Topic: Will the battle tank become obsolete?

Dean · May 18th, 2007

In a fairly recent policy paper, Gen. R Hillier, the CDS of the Canadian Armed Forces stated that the Leopard C1 A4s were "millstones around the neck of the Army". He went on to state that the tank was obsolete, and that it should be replaced by lighter vehicles that have the same firepower. (i.e., the Stryker MGS) However, since that time, the Canadian Army has deployed their heavy armour in Afghanistan and found that the Leo C1 is the best weapon system for the job, but it also has serious problems, particularly in the summer. It turns out that the temperature in the fighting compartment can pass 45 degrees celsius, which is too hot for continued operations. As a result, the Canadian Army has ordered 120 Leopard 2A4s and 2A6s to replace the Leo 1s, and has put the entire LAV MGS system on hold. The result of all this? Well, General Hillier admitted that he was as wrong as he could possibly get, and the main battle tank will remain in the Canadian Forces inventory for some time to come. Tanks are just to damn good at what they do. No matter how good the AT systems in use are, disabling a tank is till a relatively difficult thing to do, as Hezbollah found out, and even a damaged tank can be an incredibly dangerous thing to have in front of you.

The tank is here to stay.

Dean.

May 18th, 2007
Dean Centurion Gear	In a fairly recent policy paper, Gen. R Hillier, the CDS of the Canadian Armed Forces stated that the Leopard C1 A4s were "millstones around the neck of the Army". He went on to state that the tank was obsolete, and that it should be replaced by lighter vehicles that have the same firepower. (i.e., the Stryker MGS) However, since that time, the Canadian Army has deployed their heavy armour in Afghanistan and found that the Leo C1 is the best weapon system for the job, but it also has serious problems, particularly in the summer. It turns out that the temperature in the fighting compartment can pass 45 degrees celsius, which is too hot for continued operations. As a result, the Canadian Army has ordered 120 Leopard 2A4s and 2A6s to replace the Leo 1s, and has put the entire LAV MGS system on hold. The result of all this? Well, General Hillier admitted that he was as wrong as he could possibly get, and the main battle tank will remain in the Canadian Forces inventory for some time to come. Tanks are just to damn good at what they do. No matter how good the AT systems in use are, disabling a tank is till a relatively difficult thing to do, as Hezbollah found out, and even a damaged tank can be an incredibly dangerous thing to have in front of you. The tank is here to stay. Dean. Last edited by Dean; May 19th, 2007 at 01:52.