The first of Canada’s new armoured combat support vehicles for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has been delivered: a set of four ambulances, equipped for combat support.
A press release described the new armoured vehicles, which were toured by Minister of National Defence Bill Blair and Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre this week before being officially accepted by the CAF.
“The members of the Canadian Armed Forces deserve modern equipment that gets the job done. These new Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (ACSV) will serve our members well at home and abroad, enabling them to protect Canada and support our Allies,” Blair said in the release. “I thank the hundreds of Canadian workers involved in building these vehicles – and reaffirm our commitment to investing in our military while creating good jobs for Canadians.”
It’s the first set of vehicles from Canada’s deal to procure 360 ACSVs from London, Ont.-based General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada. The project was first announced in 2019, and the first delivery of vehicles was expected to occur in 2025.
The fleet of 360 armoured vehicles will include eight different types of vehicles in order to support different roles on a battlefield, such as “troop transport, command vehicles, electronic warfare, mobile repair, and various combat engineering tasks,” the release stated.
The project runs around $2.5 billion. According to the release, it will contribute $250 million to Canada’s GDP over an eight-year period, and supports 1,975 jobs annually in London.
The design of the ACSVs is based on the Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV) 6.0 which currently are in use by the CAF. The similarity in design will hopefully mean less training needed for troops and an easier time finding spare parts for repairs.
Blair and Eyre toured the new vehicles at Garrison Petawawa in Ontario, which is the recipient of this first procurement. A total of 49 ambulance ACSVs will be delivered to bases across Canada “in the coming months.”
“These ambulances, which were much needed, will provide enhanced protection for our personnel when it matters most whether they’re at home or abroad,” Eyre said in the release.
As of September, General Dynamics has produced a total of 91 ACSVs for the project,
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would be making a new investment of $650 million over three years to deliver 50 armoured vehicles to Ukraine, also built in London.
Canada has already donated 39 armoured vehicles to aid Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
