bobdina
05-26-2010, 10:13 AM
Special forces units to get 60 high-tech vehicles
David Pugliese, Canwest News Service: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Canada’s special forces units will be getting new vehicles as early as next year.
Sixty special reconnaissance vehicles will be bought and housed at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa to support special forces units there, in Ottawa and in Trenton, Ont.
The new vehicles are being located with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment in Petawawa, which would also provide maintenance support as well as drivers. The high-mobility trucks will be available to various units such as the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 or to special forces task groups.
“The regiment will own that capability and I will allot that capability to the (special operations) task forces,” explained Brig.-Gen. Mike Day, head of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) in Ottawa. “If the task force needs it, the regiment will provide the capability, not just the vehicles. They are going to be masters of that platform.”
Canadian special forces use Humvees in Afghanistan. Day said the Humvees will be usable until the end of the Afghan mission in the summer of next year.
The new vehicles will likely be a version of the British-designed Supacat Jackal. That vehicle is being built by Lockheed Martin in the U.S. and being marketed to Canadian and U.S. militaries.
The special forces command could look at an additional purchase of 20 more vehicles at a later date.
The special reconnaissance vehicle would be required to operate for extended periods of time in enemy territory and be capable of carrying maintenance equipment and other supplies.
The request for proposals from industry for the special reconnaissance vehicle closes at the end of May. Only one firm, Lockheed Martin, is expected to bid.
The Supacat Jackal is in service with a number of special forces organizations around the world, including with British and Australian units.
Day did not get into cost estimates for the Canadian program.
CANSOFCOM had also planned to purchase what it was calling a quick reaction vehicle, which would be used in an urban situation.
That purchase will be delayed somewhat, Day explained, as the special forces command tries to determine what exactly it needs.
“We’re still having an internal debate on where we value certain characteristics,” he added.
CANSOFCOM had originally wanted to buy 20 of those vehicles, but that project won’t likely start until 2012.
The quick reaction vehicles would be exposed to a greater degree of enemy threat and, as such, would require a high level of protection.
Day said CANSOFCOM is keeping an eye on research being done in the U.S. on how to better protect vehicles from improvised
Read it on Global News: Special forces units to get 60 high-tech vehicles
http://news.globaltv.com/world/story.html?id=3070654
David Pugliese, Canwest News Service: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Canada’s special forces units will be getting new vehicles as early as next year.
Sixty special reconnaissance vehicles will be bought and housed at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa to support special forces units there, in Ottawa and in Trenton, Ont.
The new vehicles are being located with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment in Petawawa, which would also provide maintenance support as well as drivers. The high-mobility trucks will be available to various units such as the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 or to special forces task groups.
“The regiment will own that capability and I will allot that capability to the (special operations) task forces,” explained Brig.-Gen. Mike Day, head of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) in Ottawa. “If the task force needs it, the regiment will provide the capability, not just the vehicles. They are going to be masters of that platform.”
Canadian special forces use Humvees in Afghanistan. Day said the Humvees will be usable until the end of the Afghan mission in the summer of next year.
The new vehicles will likely be a version of the British-designed Supacat Jackal. That vehicle is being built by Lockheed Martin in the U.S. and being marketed to Canadian and U.S. militaries.
The special forces command could look at an additional purchase of 20 more vehicles at a later date.
The special reconnaissance vehicle would be required to operate for extended periods of time in enemy territory and be capable of carrying maintenance equipment and other supplies.
The request for proposals from industry for the special reconnaissance vehicle closes at the end of May. Only one firm, Lockheed Martin, is expected to bid.
The Supacat Jackal is in service with a number of special forces organizations around the world, including with British and Australian units.
Day did not get into cost estimates for the Canadian program.
CANSOFCOM had also planned to purchase what it was calling a quick reaction vehicle, which would be used in an urban situation.
That purchase will be delayed somewhat, Day explained, as the special forces command tries to determine what exactly it needs.
“We’re still having an internal debate on where we value certain characteristics,” he added.
CANSOFCOM had originally wanted to buy 20 of those vehicles, but that project won’t likely start until 2012.
The quick reaction vehicles would be exposed to a greater degree of enemy threat and, as such, would require a high level of protection.
Day said CANSOFCOM is keeping an eye on research being done in the U.S. on how to better protect vehicles from improvised
Read it on Global News: Special forces units to get 60 high-tech vehicles
http://news.globaltv.com/world/story.html?id=3070654