Canada close to take delivery of the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle 411041612.

The programme has been delayed, in order for the contractor to improve some of the design features and provide a customer-tailored solution. The Canadian Ministry of Defence, overseeing the testing and qualification procedures, has already completed over 50% of them and is expected to fully conclude them in May 2016.

A total of 500 units will be acquired in the general utility and reconnaissance variants. The latter one will be fielded with the armoured recce squadrons, infantry recce platoons and the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School. They will gradually become operational until mid-2020, upon the successful completion of training, trials and related exercises that will confirm the vehicles’ and crews’ readiness. The 2^nd Canadian Division will be the first to induct them.

The vehicles were chosen after rigorous testing and based on their financial criteria. A very important feature has been their level of protection and survivability against many types of threats, including IEDs and heavy weapons. In addition, with each vehicle having a weight of almost 18.5 tons, up to four TAPVs can be transported inside a CC-177 Globemaster III aircraft.

TAPVs’ armament includes a 40 mm. automatic grenade launcher and a C6 flex machine gun, integrated on an overhead remotely-controlled station, featuring optics that allow observation at distances of up to 10 km.

One of the most important issues will be their support. TAPVs will be the first in the Canadian Army to feature a Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). The system is comprised of sensors that record key data of the vehicles, which are useful for their support and maintenance, making the process faster and simpler. Furthermore, their maintenance publications will by provided in an Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM), with an interface similar to that of Microsoft Internet Explorer, easily updated and accessible from a laptop.