Put Leopards in Afghanistan stuff HERE

[geo]

Political climate nothing.... the potential war scenarios envisaged by the CF planners has changed very much over the last couple of years.  The old peacekeeping model has proven to be flawed & wanting...... t'was time to rething this whole concept

 

[TCBF]

The german manufacturer has it's own maintainers in Kadahar (or is it Kabul).... or so the press release said....  

- And are those techs qual Leo 2, or are they there supporting other technologies?
- Do they have the test and diagnostics set for Leo 2?

Training EXPERIENCED Crewmen to transition to another AFV is easy - that's why we rotated Canadian armoured squadrons through the 1st Cav Div in Fort Hood (2 Corps) in the seventies and eighties.  It gave them six weeks to operate as an M60A1 company, which is what we would have ended up crewing if The Heavy Metal War On The Central Front kicked off and actually lasted more than the two weeks GFSG planned on to advance to their suntanning areas on the Bay of Biscay.

- It ain't the tanks or the tankers, its the techs, test kits and spares that clog things up.

 

[George Wallace]

geo

The problem is not the "Tankers".  They can have their courses and be over there in little time at all.  The problem lies in the "Maintainers" being trained up to speed on the various Trades, and on the new equipment.  It takes longer to train the Veh Techs, FCS Techs, Wpn Techs, etc. than it does to train the tank crews.

What is with people?  How many times and ways do we have to tell you the same thing.......over and over again.......ad nausium.          :

 

[cplcaldwell]

From CBC this morning, Shared under the Fair Dealings Provisions of the Copyright Act, RSC

More fuel for the fire....


Canadian Forces expected to renew aging fleet of tanks
Last Updated: Thursday, April 12, 2007 | 6:21 AM ET
CBC News

The Canadian Forces is set to announce plans on Thursday to refresh its fleet of aging tanks with newer Leopard tanks purchased from NATO allies.

The newer, more modern machines will be purchased second-hand from the Netherlands. But they will be of a newer generation than the 30-year-old Leopard C2s currently being used by the Canadians in Afghanistan.

In the short term, the Canadian military will likely lease 20 state-of-the-art Leopard A6Ms from Germany.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier is expected to announce the plans to update Canada's battered armoured corps in Quebec City on Thursday morning.

The announcement will likely be welcome news to soldiers who have had to endure searing heat driving their current Leopard C2s in the Afghan desert during the summer months.

Heat-related health risks have threatened before to pull the tanks from service. But an army source says the newer tanks, unlike their predecessors, would be equipped with a cooling system for the crew.

Although head of the army Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie has praised Canada's C2s for doing valuable work, he has said the current machines were reaching the end of the line and need to be retired soon.

Reverses Liberal decision to scrap tanks
"We, the army, the government of Canada, have a variety of choices which we're going to have to work through. Do we replace them? And, if so, with what?" he said.

Canada currently has 17 Leopard C2 tanks in Afghanistan. By updating its fleet, the military has reversed the former Liberal government's decision to do away with the tanks altogether.

The Liberals announced in 2003 that they would scrap the tanks and spend $600 million to replace them with the Mobile Gun System, an eight-wheeled light armoured vehicle with a cannon mounted on top.

The tanks were originally developed in Germany in the 1960s. Canada bought 127 Leopard tanks in 1978-79 and upgraded them. According to the Department of National Defence, the Forces have 114 of the tanks, and they can remain in service until 2010.

 

[rmacqueen]

According to the Department of National Defence, the Forces have 114 of the tanks, and they can remain in service until 2010.

114?  How many of those are sitting on cement pads with plaques on them?  Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

There are 66 - total - in service.

 

[vonGarvin]

As Teddy said, 66 were retained in service in order to have the MGS when it came online to replace the C2 one for one.  The remainder you'll find across the country, some with APFSDS-T holes in them, others on pedestals (there's one at RMC) and so forth.

 

[TCBF]

- When they started the 'stop loss!' on the Leo C1 for Afg, rumour has it that one showed up at Steele Barracks with a plaque already bolted on it.  Now THAT is "Just In Time Delivery"!

;D

 

[geo]

- When they started the 'stop loss!' on the Leo C1 for Afg, rumour has it that one showed up at Steele Barracks with a plaque already bolted on it.  Now THAT is "Just In Time Delivery"!

;D

C1?.. maybe Leo1 C2

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Any chance of the Afghan army getting the Leopard C2s?

 

[BushmasterBob]

I was talking to one of the higher ups at the RC over here, and he says we hope to get around 200 Leo 2's withing 5 years.  I hope it happens  :threat:

Hopefully 100 down, 100 to go  :threat:

 

[28402 engineers]

Any chance of the Afghan army getting the Leopard C2s?

I'm sure they'd love the tanks, and it's a nice gesture, but if it's getting to hard for US to maintain them, what about them?
you can't fix a Leo with chewing gum and paperclips

:-\

 

[Colin Parkinson]

They will bew better off with rebuilt T-55's with add on armour and a upgraded FCS

 

[geo]

as things stand, the ANA has more MBTs than Canada has... Leo1 C2s AND Leo2 A4 & A6s......

how they distribute their resources is their own business............

 

[ironduke57]

IMO this is the right thread for this. Pix which show the modifications the danish made to there Leo2 A5DK for use in Afghanistan:

Regards,
ironduke57

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Great pictures, wonder if Canada will buy some of those loader MG kits?

 

[vonGarvin]

I didn't know that the Danes had the Leo 2 in Afghanistan.  But I would hasard a guess and say that this IS the right spot for those pics.  Thanks!  (Tanks?) :tank:

 

[Colin Parkinson]

My understanding is that these are prepped to go but still at home. Hopefully we will start a trend and others will bring their tanks to the party. 

 

[ironduke57]

I didn't know that the Danes had the Leo 2 in Afghanistan.  But I would hasard a guess and say that this IS the right spot for those pics.  Thanks!  (Tanks?) :tank:

AFAIK they are not yet there, but they should be shipped in the near future.

Regards,
ironduke57

edit: Too slow. :crybaby:

 

[ironduke57]

After seeing the attached pic I though maybe someone interests this.

On this welding you can easily identify an Leo2 which was originally an A3 or lower. Originally this was an hatch for ammo resupply, but starting from A4 it was deleted. (An turret hit could deform/open it and ABC protection would be broken.) On all earlier versions it was welded with the hull as you can see here.

Regards,
ironduke57