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Background
— Special Operations Vehicles — SR / QR Candidates |
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Canadian Forces Special Operations Vehicles – Special Reconnaissance (SR) and
Quick Reaction (QR) Vehicles – the Candidates
The special operations vehicle concept derives
from types used by the British SAS and Australian SASR (left). These are completely unarmoured vehicles relying on
stealth and speed for protection. The USMC’s G-wagen-based IFAV
( Interim Fast
Attack Vehicle) is a similar concept. [1] Such vehicles allow quick egress for crews, maximum awareness, and
ease of weapons use (personal and flexibly-mounted). However, mild-steel vehicles are also highly
vulnerable to landmines. As a result, a hybrid type has been developed that combines lightweight mobility
with a degree of armour protection. That is the type that DND wants.
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The best known of this new breed is the British Army’s newly-deployed Jackal with MWMIK or Mobility Weapons Mounted
Installation Kit. The Jackal is a Supacat HMT 400 4x4 truck but bristling with weapons. With its armour
kit and turret-ring, the Jackal seems to fit the SOIQ to a tee. Being inservice with a NATO or
ABCA – American, British, Canadian, Australian – army is also satisfied. But the SOIQ also
encourages commonality with in-service CF types. Here the Jackal and its Cummins diesel fall
short. [2]
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A rather more obvious candidate are the various Special
Forces G-wagen deriva- tives. Rheinmetall has created two types of partially-armoured vehicles
using the exact model of Mercedes-Benz chassis as the CF’s LUVW G-wagon. The
Wolf AGF (left) is an armed reconnaissance vehicle, LIV (SO) is a Special Ops carrier
type. The Wolf ESK is also a light troop carrier but retains more of the original G-wagen
bodywork and thus its up-armouring potential.
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[1] The IFAV is a long wheelbase G-wagen 290 GDT. IFAV bodywork is similar to the earlier MB 250 Wolf
of the Bundeswehr (ie: soft-top with folding windscreen). This difference was mostly in engine type and
size (G-wagen designations show displacement – a 290GDT has a 2.9 litre turbo-charged OM 602 5 cyl
diesel whereas the MB 250 had a 2.5L 4-cyl engine. For comparison, the CF’s G-wagon is a 270 CDI
with the 2.7 cyl OM 612, a smaller but more powerful five cylinder turbo-diesel – 156 hp for
the CF G-wagon versus 120 hp for the IFAV).
[2] Vancouver-based Westport has adapted Cummins diesels to run on liquified natural gas with its HPDI (High Pressure
Direct Injection). This is a method of producing cleaner-burning diesel engines not a military-style multi-fuel
approach as pioneered by the US and NATO.
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