Canada buys Husky, Buffalo & Cougar for Afghanistan (Where's the Meerkat?)
- Thread starter Allen
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Good to hear no one was hurt.
A little off topic but;
we sent some huskies to some African contries, correct? And about how many do we have? (I think we only sent them 5 huskies, right?)
A little off topic but;
we sent some huskies to some African contries, correct? And about how many do we have? (I think we only sent them 5 huskies, right?)
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Remember, the Wheeled ARV version of the AVGP was also known as Husky. 27 were produced:
http://www.eme421.com/avgp.htm
http://www.eme421.com/avgp.htm
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Ahh alright, thanks guys.
Spencer100
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geo said:
remining ;D ;D
8)
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The above comment was made by a Canadian operator of a Husky in Afghanistan after a huge IED explosion. Read the article. 
http://www.defenceoftherealm.com/
That was comment from the Canadian driver of a Husky demining vehicle (pictured above) after it had been hit by a huge bomb on a road in Afghanistan.
As the South African built vehicle, one of a pair, was making its way along Route Foster - a narrow, winding highway that runs west of Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar in Kandahar province – there was a loud bang, the acrid smell of explosives and a blinding cloud of dust. The front end of the Husky was nowhere to be seen and, where the road had been, there was a crater six feet wide by three feet deep.
However, the rest of the vehicle was intact, including the driver, Cpl. Pierre Brule, in his cockpit. Said Brule, after complaining about his water bottle, "It was too quick to be scared anyway. The vehicle just dropped to the ground so it was pretty cool."
The Husky, pictured above, is one of the most recent acquisitions of the Canadian Armed Forces, part of what is known technically as "The Expedient Route Opening Capability" (EROC) systems. These, pioneered by US Forces, comprise the Husky, the Buffalo mine detection vehicle and the Cougar 6x6 mine protected vehicle.
The Husky goes first, attempting to detect or explode buried explosives. The Buffalo, with its extendable hydraulic arm, investigates suspicious objects and the Cougars follow up, carrying the bomb disposal officers and their equipment, to deal with confirmed devices.
This team is changing the tempo of operations in the Canadian sector, moving from passive defence with armoured vehicles, to searching actively for buried improvised explosive devices.
And these answer the quite legitimate concerns of some British military commentators, who argued that the introduction of better protected vehicles would simply lead to the use by the terrorists of bigger bombs. This is indeed what they are doing but that necessarily means there are fewer of them and, being bigger, they are easier to find.
The Canadians themselves ordered the equipment in May last year and received deliveries in September of this year, convinced they would save lives, and they have been doing just that. Unsurprisingly, they describe it as, "the best piece of kit there is".
The British, who have been slow even to introduce protected vehicles, are catching up on this front, but they are still behind the curve – having none of this equipment. As the Taliban react to their improved vehicles, crews – even with better armour – will still be at risk. It is, therefore, imperative that serious consideration is given rapidly to acquiring the capabilities which first the Americans and now the Canadians have so ably demonstrated as life-saving.
We really cannot afford another "Snatch" Land Rover situation, where the Army and the MoD react after the event – and then slowly – to a hazard which is both predictable and avoidable.
http://www.defenceoftherealm.com/
That was comment from the Canadian driver of a Husky demining vehicle (pictured above) after it had been hit by a huge bomb on a road in Afghanistan.
As the South African built vehicle, one of a pair, was making its way along Route Foster - a narrow, winding highway that runs west of Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar in Kandahar province – there was a loud bang, the acrid smell of explosives and a blinding cloud of dust. The front end of the Husky was nowhere to be seen and, where the road had been, there was a crater six feet wide by three feet deep.
However, the rest of the vehicle was intact, including the driver, Cpl. Pierre Brule, in his cockpit. Said Brule, after complaining about his water bottle, "It was too quick to be scared anyway. The vehicle just dropped to the ground so it was pretty cool."
The Husky, pictured above, is one of the most recent acquisitions of the Canadian Armed Forces, part of what is known technically as "The Expedient Route Opening Capability" (EROC) systems. These, pioneered by US Forces, comprise the Husky, the Buffalo mine detection vehicle and the Cougar 6x6 mine protected vehicle.
The Husky goes first, attempting to detect or explode buried explosives. The Buffalo, with its extendable hydraulic arm, investigates suspicious objects and the Cougars follow up, carrying the bomb disposal officers and their equipment, to deal with confirmed devices.
This team is changing the tempo of operations in the Canadian sector, moving from passive defence with armoured vehicles, to searching actively for buried improvised explosive devices.
And these answer the quite legitimate concerns of some British military commentators, who argued that the introduction of better protected vehicles would simply lead to the use by the terrorists of bigger bombs. This is indeed what they are doing but that necessarily means there are fewer of them and, being bigger, they are easier to find.
The Canadians themselves ordered the equipment in May last year and received deliveries in September of this year, convinced they would save lives, and they have been doing just that. Unsurprisingly, they describe it as, "the best piece of kit there is".
The British, who have been slow even to introduce protected vehicles, are catching up on this front, but they are still behind the curve – having none of this equipment. As the Taliban react to their improved vehicles, crews – even with better armour – will still be at risk. It is, therefore, imperative that serious consideration is given rapidly to acquiring the capabilities which first the Americans and now the Canadians have so ably demonstrated as life-saving.
We really cannot afford another "Snatch" Land Rover situation, where the Army and the MoD react after the event – and then slowly – to a hazard which is both predictable and avoidable.
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thanks for posting the picture it's a cool looking vehicle....I read the article on line this morning and gave a sigh of relief that we now have this equipment to protect our troops. I think we're learning a lot of lessons too from this new kind of warfare and hopefully we can get the right equipment to do the job...some Chinooks in a hurry would help too eh?
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Its nice not having to rely on the American's as much although there assistance was and is appreciated specifically with regards to these type of vehicles.
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A bit more detail.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20071023/ca_pr_on_na/afghan_cda_ied
MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan - One of Canada's newest weapons against roadside bombs in Afghanistan became the victim of an improvised explosive device on Tuesday.
The Husky mine-detection vehicle was damaged by an explosion; the driver escaped unhurt. Roadside explosives have taken a terrible toll on Canadian soldiers, so it was with pride that the military recently unveiled the Husky, a vehicle built in South Africa that resembles a road grader.
In essence, the vehicle acts like a birddog using a combination of technology including X-ray and metal detection. If it spots anything suspicious, it drops a puddle of ink so the spot can be further investigated.
Its design, with a high one-man cockpit set back on the chassis and huge wheels in the front, provides maximum protection for the driver.
A pair of Huskies were making their way along Route Foster - a narrow, winding highway that runs west of Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar in Kandahar province. The area is a daily battle ground between Canadian forces trying to keep it free from mines, and Taliban insurgents who have free reign in many parts of the area.
After a number of false alarms in the first kilometre of what was supposed to be a 10-kilometre journey, Sgt. Jean-Francois De Wolfe sighed: "It's going to be a very long day."
Danger is everywhere on this stretch of road.
In its early stages, the road is buffeted by mountains on one side and grape orchards, small villages and grape-drying huts on the other. The huts resemble bunkers, and have been used as such at times in battle.
The road narrows continually, eventually giving way to the plains and fields of tall marijuana and opium poppy crops.
A warning came upon entering this area.
"This next two or three kilometres is where most of the attacks have happened recently," said De Wolfe.
Every piece of disturbed earth, empty sandbags or even the remnants of other bombings set off alarm bells on the Husky. The 10-kilometre journey was beginning to look like 1,000.
One of the Huskies passed through a further narrowing of the road unscathed - but the second one wasn't so lucky.
A loud bang, the acrid smell of explosives and a blinding cloud of dust indicated the Taliban had struck again - successfully.
The front end of the Husky was nowhere to be seen but the rest of it, including the driver in his cockpit, were OK.
"He said dammit, I spilled my water bottle," laughed De Wolfe, who was in contact with the other driver over his radio.
Cpl. Pierre Brule, 31, was greeted with applause and laughter when he entered the lead command vehicle later. It was suggested he should have to pay for the damages out of his salary.
"What happened? Boom. That's all I have to say," chuckled Brule, who later was working on his vehicle to get it ready to be shipped back to base.
"It was too quick to be scared anyway. The vehicle just dropped to the ground so it was pretty cool."
A crater two metres wide and a metre deep indicated the force of the blast.
"The explosion was really strong," added De Wolfe, who noted the damaged vehicle had just moved in front of his RG-31 armoured vehicle.
"That one is repairable; this one would have been cut in two."
The vehicle ironically had the bumper sticker, "Do all jobs suck or just mine???"
The Husky is doing a job that used to be done by a single soldier walking along with mine-detection equipment.
De Wolfe said the troops are excited about it. "This is another thing that is motivating us. Better to be us in this than our friends walking down a road."
Cpl. Stephane Beaulieu, 23, was one of those augmenting the work of the Husky on Tuesday.
"Anything that can be done to make things safer for us is welcome," he said.
"We call it the old fashioned way, we just be careful and look on the floor for any clues that are possible."
"We have enough training" to know what to look) for, he said.
"But for sure there's a little adrenaline rush there."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20071023/ca_pr_on_na/afghan_cda_ied
MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan - One of Canada's newest weapons against roadside bombs in Afghanistan became the victim of an improvised explosive device on Tuesday.
The Husky mine-detection vehicle was damaged by an explosion; the driver escaped unhurt. Roadside explosives have taken a terrible toll on Canadian soldiers, so it was with pride that the military recently unveiled the Husky, a vehicle built in South Africa that resembles a road grader.
In essence, the vehicle acts like a birddog using a combination of technology including X-ray and metal detection. If it spots anything suspicious, it drops a puddle of ink so the spot can be further investigated.
Its design, with a high one-man cockpit set back on the chassis and huge wheels in the front, provides maximum protection for the driver.
A pair of Huskies were making their way along Route Foster - a narrow, winding highway that runs west of Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar in Kandahar province. The area is a daily battle ground between Canadian forces trying to keep it free from mines, and Taliban insurgents who have free reign in many parts of the area.
After a number of false alarms in the first kilometre of what was supposed to be a 10-kilometre journey, Sgt. Jean-Francois De Wolfe sighed: "It's going to be a very long day."
Danger is everywhere on this stretch of road.
In its early stages, the road is buffeted by mountains on one side and grape orchards, small villages and grape-drying huts on the other. The huts resemble bunkers, and have been used as such at times in battle.
The road narrows continually, eventually giving way to the plains and fields of tall marijuana and opium poppy crops.
A warning came upon entering this area.
"This next two or three kilometres is where most of the attacks have happened recently," said De Wolfe.
Every piece of disturbed earth, empty sandbags or even the remnants of other bombings set off alarm bells on the Husky. The 10-kilometre journey was beginning to look like 1,000.
One of the Huskies passed through a further narrowing of the road unscathed - but the second one wasn't so lucky.
A loud bang, the acrid smell of explosives and a blinding cloud of dust indicated the Taliban had struck again - successfully.
The front end of the Husky was nowhere to be seen but the rest of it, including the driver in his cockpit, were OK.
"He said dammit, I spilled my water bottle," laughed De Wolfe, who was in contact with the other driver over his radio.
Cpl. Pierre Brule, 31, was greeted with applause and laughter when he entered the lead command vehicle later. It was suggested he should have to pay for the damages out of his salary.
"What happened? Boom. That's all I have to say," chuckled Brule, who later was working on his vehicle to get it ready to be shipped back to base.
"It was too quick to be scared anyway. The vehicle just dropped to the ground so it was pretty cool."
A crater two metres wide and a metre deep indicated the force of the blast.
"The explosion was really strong," added De Wolfe, who noted the damaged vehicle had just moved in front of his RG-31 armoured vehicle.
"That one is repairable; this one would have been cut in two."
The vehicle ironically had the bumper sticker, "Do all jobs suck or just mine???"
The Husky is doing a job that used to be done by a single soldier walking along with mine-detection equipment.
De Wolfe said the troops are excited about it. "This is another thing that is motivating us. Better to be us in this than our friends walking down a road."
Cpl. Stephane Beaulieu, 23, was one of those augmenting the work of the Husky on Tuesday.
"Anything that can be done to make things safer for us is welcome," he said.
"We call it the old fashioned way, we just be careful and look on the floor for any clues that are possible."
"We have enough training" to know what to look) for, he said.
"But for sure there's a little adrenaline rush there."
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And it was the Americans that were clearing routes for us with them (as we didn't have them at the time), thus my comment about not having to rely on them as much as we are now using them as well and therefore can dictate the use of the vehicle.
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