hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Canada's army cancels a $2 billion armoured truck order
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Canada's army cancels a $2 billion armoured truck order
The Canadian Army has canceled a $2 billion order to have 108 close-combat vehicles built. Three defence contractors, BAE Systems Inc., Gen. Dynamics Land Systems Inc. and Nexter had bid on the order.
The order for the vehicles, in part to provide security against roadside bombs, was cancelled on Friday. However, the army says that Canadian soldiers will not be in extra danger because of the cancellation. Canadian Army: Drops bid for armoured vehicles Chief of Canada's defence, General Tom Lawson, and Lt.-Gen. Marquis Haines told reporters it's not simply a question of money. They said there have been recent upgrades to existing light armoured vehicles (LAVs) making the new vehicles no longer a priority and that the Army's completion of their mission in Afghanistan reduces their need of close-combat vehicles. “This is not a budgetary discussion,” Lawson told media at a press conference Friday. “The requirement for this particular piece of equipment is based on an analysis of the most likely future requirements and what we have as the army’s capacity right now to meet those.” There's been hints, however, that the cancellation is part of a new approach to defence by the country's Conservative government, one forced upon them by the economic downturn of the past few years. The government and National Defence are looking at scaling down the Canadian military, reports say. It's not known what the extent of that might be but the Canadian Navy, for example, is taking five of 12 maritime coastal defence ships from service ,and there are other money saving measures being enacted by Canada's military. “It’s definitely pointing in that direction (smaller force, less equipment),” defence analyst David Perry of the Defence Associations Institute told Postmedia News.
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Canada's army cancels a $2 billion armoured truck order