Making tracks to Afstan

More M-113 armoured personnel carriers are on the way.

The Canadian Forces will ship more armoured vehicles to Afghanistan to help ease the wear and tear on the military's combat fleet in Kandahar.

About 40 tracked M113 armoured personnel carriers will be shipped early in the New Year, a move that will give commanders another type of vehicle to use when the wheeled LAV-3, as well as Bison armoured carriers, are undergoing maintenance, said army spokesperson Capt. Sylvain Chalifour.

In addition, some of the Bisons now in Afghanistan will have to be returned to Canada for refi t work, so the M113s will make up for that shortfall, he said.

There are already several M113s in Kandahar, Chalifour added.

Afghanistan's terrain is exceptionally hard on vehicles and equipment of all types, according to military officials.

Army officers privately say the M113s are also needed to roll over some of the obstacles that have stopped or slowed down the wheeled LAV-3s. While the LAV-3 is well regarded by the troops, it has had difficulty driving over some of irrigation ditches during fi ghting in the Afghan countryside.

Tracked vehicles, such as the M113, will be able to negotiate such obstacles better. Officers also say the M113 can keep up to the Leopard tank already in Kandahar.

In September, the military announced it was sending Leopards to Afghanistan in a bid to boost firepower and protection for its soldiers.

Earlier this week, one of the Leopards hit a mine during a training exercise outside Kandahar. The explosion blew off one of the tank's tracks, but it was repaired later that day. No soldiers were injured in the incident.

The future strategy of Canada's army is to switch to a predominantly wheeled vehicle fleet [maybe not--see link]which, according to senior officers, would be more easily transportable overseas [but C-17s will lessen that problem, and land-locked Afstan with no rail access either is a bit of an anomaly in terms of operations].