In 1977 Canada began
the continuing story of the LAV fleet by placing an order for 491 6x6 LAVs,
which were referred to as Armoured Vehicle General Purpose (AVGP ).
They were based on the MOWAG Piranha family of light armoured vehicles. There
were three variants built, the Grizzly, which was an infantry carrier, the
Cougar, which had a 76mm gun turret and was used by units of the Royal Canadian
Armoured Corps, and the Husky, a recovery vehicle.
At the same time the
Militia, which had been seen as the traditional mobilization base for the
Canadian army had withered during the Cold War. After the Second World War its ranks were flush with veterans and into the 1950s there was money for new
tanks and vehicles. However morale declined as the Militia’s role became civil
defence in the late 1950s, and it languished in the 1960s and 1970s as defence
budgets shrank. The Militia reached a nadir of 15,000 by the late 1970s.
When introduced in
1976, wheeled AVGPs were meant to provide the Reserves with training vehicles
that were less maintenance-intensive than tracked armour. It was also intended
to give new purpose and opportunities for those Reserves. A total of 269
Grizzlies were built for the AVGP program and the vehicle was originally used
mainly for reserves training in its prime role as an infantry carrier.
The 195 Cougars
delivered were equipped with a 76 mm main gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun to
support infantry and these vehicles were given to reserve armoured regiments.
The AVGP vehicles were
welcomed by the reserves. The First Hussars regimental history describes the
Cougar as a “godsend” because it was a credible tank-trainer in contrast to the
machine-gun armed jeeps that had been used; it improved the morale and
retention of personnel.
The same
characteristics which made these AVGPs useful for Reserve use, that is good
mobility and low maintenance, also made them appealing for overseas deployments
on Regular Force peacekeeping missions. The vehicles went on to a long career
with many modifications in
the Regular Force.
In the 1987 Defence
White Paper, the government announced that the strength of the Reserves would be
brought up to 90,000 which would allow Canada to better meet commitments
to NATO and continental defence. This increase in strength would be
complemented by a package of improvements to bases and new equipment purchases.
One of these was for a purchase of 200 armoured personnel carriers for the
reserves. This was the background of the Bison APC.
The original plan
was to buy 200 M113s from the American manufacturer and have some components license-built
in Canada
to fulfill requirements for Canadian content. At the same time, however, Canada ’s only
manufacturer of armoured vehicles, Diesel Division General Motors (DDGM), in London Ontario ,
was running out of work. With contracts drying up the company was facing a year
with empty production lines.
The point was made
that the reserves might have trouble operating M113s,. There were restrictions
against putting tracked vehicles on roads in Canada , and the Reserves would
likely not have the personnel or money to keep up with the maintenance burden.
A hastily redesigned APC variant of the LAV was proposed and the army finally
decided to buy the Bison in July 1989. DDGM produced four major variants – 149
armoured personnel carriers, eighteen command posts, sixteen 81 mm mortar
carriers, and sixteen maintenance and recovery vehicles.
In the end the
original rationale for the purchase, to increase the quality of Reservist
training so that they could beef up Regular units and bolster Canada ’s
commitments, disappeared just as the first Bisons started rolling off the
production lines. The Cold War was ending, but the disorder of the 1990s and
the proliferation of peacekeeping missions that morphed into combat operations
meant that few vehicles ever got to the Reserves. Most were requisitioned by
the Regular Force and pressed into service. For example, Bisons were rapidly
overhauled to serve as ambulances in Somalia , and they were also used as
command posts in Bosnia .
The Bison fleet
remains in service today: from 2000 to 2011, the entire Bison fleet was
re-roled into thirty-two ambulances, eighty-three command posts, sixteen
electronic warfare vehicles, thirty-two mobile repair teams, and thirty-two
maintenance and recovery vehicles.
There is no
question that the LAV programme has been successful for Canada ,
providing the armed forces with effective vehicles and creating a new Canadian
industry.
Those AVGPs originally
purchased by Canada
in 1976 were 10.7 ton, 6 wheeled amphibious vehicles. The Canadian LAV III
which entered service in 1998
was 17-ton vehicle 8-wheeled armoured combat vehicle armed with a turret
mounted M242 Bushmaster 25mm Gun. The PiranhaV variant which General Dynamics Land Systems Canada offered for the
Canadian Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) programme in 2011 is a 26 + ton 8x8 fitted with
Rheinmetall's LANCE 30mm Modular Turret System.
What has been less
successful is the original ideal of procuring armoured vehicles for the Army
reserves. There are no longer any kinds of armoured personal carriers in
reserve formations. The First Hussars
are back to using machine-gun armed jeeps. About the only new equipment
available are the Militarized Commercial Off-the-Shelf (MilCOTS) vehicles
(trucks) provided under the Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) program. Given
the inability to fulfill the
part of that program designed to provide badly needed new trucks for the
regular forces it is probably only a matter of time before those vehicles are
requisitioned by the regular force as well.
The reserves need
to have the attention they reserve. They need to have relevant roles in today’s
army. They need to be equipped with modern vehicles that suit those roles.
Governments and the leadership of the CF understood that in the past, they need
to understand that it still applies today.
GP (Grizzly,
Cougar, Husky)
The Success of the
Light Armoured Vehicle: Frank Maas
Background –
Armoured Vehicle, General Purpose – 6x6 AVGPs
“The Canadian Army
and the Procurement of the Bison: A Short History” by Frank Maas
Canadian Close
Combat Vehicle (CCV) programme
1st Hussars
How not to buy a
truck