Canadian regiment christens new Textron TAPV armoured vehicle the Calgary.

The commanding officer of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment says the unit’s newest addition is a high-tech armoured vehicle, which is carrying on a millennia-old tradition, the Calgary Herald reports. On 8 December 2018, the regiment named its newest vehicle — a Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle, or TAPV — with the name of the city the regiment calls home.

Textron  TAPV of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment (Picture source: The Calgary Herald)

Lt-Col. Christopher Hunt, commanding officer of the regiment, said the tradition of naming military vehicles originated with naming horses on the battlefield transports. He said the 20-tonne vehicle now known as the TAPV Calgary is designed for “general purpose duties … for things like convoy escorts, reconnaissance patrols and for transporting troops around the battlefield,” Hunt said.

The TAPV is essentially a more heavily armed and armoured upgrade of the M1117 Armoured Security Vehicle, developed for use by the military police of the US Armed Forces. The Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) program began in 2009, and in 2012 the contract was awarded to Textron Systems, Inc. On August 16, 2016, Textron systems delivered the first Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) to the Canadian Army. An eventual 500 vehicles will be purchased, with the option to order an additional 100.

The TAPV is powered by a Cummins QSL diesel engine, which provides 365 horsepower (272 kW), allowing the vehicle a maximum speed of 105 km/h (65 mph), and a maximum range of 644 km (400 miles). The vehicle utilizes an independent suspension axle system originally developed by Irish Timoney, and it has a central tire inflation system to prevent flat tires during combat operations.

The TAPV relies upon composite armour to provide the maximum protection to the vehicles occupants. The armour is slated as being 20% better than the armour on the M1117. The TAPV also has a V-shaped hull, which provides protection against mineand improvised explosive device (IED) blasts. The vehicle also has a high ground clearance, which increases protection from mine and IED blasts. It can withstand up to 10 kg of explosive force directly under its hull, and can resist even 12.7 mm armour-piercing rounds. Each of the seats in the vehicle are blast protected, and the vehicle has vented wheel wells to disperse the energy of an explosion out from the vehicle.

The TAPV is slated to have a remote weapons system based on the M151 Protector. The weapon system is called the Dual Remote Weapon System, and can mount both a C6 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun and either a HK GMG 40 mm automatic grenade launcher or a M2HB 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The vehicle also possesses smoke grenade launchers located on the remote weapon system.

The TAPV is just the most recent vehicle to bear the Calgary name in the King’s Own’s 82-year history. Hunt addressed the regiment and told how an immobilized Churchill tank named Calgary helped defend evacuating troops in Dieppe on 19 August 1942, bombarding German positions until all its ammunition was depleted. The WW2 Sherman tank sitting outside the Mewata Armoury in downtown Calgary is also called Calgary, while a tank recovery vehicle serving in Afghanistan was the most recent military machine to hold the title. Hunt said the recovery vehicle was given the name in honour of Calgary-based soldier Cpl. Nathan Hornberg who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007. “He was killed in action when they were trying to recover a tank that was disabled. After that happened, the mechanics that also worked on those armoured recovery vehicles were trying to decide what to name the new tank and they almost didn’t say anything,” Hunt said. “They all looked at each other and said ‘Calgary’ because Nathan was from Calgary and a member of the King’s Own. It was just a natural fit.”