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Background – Armoured Vehicle, General Purpose
– Cougar DFSV |
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Cougar AVGP – From Tank Trainer to Direct Fire Support
A Cougar was easily distinguished from other AVGP family members by its large Alvis turret
(as used on British CRV(T) Scorpion recce vehicles). The main armament was the 76mm L23A1, a Royal
Ordnance medium-velocity gun. The original idea was that Cougars would familiarize Reserve
units with tank tactics without the costs of operating larger numbers of Leopard C1s. When the Grizzly ISCs deployed overseas, the Cougar
with its 76mm gun was a natural choice to provide peacekeepers with direct fire support.[1]
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Neither Sword nor Stealth? – Cougar AVGPs as Reserve Recce Stand-Ins
The decision was made to employ the Cougar as reconnaissance vehicles until the Reserves could be supplied
G-wagons (or a way found to use the 'Milverado' pickup in the role ). The Cougar was
hardly ideal as a recce vehicle. [5] Its gun was too slow-firing to 'fight for inform- ation' and the vehicle
too tall to be stealthy on even a practice 'battlefield'. Soon, the Cougars were retired. They were offered
for sale abroad with limited success, [6] others are on display.
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[1] In reality, Cougars deployed to Africa or the Balkans operated like conventional armoured cars
rather than direct fire-support vehicles.
[2] With its modest velocity (533m/sec) gun, the Cougar was never going to be a tank-killer but L29A5 HESH
shells were effective against bunkers. Nor did canister rounds need high velocity – being essentially over-sized
shotgun shells with 700 tapered projectiles. The smoke rounds were of base-ejected type. L23A1 elevation was 35° as
was the coaxial GPMG. Eight 66-mm grenade launchers were also mounted.
[3] Cracked aluminum armour was inherited from the Alvis FV101 Scorpion line. The turret's 20 year old Radnis
optical sights also became unreliable and difficult to find parts for. The solution was adapting the Grizzly's image-intensifying sights (M36E4+) to the Cougar turret.
[4] At that time, it was intended that the remaining Leopard C2 tanks would be
withdrawn. This changed with the Kandahar deployment.
[5] As a counterargument, it should be noted that similarly-armed British Army FV101 Scorpions were
recce vehicles from their inception. These lower-profile tracked vehicles were later re-armed with 30mm
auto cannons. Re-arming was never seriously considered for Cougars.
[6] Some 44 ex-CF Cougars were sold to Uruguay for UN peacekeeping duties. These turretless hulls
were refurbished in Chile by Famae.
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The Cougar's gun lacked the punch of higher velocity weapons but its shells were large
enough to pack a useful high-explosive charge. High Explosive Squash-Head rounds gave the Cougar a
limited anti-armour capability – which became important in the Balkans. The L23A1 gun also fired cannister and
smoke shells. [2] Downsides
were the cramped quarters and the aluminum turret armour. [3]
Multiple overseas deployments wore out the Cougars. While other AVGPs went through the 
upgrade. The Cougars were returned to Reserve units for training purposes after refurbishing. Tank
familiarization was no longer needed [4] so Cougars needed a training task reassignment.