axles on at least 10 vehicles have been replaced, at a cost of roughly $500,000, because drivers are taking speed bumps at 70 kilometres an hour.
“If you figure somebody has a remote-control detonator, and that speed bump is the likely time they're going to do it, the guys are taking those kind of bumps at high speed,” Mr. Moggridge said.
Barney O'Kelly, a spokesman for BAE Systems Inc., the British defence giant that manufacturers the Nyalas under a South African subsidiary, said countries that have purchased the Nyala have been satisfied.
“The feedback has been superb,” he said in a recent interview. “It's become a very important land vehicle for armed forces around the world.”
Mr. O'Kelly denied there were teething pains and said the problems encountered by Canadians had more to do with the way the vehicle was being driven and the kinds of missions where it was used.
Unlike other new armoured vehicles, which go through eight-month shakedown trials, the RG-31 went straight from the assembly line to the bomb-laced streets of Kandahar.
Mr. Moggridge said the absence of a trial period meant potential bugs had to be worked out in the field.
It was a battlefield necessity as it became clear to the army in late 2005 that it would need a better protected patrol vehicle than the lightly armoured Mercedes G-Wagon.
The procurement of the Nyala broke speed records at the Defence Department, going from request to field delivery in five months.
“Our motto on this project was: schedule is king, lives depend on it,” Mr. Moggridge said.
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Mike Blais
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Untested? What the hell is that, I thought these vehicles were proven worthy by the standard process.... I suppose we could always shout.... bullets bullets bullets... when the remotely controlled machine fails to operate cause of a software glitch....
A quarter of patrol vehicles in shop after untested launch
space
By MURRAY BREWSTER
Canadian Press
Monday, April 16, 2007 – Page A4
OTTAWA -- At the height of fierce fighting in Afghanistan last summer, more than a quarter of Canada's new fleet of heavily armoured RG-31 Nyala patrol vehicles were in the shop with maintenance problems, army records show.
The sturdy South-African-built trucks were beset with a series of electrical and software glitches, many relating to the roof-mounted, remote-controlled machine gun.
The former director of the Nyala project at National Defence says the army aims to have 95 per cent availability for its fighting vehicles.
"We were running into a couple of systemic problems," Mike Moggridge, who recently stepped down as program manager, said in an interview.
"We do our best to provide the best performance. The only thing worse than trying to introduce a new piece of equipment into theatre during an operation is not to deliver that capability at all."
Over the past 18 months, Canada has purchased 75 Nyalas at a cost of about $91-million. The big-wheeled trucks were hurried into service as the threat of Taliban roadside bombs became more intense.
Mr. Moggridge said none of the faults were a safety concern for soldiers, most of whom like the RG-31 for the protection it affords against improvised explosives.
The V-shaped hull deflects the force of mine blasts away from the vehicle and its occupants.
The head of the army, Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, told troops in Kandahar two weeks ago that continuous clashes with the Taliban along the bumpy Afghan trails were taking an unexpectedly harsh toll on LAV IIIs, Bisons and Nyalas.
The wear and tear of fighting sidelined one or two vehicles last year.
But Nyala maintenance logs, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show the vehicles arrived with a series of minor defects.
The first 50 vehicles rolled into the war zone with 100-amp alternators, which were "quickly cooked every time soldiers turned on jamming equipment," meant to foil improvised attacks, Mr. Moggridge said.
The alternators could not handle the combined load of the remote-controlled machine gun system, newly installed Canadian radios and the jammers. Eventually the electrical system was upgraded to handle 280 amps.
In addition, a software glitch in the remote weapons system caused the roof-mounted machine to jam, a fault that could be corrected only by the crew climbing outside of the vehicle to clear the chamber manually. Once again, army mechanics devised a fix.
Between mid-June and mid-July last year, 13 of the 50 Nyalas, some with as little as 550 kilometres on them, were deemed "non-mission capable" by the army.
"Yes, that is high and, in my mind, unacceptable," Mr. Moggridge said.
The ratio has since improved, with only one or two of the current complement of 75 RG-31s down for maintenance at any time, he said.
Currently most of the issues faced by mechanics involve battle damage, or wear and tear.
The front axles on at least 10 vehicles have been replaced, at a cost of roughly $500,000, because drivers are taking speed bumps at 70 kilometres an hour.
"If you figure somebody has a remote-control detonator, and that speed bump is the likely time they're going to do it, the guys are taking those kind of bumps at high speed," said Mr. Moggridge.
Barney O'Kelly, a spokesman for BAE Systems Inc., the British defence giant that manufacturers the Nyalas under a South African subsidiary, said countries that have purchased the Nyala have been satisfied.
"The feedback has been superb," he said in a recent interview. "It's become a very important land vehicle for armed forces around the world."
Mr. O'Kelly denied there were teething pains and said the problems encountered by Canadians had more to do with the way the vehicle was being driven and the kinds of missions where it was used.
Unlike other new armoured vehicles, which go through eight-month shakedown trials, the RG-31 went straight from the assembly line to the bomb-laced streets of Kandahar.
Mr. Moggridge said the absence of a trial period meant potential bugs had to be worked out in the field.
It was a battlefield necessity as it became clear to the army in late 2005 that it would need a better protected patrol vehicle than the lightly armoured Mercedes G-Wagon.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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Hopefully they will, Chet.
However, in the perspective of never pass a fault, the rush to fill the void has resulted with one third of the APV fleet parked in the workshop merely because of a lack of testing prior to deployment. Imagine being stuck in one of those things and remotely controlled machine guns and grenades launchers don't work because the, ah, bugs haven't been worked out prior to deployment. Be like the infanteer of WWI and the crappy rifle they were sent to war with... Did you read the part where the axel breaks cause the driver hit a stupid speed bumb at tactical speed? Be a shitty way to die, eh? Having to slow down because of a f'n speed bump. Same with the tanks, I mean, lets be realistic,. The taliban traditionally fight in the summer, when it is green and they can move without being detected by a plethora of electronic detection devices. How hot was it last year during Operation Medusa? Clearly, the heat/crew factor should have been considered, indeed, probably was..... until, out of the blue, General Hillier reversed DNDs formal position (obsolete) on the deployment of tanks and, instead of mothbolling them as scheduled, dispatched the relics to afghanistan... BTW, they were offered the tanks we are leasing now then, the ones with the air conditioning and the modifications the dutch one will require prior to deployment. Not testing the APV's prior to a combat deployment is inexcusable, as was the mindset that actually believed the ultra-expensive G-wagons were a defense against IEDs. Don't they watch CNN? Have they not seen the extraordinary measures the Humvee went through, certainly the G-wagon does not compare to it. Or have they, as I suspect, fallen into the habit of knee-jerk reactions based on the polls, not the military necessity.
BTW, I am not adverse to having tanks in theatre. But the troops deserve nothing less then vehicles and crews that can go 365/24/7, particulalrly in the summer, when its hot, and the taliban is afoot. Defensively, particularly at the FOBs, they will be of great aide to the lads and, I am certain, very welcome.
Offensively, well, thats yet to be determined. Just out of curiosity, has anybody heard of an incident wherein the leopard has been used in actual combat. I have been looking but have found no references to actual engagements....
Anybody see the new mine clearing vehicle the germans built recently,. It was on discovery channel, they showed it clearing mines and ied's in former yugo... Perhaps we would be better off
buying twenty of them and less tanks instead of , as planned, using the tanks as the mine clearing vessel during patrol or convoy duties... Be less expensive and won't render a multi-million dollar combat vehicle ns performing non-combat duties... Nor would it provoke a barrage of pro-taliban propaganda when the media starts broadcasting images of a smoking Canadian tank to the taliban world. Personally, I think the bastards will deliberately target a tanks (jest as they did in Iraq) and, as such, the resuplly convoys they are to lead will be targeted with far greater zeal in an effort to take one out. O'Conner has said they will be the vanguard, their mission to clear the path for the following infantry/supply column. The enemy is not stupid, the influence and effects of the insurgency in Iraq cannot be ignored. (As they were when the Iltis and G-wagon were deployed beyond the wire)
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
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Well, it looks like the old c*** is beginning to fly at the gov ,from way back when i was a whipper sanapper...tough to blame those today who at least seem to br trying to "fix" the messs.. but maybe they need to confer with the soldiers and old soldiers to find out what they really need...or is it a complete fiasco already...regarding equipment .. remember the old Dodge 3/4s?? they would spit and cough sometimes , and maybe slow down , but they rarely quit entirely... now this is not to say we need them back , but they did have a pretty good record for their time.. and of course they were not a fighting vehicle per se... but depending on the thetre were used in actual combat, rigged with weapons, sandbags .. well, a different era of combat for sure...and they could cleave a tree off pretty snappy...not too big of course.. but most of our vehicles today are hardly built to use in the bush for hunting let alone a war...i go along with you Mike , try out that vehicle for mine clearing.. let Cdns adapt it...if it works pretty good ,Cdns can make it work dang good.. and it just might save a lot of lives and crippling injuries for those who survive...it seems like the gov is running into procurment problems much as the First War when our guys were given a rifle that dang near came with a death sentence..we have the expertise in Canada, we need to use it and build our own military hardware industry.. and an awful lot of old soldiers could help get an industry like that on solid footing.. they have shown over our history the ingenuity and knowhow to fix dang near anything..whats the answer?? I dont know...but we ,our supply of ,ilitary gear seems to be floundering.....what do you guys think???
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Chet Malone
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Both terrific points, Mike, Ranrad. I can certainly see a place for that mine clearing machine, I did see it on Discovery, great piece of kit! As for the gov listening to old soldiers, they think they know better than the guys on the ground. When experienced soldiers like retired general Mckenzie or the CDS, Gen hillier speak up, most often its on deaf ears.
An example is Liberal defence critic Coderre, what the hell does that fat piece of s*** know about soldiering other than watching John Wayne war movies on HBO, absolutely nothing, yet again he's forever giving advice to the government on military matters. If they left the procurrement and military matters to the people with the real experience and listened to them once in a while we wouldn't be in this can of s***.
As for tanks in the sand box, well the soviets found out the hard way how hard it is to fight a determined enemy, who hide at every corner waiting for an opertunity to put a hole in you. I'm sure there is a role as a direct fire platform or escort, but only in if we can dictate the terrian that is to our advanatge. Once you get them into a mouse hole or lure them into tank trap,which i don't think our guys will let happen anyway, we lose the advantage.
It's going to interesting to say the least, to see what happens in the next year or so in Ottawa as far as equipment is concerned.
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Battle school depot 79/80 Petawawa
1RCR London Dukes coy 1980
3RCR 1980 - 1984 Baden
3RCR 1984 -1986 Winnipeg Kapyong Barracks
Infantry school Tpt Pl Gagetown 1986 - 1988
3RCR 1988 - 1992 Baden Q Coy Bn Tpt.
4RCR London 1992 - 1999 Reg force cadre
31 Bge HQ 1999-2001 Desk jockey.
Medical release in London 2001
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Dave Brydon
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I need to reiterate that I love the good old MBT (Main battle Tank), but I’m still I big believer in buying Attack Helicopters, and/or similar such inventory. I see the tank, like the good old cavalry, a great tool during its heyday, but on my short list of tools to maintain, especially for Canada.
Tanks are great for taking on other tanks, and some hard targets - bunkers etc… The reality is, the Taliban don’t have Tanks, and their hard targets, are pretty much made of mud. To buy tanks as a morale booster, or methods of clearing paths of IEDs, is well…, a poor use of our money, and provides no real value on the current battlefield. As for future missions, other then Afghanistan; again, I do not see the need where Canadian Tanks would prove vital, or necessary. More LAVs, or similar such critical vehicles, Absolutely, but not tanks.
Any future engagements with tanks in any number, will involve a major battle, with a modern army, and would be managed by our friends to the South – that is just fact; Canada simply does not have the means or resources to manage that number of tanks, and I don’t believe we should.
The munitions available today, can handle tanks rather nicely; Hellfire and Longbow missiles as examples, not to mention the new JDAMs in the US Arsenal…devastating stuff. All of which can be delivered via helicopter(s).
Are Attack Helicopters expensive; yes! But, I see Canada as a small elite force, and based on what the Canadian government(s), and people are willing to provide us…, small it is. However, being small, has never stopped us from delivering a good punch. To this end, we as the Canadian Forces, can be very resourceful with our equipment, and with the number of attack helicopters in the US, and/or other friendly countries inventories, I am sure we can get a few dozen relatively cheap. We already send pilots down for cross training, and in a short time could have a reliable resource to draw upon.
So; tanks are pretty much a one target, one shot deal, and relativ | | | |
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