Interesting Note on Canadian Future Armor.

[thatguy96]

I don't understand how wheeled vehicles have problems after a drop. Wheeled vehicles are airdropped all the time, this doesn't make any sense. How many countries with vehicle drop capabilities drop crews in vehicles anyways? I don't see how an XM8 with protection only from machine guns is any less vulnerable than a Stryker either. Do you have any reputable sources to back these complaints up?

[Zipuli]

Russians drop BMD's with crews inside...

[Cameronius]

The XM8 will never be an option. Any vehicles produced domestically will always be given the contracts, no matter how inadequate they are on the battlefield. The Cougar and Grizzly are prime examples of this. Too much defense spending abroad=political suicide.
Also I think that the consideration is more for air-transportablity rather than air-dropablity.

[JaM]

Sorry guys, Did you ever tryed drive through nice plowed field after rain in wheeled vehicle? I did. In SKOT APC and we stopped after 15m, and we needed a tracked egineer vehicle to got out... BMP-2s had no such problems... So imagine how long will Stryker MGS survive... you can lower pressure in wheels, but then you will be unable to fire your main gun becouse whole vehicle will be unstable...

[Randy]

By getting rid of the Leopards the Canadians have just limited their options about their deployments. With heavy armor and light armor they would be able to tailor their deployments. Now they are just limited to peace keeping/stability operations.

[JaM]

Exactly. By the way Im very suprised how they wanna airdrop Stryker MGSs directly to the road...

[thatguy96]

Randy said:
By getting rid of the Leopards the Canadians have just limited their options about their deployments. With heavy armor and light armor they would be able to tailor their deployments. Now they are just limited to peace keeping/stability operations.

As I said before, show me a situation where the Canadians are going to get into a conventional conflict without major allied participation and I think this would be a concern. Why spend money you don't have to when you know someone with heavy armor (and the ability to actually get it places) is almost assuredly going to come along for the ride? The Canadians are not the Americans. They haven't fought a war by themselves since they were formed as a British colony (to my knowledge, easily accept being wrong on that one), and they definitly haven't been involved in a major land war by themselves post war. I also fail to see this limiting Canadian options as Canada had rarely deployed her existing Leopard C1/C2s in any operation anyhow. The Canadians do not currently have the necessary lift capability to move them as it is. These things sat around and participated in North American exercises. Sounds like a waste of money to me.

[Randy]

All that you said is true, however it still places a limit on their flexibility. During the Gulf War the French had to beef up their 6th Light Armor unit with AMX 30s. As a military commander, I would rather have equipment and not need it than need equipment and not have it. I wonder how the Canadian tankers feel?

[thatguy96]

They're pissed, but to be perfectly honest, they've had 0 chances to show themselves since Korea. The French present a totally different scenario from the Canadians, even more so within NATO. French NATO forces cannot be places under a command from another nation, nor are they required to participate in NATO operations. Canadian forces participating in NATO operations can be placed under the command of whoever the NATO high command decides, and NATO forces committed to NATO high command can be deployed where ever that command decides.

Canada also doesn't have areas of previous colonial influence and does not deloy itself unilaterally to stabilize situations in places like Cote D Ivoire. They are a North American Army without the ability to move their heavy armor rapidly via air and have declined to deloy it consistantly since Korea. It is a budgetary hindrance in my opinion and has served no operational purpose in nearing 50 years. The Canadians provide a unique example to experiment with an all wheeled forces as I have said before, and the tankers will fume, but at the end of the day they're soldiers and they'll do what they're told.

[Cameronius]

FYI, The Canadian Army has also dropped the M-109 in favour of a new towed 155 howitzer. Another serious downgrade in capability IMO. M-109s are already in base museums.