Tanks a lot

Actually very little so far; no leaping Leopards. What in heaven's name is going on?

DND's second-hand tanks on idle
Officials unsure of rollout date, but MacKay says Defence working as fast as possible

The Defence Department admits it doesn't know how long it will take to get used Leopard tanks purchased for the army into service, despite promises by government ministers that the program will be moved along quickly.

A week ago, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, head of the Canadian army, said 40 of the used Leopard 2 tanks are in storage in Montreal because the government has yet to hire a firm to refurbish them. He told a Senate Defence committee he didn't know the reason for the delay. [Whyever not? He was speaking about the tanks' arrival last December--see this post, photos and my hint about reasons for the delay - MC.]

But the general's comments prompted Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon to respond that the military was taking care of the issue. MacKay said the Defence Department is working on refurbishing the tanks as quickly as it can [!?!].

Dan Ross, the Defence Department's assistant deputy minister for materiel, had previously told a Commons committee that refurbishment of the tanks would start this year and be finished by 2011. "So, 2011 is an end-state, it's not a beginning," he said.

But his office now appears to be backing off that date.

"It is too early to speculate on how long it will take before the tanks are refurbished and become operational," stated an e-mail from Ross's public affairs section. "This would depend on the terms of the eventual winning contract."

The used tanks in question were purchased from the Netherlands as part of a program announced by the government in April 2007.

One hundred tanks are to be bought at a cost of $650 million. Another $650 million is expected to be spent on long-term maintenance and support.

The e-mail stated the Canadian Forces is committed to getting the tanks refurbished and into service as quickly as possible.

According to the Defence e-mail, the tanks need to have Canadian combat radios installed as well as additional armor protection. The e-mail noted that a tank cooling system also has to be installed.

In the meantime, the Defence Department hopes in the next couple of months to hire a company to tear apart 15 other used Leopard tanks and rush the components to Afghanistan to deal with a lack of spare parts for the armoured fleet there. In Kandahar, Canada operates Leopard 1 tanks that it already had in its inventory as well as Leopard 2 tanks it received on loan from Germany.

Officials from several firms were in Germany in February to look over the 15 used Leopard 2 tanks purchased by the Canadian Forces to be cannibalized for spare parts...