New armoured vehicles and the sound of budget crunching

Further to this post (with lots of further links and a photo),

New Close Combat Vehicles for the Army--and the coming budget crunch...

we now learn:

Combat vehicles for army on hold, document shows
Multi-billion-dollar purchase was part of Tory promise to re-equip military

With the Defence Department already looking to reduce spending, the Harper government has quietly put on hold a multi-billion dollar purchase of new armoured vehicles for the army, according to a document leaked to the Citizen.

The Close Combat Vehicle was announced in the summer by Defence Minister Peter MacKay as one of the army's top priorities and an example of the government's commitment to re-equip the military.

But on Friday, Public Works and Government Services issued a letter to defence industry officials informing them that the project was now on hold. "The Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) project has been delayed to ensure that resources are geared towards key procurement priorities of DND," Kristen Ward of the Public Works CCV project wrote in the letter. The document was leaked to the Citizen Wednesday.

Ward wrote that the statement of requirements for the project, which was to be issued this month, will not be sent out. She gave no indication of when the CCV program might restart, sparking suggestions from defence industry representatives that the project will ultimately be cancelled...

The top priorities for the government now are to upgrade the army's fleet of light armoured vehicles and to purchase what the military is calling a tactical armoured patrol vehicle [more just past the middle at this post], according to Ward's letter...

The army had argued that the vehicles, which would accompany its Leopard tanks into battle, were a priority for future missions.

But others at DND questioned whether the CCV project was the best way to spend defence dollars when other more important equipment is needed. Some in government have also questioned whether the vehicles were still a priority since the military mission in Afghanistan finishes in July 2011 [a good point as I can't see any government sending the Army into a serious combat mission again for some time--especially as we likely will end up with a long-term UN commitment in Haiti]...

The department, however, is still suggesting the CCV might go ahead.

"The CCV is not being cancelled," said department spokeswoman Annie Dicaire. "The project can resume at any time."

She did not, however, have details on when it might resume.

The news about the CCV follows a review that will see the Defence Department finding $423 million in savings to be shifted to priority projects. Those savings have to be found by the end of March...

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Also eating up the Joint Support Ship and Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship projects (more here).

Crunch update: The project to replace our CF-18 fighters also appears to be bouncing off some rocks, more here.

Crunchier update: TAPVs on the chopping block too? A reasonable fear I think:

CANADIAN ARMY’S CCV NEAR DEATH BUT WILL THE TACTICAL ARMORED PATROL VEHICLE SOON FOLLOW?

As I wrote above I think it pretty unlikely any Canadian government will send the Army into really serious combat again for some time to come so I can see how the CCV's capabilities might be considered ditchable for now. But the TAPV is another matter altogether.