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Canada worried aging stock of guns might lead to Afghan civilian casualties
15:05:24 EDT May 9, 2006
Soldiers work on the Canadian Army's new M-777 howitzers, deployed at Forward Operating Base Robinson in the Sangin district of Helmand, Afghanistan, in this mid-April 2006 photo. (CP PHOTO/Murray Brewster)
MURRAY BREWSTER
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The former Liberal government scrambled last year to acquire new howitzers after the Canadian army's existing stock of heavy guns was shown to lack the accuracy, firepower and range needed for the desert expanse and mountainous creases of southern Afghanistan.
The roughly $42-million purchase of six brand new M-777 guns and ammunition was hastily approved last summer after the army could not guarantee that "collateral damage" or civilian casualties would be limited with its existing 105-mm artillery pieces.
In addition, a review determined the older weapons might not be able to protect widely scattered bases.
"The department should immediately direct resources towards the acquisition of a number of readily deployable 155-mm howitzers with an operational stock of precision ammunition," said a May 15, 2005, briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information laws.
A strategic plan drawn up in conjunction with the February 2005 budget envisioned the army tinkering with and perhaps digitizing its aging 105-mm guns. The thinking then was that new, highly accurate artillery would have to wait until at least 2012.
The army initially proposed buying 12 guns, which were designed for U.S. forces and built by BAE Systems Inc., the British maker of Canada's troubled submarine fleet. What the army ended up with were six howitzers, four of which were deployed overseas.
Since production is still ramping up on the new light-weight titanium weapons and to ensure they would have them for Afghanistan, the Defence Department purchased the howitzers directly from the U.S. Marine Corp. in a government-to-government military sale.
Unlike the navy's boats, the big guns have not given the army any mechanical problems, said Canada's top artillery officer in Kandahar.
"They've performed flawlessly," said Maj. Steve Gallagher, commander of A Battery, 1 Canadian Royal Horse Artillery.
"What the triple-seven gives us is extended range. It also gives us more accuracy than we've ever had before and that was the real crux of procuring the M-777 for this operation."
In a war where militants often hide among civilians in compounds and villages, the ability to be able to strike surgically at designated targets has been become militarily and political crucial. Both coalition commanders and the Afghan government are extremely sensitive to questions of the toll taken on innocent bystanders during a battle.
An Afghan-based website, www.Afghannews.net, claims to keep a running tally of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion to oust the hardline Taliban rulers in 2001. But its figures of between 34,000 and 38,000 casualties cannot be accurately verified in a country where hearsay often passes for news in local villages.
The Canadian guns are currently firing standard 155-mm shells upwards of 20 kilometres, using a new high-tech electronic sighting system.
This fall, a new type of projectile named Excalibur will be available. The GPS-guided shell will allow gunners to hit targets within a 10-metre radius up to 40 kilometres away.
Since deploying in late January, the artillery has fired a number of times, occasionally in defence of a infantry position, such as the Gumbad platoon house in north Kandahar. But more often they're used in what is called a show of force, a demonstration of the firepower.
By lobbing the occasional round into empty fields, Canadian commanders accomplish the duel purpose of forcing the Taliban to think twice about attacking a target, but it also gets the attention of the local population.
"The power of these rounds, the explosion that they make kind of wakes people up," said Lieut. Andrew Nicholson, a gun commander at Forward Base Robinson.
"It's a great enforcing tool when we're trying to talk to the local elders and say, 'Hey we're here. Look, this is what we're capable of doing and if there are any bad guys, it could be a fairly rough day for them.' "
© The Canadian Press, 2006
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings Provisions of the Copyright Act.
Canada worried aging stock of guns might lead to Afghan civilian casualties
15:05:24 EDT May 9, 2006
Soldiers work on the Canadian Army's new M-777 howitzers, deployed at Forward Operating Base Robinson in the Sangin district of Helmand, Afghanistan, in this mid-April 2006 photo. (CP PHOTO/Murray Brewster)
MURRAY BREWSTER
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The former Liberal government scrambled last year to acquire new howitzers after the Canadian army's existing stock of heavy guns was shown to lack the accuracy, firepower and range needed for the desert expanse and mountainous creases of southern Afghanistan.
The roughly $42-million purchase of six brand new M-777 guns and ammunition was hastily approved last summer after the army could not guarantee that "collateral damage" or civilian casualties would be limited with its existing 105-mm artillery pieces.
In addition, a review determined the older weapons might not be able to protect widely scattered bases.
"The department should immediately direct resources towards the acquisition of a number of readily deployable 155-mm howitzers with an operational stock of precision ammunition," said a May 15, 2005, briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information laws.
A strategic plan drawn up in conjunction with the February 2005 budget envisioned the army tinkering with and perhaps digitizing its aging 105-mm guns. The thinking then was that new, highly accurate artillery would have to wait until at least 2012.
The army initially proposed buying 12 guns, which were designed for U.S. forces and built by BAE Systems Inc., the British maker of Canada's troubled submarine fleet. What the army ended up with were six howitzers, four of which were deployed overseas.
Since production is still ramping up on the new light-weight titanium weapons and to ensure they would have them for Afghanistan, the Defence Department purchased the howitzers directly from the U.S. Marine Corp. in a government-to-government military sale.
Unlike the navy's boats, the big guns have not given the army any mechanical problems, said Canada's top artillery officer in Kandahar.
"They've performed flawlessly," said Maj. Steve Gallagher, commander of A Battery, 1 Canadian Royal Horse Artillery.
"What the triple-seven gives us is extended range. It also gives us more accuracy than we've ever had before and that was the real crux of procuring the M-777 for this operation."
In a war where militants often hide among civilians in compounds and villages, the ability to be able to strike surgically at designated targets has been become militarily and political crucial. Both coalition commanders and the Afghan government are extremely sensitive to questions of the toll taken on innocent bystanders during a battle.
An Afghan-based website, www.Afghannews.net, claims to keep a running tally of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion to oust the hardline Taliban rulers in 2001. But its figures of between 34,000 and 38,000 casualties cannot be accurately verified in a country where hearsay often passes for news in local villages.
The Canadian guns are currently firing standard 155-mm shells upwards of 20 kilometres, using a new high-tech electronic sighting system.
This fall, a new type of projectile named Excalibur will be available. The GPS-guided shell will allow gunners to hit targets within a 10-metre radius up to 40 kilometres away.
Since deploying in late January, the artillery has fired a number of times, occasionally in defence of a infantry position, such as the Gumbad platoon house in north Kandahar. But more often they're used in what is called a show of force, a demonstration of the firepower.
By lobbing the occasional round into empty fields, Canadian commanders accomplish the duel purpose of forcing the Taliban to think twice about attacking a target, but it also gets the attention of the local population.
"The power of these rounds, the explosion that they make kind of wakes people up," said Lieut. Andrew Nicholson, a gun commander at Forward Base Robinson.
"It's a great enforcing tool when we're trying to talk to the local elders and say, 'Hey we're here. Look, this is what we're capable of doing and if there are any bad guys, it could be a fairly rough day for them.' "
© The Canadian Press, 2006
