First Leopard 2 arrives at Kandahar

No airco though!

The first of 20 newer Leopard 2 tanks for the Canadian Forces landed in Kandahar on Thursday but crews must still resort to water-filled cooling vests to cut the stifling heat inside the hulking steel beasts.

The tank, the first of 20 leased from Germany, was delivered by an Antonov transport aircraft in the early-morning hours. The Leopard 2 tanks promise more firepower, better landmine protection, longer range and better mobility than the 30-year-old Leopard 1 Canadians now use in Afghanistan.

But for all that technical superiority, the Leopard 2 still doesn't have air conditioning - a key drawback in a land where high temperatures regularly reach well into the 40s Celsius and tank crews have suffered dehydration.

To avoid wilting in the extreme heat, the four crew members - pilot, gunner, loader and crew leader - wear cooling vests to circulate chilled water over their bodies.

"I don't know if it's the best way, but I can tell you it works," said Capt. Craig Volstad of the Lord Strathcona's Horse armoured regiment based in Edmonton.

The tank rolled off the Antonov aircraft two hours late, with mechanical problem in one of its turrets. Military spokesman Capt. Hubert Genest called it a "minor glitch that will take 15 minutes to fix."

The 19 other 62-tonne tanks leased from the German army are expected to be delivered to Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan over the next few weeks...

Starting in the fall of 2008, the army is expecting to get the first of the 100 slightly used tanks Canada has bought from the Netherlands.

The first deliveries will come just months before the Canadian government's commitment to Afghanistan is supposed to expire in February 2009...

Some comments at the Lord Strathconas Horse message board.

And see:

Canadians train on the Leopard 2A6M

Bang!