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A Modest Proposal
— CV9040 as an Interim Close Combat Vehicle? |
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Interim CCV: Budget, Economy, and Staying the Course
"Once more unto the breach ..." With Canada's prorogued Parliament about to reconvene and a new budget about to be
delivered, DND's stalled 'Close Combat Vehicle' project
is in greater peril than ever. What is to be done? Nothing, going by past projects – it is too late. An
unconventional approach, however, may be capable of bearing fruit. DND projects proceed at a glacial pace. The desire
to get it just right can drag out procurement for years. UORs provided one answer [1] but interim solutions
can provide another. As this is written, our allies are deploying more survivable vehicles into Afghanistan [2]
while CCVs weren't meant to appear until 2012. |
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The possibility of getting quick access to small numbers of used CV9040s for use in Afghanistan has been discussed before. The vehicles are excellent and
Sweden has expressed a willingness to loan vehicles and train CF crews. Some of the CV90s on offer need updating
but there's a way around that. Beyond an argument that an 'interim' CCV is better than none at all, this Modest Proposal is about putting refurbished CV9040Bs into the field in
Afghanistan in time for winter 2010-2011. Why winter ? Because the current operation in Helmand has shown the
benefits of engaging the Taliban outside of their 'fighting season'.
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This proposal is simple: borrow a small number of up-to-date, well-protected CV9040Cs from
Sweden (as done with German Leopard 2A6M
tank). Buy sufficient surplus CV9040Bs to take the place of CF wheeled LAVs for winter ops. Update
CV9040B running gears but remove the dated turrets. Uparmour 'B hulls [3] to CV9040C standards, plating over
turret rings. Substitute an existing CF Remote Weapon System [4] for vehicle self-defence (accompanying
CV9040Cs will perform the direct-fire support role). The goal is twofold: field CCVs quickly in Kandahar and prove
the CCV concept to Canadians.
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[1] Just prior to the 2006 Kandahar deployment, a series of projects were run as IORs or UORs ( Immediate or Urgent
Operational Require- ments. The OAG found that DND underestimated the training requirements but did note the speed
with which UORs fielded new vehicles.
[2] ISAF CV90s have been deployed by both Sweden and Norway but the new Danish CV9035 DKs are now 'in the thick of
it' in Helmand.
[3] CV90 add-on armour kits are available in IBD Deisenroth's AMAP range and Rafael's ASPRO-H (
hybrid insensitive reactive armour ).
[4] The CF has three types of Remotely-Controlled Weapon Systems in use: the Rafael Protected Weapon Station
( PWS, shown top left, is used on TLAVs and E-LAVs), the Kongsberg Protector (used on APVs), and the Rheinmetall Canada Nanuk (used on the LAV-RWS ).
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