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Canadian Forces Armour — Cadillac Gage 1-Meter
Crewed Turret |
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Cadillac-Gage's 1-Meter turret – so-named for its 1m turret ring – was originally
designed for US V-150 armoured cars. The 1-Meter turret accommodates a single crew member – the
gunner – plus one heavy machinegun and one general purpose machinegun. When the turret first entered service
with the CF (mounted on Grizzly infantry section carriers), traverse and elevation were both manual. When the
AVGP Grizzlies were modernized in 1994, traverse was switched to electric drive but weapons
elevation or depression (-10° to +55°) stayed manual. The GPMG changed from C5 to C6, [1] the sight
was upgraded to M36E4.
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Soldiering on in Sudan – AU Darfur Grizzlies
The Grizzly AVGPs took those upgraded turrets to Darfur where such vehicles served an African Union
peacekeeping force. There, the limitations of the armament may have been obvious. Militia 'technicals' may
carry a 23mm cannon. But those are on open mounts. Grizzly crews fight with full armour protection and for
that armour, DND saw room for improvement in future CF applications.
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Other than the domed gunner's hatch and circular ring, the original Cadillac-Gage 1-M turret was
welded together from flat armour plates. This made applying extra protection with new, bolt-on composite armour
panels comparatively simple (although the turret's multi-faceted form increases the number of panels). Mounting
studs for such 'add-on' armour was part of a refurbishment for 1-M turrets being re-used under the APCLE. [2]
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[1] The C5 GPMG was a Browning M1919 chambered for 7.62mm NATO rounds. The current medium machinegun is the C6
(FN MAG 58). The Browning 12.7mm M2HB has remained the main armament throughout. [ Note:
press reports in Dec 2005 said that Grizzly AVGPs on loan to the African Union arrived in Darfur without
their 12.7mm guns but photos from the field show these heavy machineguns in place.]
[2] The Armour Personnel Carrier Life Extension affected M113 tracked LAVs. The related Wheeled LAV Life Extension
covered the Bison and AVGPs. Under the WLAV-LE, many Grizzlies were to be re-roled into Command Posts,
which freed up the 1-M turrets for the APCLE. Refurbished Cadillac-Gage turrets also received new Leopard-style
76 mm Wegmann Multi-Barrel Grenade Dischargers (4 tubes per side).
[3] The TLAV's Cadillac-Gage 1-M turret retains Browning 12.7mm M2HB heavy machineguns and coaxial C6s. The
guns aren't stabilized but then neither are most of the CF's remote weapons stations. Currently, most CF RWS are
armed with a single C6, a few have the M2HB. However, none of the RWS in service can mount two machineguns at once
the way that the 1-M turret can. Where RWS (of any variety) outperform the 1-M is in optics – the
1-M's M36E4 acts as a image intensification night sight but can't compete with the latest RWS' 10 km target tracking
and sophisticated surveillance capabilities. Still, the 1-M's vision ports put human eyes at the top of the vehicle.
One other weapon should be mentioned – the planned 40mm automatic grenade launcher. All CF RWS will be able to easily mount the planned AGL.
There are versions of the Cadillac-Gage turret that replace the coax C6 with an AGL (eg: the "40/50" for
M1117s) but this is a major 'mod'.
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Cadillac-Gage "done started doing the things you use to do"
grade step. Compared to the PWS, the 1-M turrets offer greater fire power, [3] superior situational
awareness, and ability to clear weapons jams under armour protection. The old 1-M turret remains a viable
system.