Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Wednesday that the Canadian Army will receive $5 billion in funding to overhaul its battered fleet of light armoured vehicles.
MacKay, speaking at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick, said $1 billion will be used to upgrade existing LAV-3s with better armour and electronics.
But MacKay did not say if the remaining $4 billion would go to purchase a fleet of LAV-Hs, the next generation of light armoured vehicles. That announcement had been anticipated today.
In Afghanistan, the LAVs have been the main fighting vehicle for Canadian soldiers.
Last March, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, chief of defence staff of the Canadian Forces, said the army is running through equipment faster than it can maintain it.
At that time, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie said the military may need a year-long break from operations when the mission in Afghanistan ends in July 2011.
Citing a February tally, Leslie said 33 per cent of light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) are out of service, 76 per cent of Coyotes, 100 per cent of its tracked light-armoured vehicles (TLAVs), 73 per cent of its Bisons and 71 per cent of its Leopard tanks.
Marc Milner, director of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick, said the LAV is at the "heart and soul" of the battle group concept in Afghanistan.
Milner said no one had expected they would face the ongoing rough conditions found in Afghanistan.
"They've held up quite well, however they've been a huge drain on the logistics and maintenance of the Canadian army," Milner told The Canadian Press.
"They're down to the point now where they have almost nothing to train on and all the spare parts are going to Afghanistan."
With files from The Canadian Press
