OTTAWA -- A federal government spending freeze has not affected Canadian military plans to buy 66 London-built light armoured vehicles to replace its fleet of aging Leopard tanks, says the project director. The contract would be worth $600 million to the General Dynamics Land Systems Canada plant on Oxford Street.
Military planners expect to approach Treasury Board as soon as next month with the proposal for the 66 vehicles, known as Strykers in the United States, says Maj. Jim Atkins.
Timing is critical, Atkins said. The military hopes to tag onto a $4-billion American order for 2,100 of the vehicles, complete contract talks by year's end and take first deliveries in 2006.
Finance Minister Ralph Goodale announced a spending freeze and review of most federal programs in December, and it wasn't clear if the Stryker program would escape the knife.
"We still have internal departmental work to do, we're carrying on with that," said Atkins.
"We still have to go through the process to get Treasury Board funding approval.
"We're not sure when we're going to go to Treasury Board, but perhaps in February or sometime in March. It's still up in the air."
The Stryker is an eight-wheeled, 18-tonne, lightly armoured vehicle equipped with a 105-millimetre cannon.
The United States is buying 10 versions from General Dynamics plants in London and Michigan.
Canada is interested in only one version, likely costing between $5 million and $6 million a vehicle, plus simulators and two years' worth of spare parts.
The U.S. order, which includes cheaper variants, averages about $2 million a vehicle.
"If we can take advantage of a 'hot' production line, we can make a lot of savings," Atkins said.
In 2000, the army essentially declared its Leopard I tanks obsolete and began looking into replacing them with a "modern, mobile, armoured, direct-fire support vehicle."
But the choice of the Stryker has come under fire.
Some critics say the vehicle has serious engineering problems, including a chassis that is too light to absorb the recoil of the main gun.
Atkins was part of a 1998 military study that declared armoured combat vehicles such as the Stryker inadequate replacements for tanks in war fighting.
A prior study had deemed it acceptable for "all operations other than war."
Many of the problems have been addressed in the American process, Atkins said, including protection from rocket-propelled grenades and a larger and better-designed command turret.
"We understand things are going quite well," he said.
"The main issue is protection levels. The vehicle is not a tank, we do not intend to employ it as a tank. If we get hit by an enemy tank, it's going to go through the MGS (mobile gun system).
"However, we do not get engaged in those types of operations on a regular basis. By far, we do other types of operations on a routine basis. We are not a heavy-tank army and we do not intend to be a heavy-tank army."
U.S. requirements call for a lighter vehicle that can be transported a longer distance than Canada requires, said Atkins.
Canada has concerns about the vehicle's anti-landmine protection, Atkins said.
"We'd like to improve the mine protection on the vehicle," he said, citing a bolt-on solution as most likely.
"It's always been a concern for us."
