Нынешние 20 штук Leо 2A6M взяты канадцами в лизинг у немцев, уважаемый Сергей. Для юзанию в Афганистане. В дальнейшем канадцы действительно приобретают 80 Leo 2A4 и 20 Leo 2A6 у голландцев, но А4 еще только будут модернизироваться (контракт ожидался в ноябре) и их поступление в канадскую армию планируется только в 2011 г. Плюс еще 15 А4 планируется приобрести на запчасти.
Вот статья про эти дела из International Defence Review от июня 2008 г.
Canada plans to upgrade Leopards for use in Afghanistan
Sharon Hobson
Canada's Tank Replacement Project has several key decisions remaining as the army tries to fit its requirements into a CAD650 million (USD657 million) budget.
Canada announced in April 2007 that it had leased 20 Leopard 2A6M main battle tanks and two armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) from Germany for use in Afghanistan, and is also buying 80 A4 and 20 A6 surplus Leopard 2 tanks from the Netherlands. The A6 variants will be modified to the German standard by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defence and then handed over to Germany to replace those being used in Afghanistan.
The 20 A6M tanks currently on lease from Germany will be kept as an operational squadron, while 20 of the 80 A4 tanks being purchased from the Netherlands will be designated as a second operational squadron, but their configuration has yet to be determined.
Lieutenant Colonel Perry Wells, project director, told Jane's : "We recognise that because of the funding cap that is placed on us, we won't have all the operational tanks the same." Forty of the A4 tanks will be used for training, but they "will probably be of a lesser capability", and eight will be reconfigured as ARV 3s, while 12 will be kept as logistics stock in a yet-to-be-determined configuration.
Lt Col Wells noted that the Leopard 2A6 was designed for tank-on-tank battles, as envisaged in the Cold War, but maintaining the 20 Leopard 2A6 versions is aimed at providing the Canadian Army with the flexibility to deal with any future high-level conventional threat, although "the threat is all around and the likelihood of seeing a high-end tank is pretty low".
For the more likely asymmetric threat, he said that the tank "doesn't need all this armour, all this stuff on the front" but that "it needs it to be distributed better all around the sides". He added: "That's those 20 which are still to be determined - how are we going to reconfigure them for a more asymmetric threat?"
A letter of interest has been released to Canadian industry describing the tank modifications. The core requirements include integrating the Land Command Support System and upgrading the protection against hand-held anti-tank weapons; anti-tank mines; improvised explosive devices; anti-tank guided missiles; armoured personnel carriers firing medium-calibre cannons (up to 30 mm) and armour piercing discarding sabot rounds; and T-72 tanks.
The hydraulic turret drive system is also to be replaced by an electric system. Temperature inside the crew and driving compartments must be kept below 50 degrees Celsius, with core temperature of individuals being kept within 1.5 degrees of 37 degrees Celsius over a 24-hour period.
Longer-term requirements for the tank project include modernising the grenade dischargers, upgrading the fire-control system, replacing or upgrading the torsion bars and hydraulic track tensioners and possibly replacing the power pack with the Euro Powerpack as part of a mid-life upgrade. The army may also replace the L55 gun on the A6s with the L44, which is currently used on the A4s.
Canadian doctrine calls for tanks to be fitted with mine ploughs and mine rollers, and Lt Col Wells said "that is an expectation that [the Canadian] army still has for the Leopard 2", adding: "The challenge will be: can the Leopard 2 take the weight of having that type of implement on the front?"
Depending on what the structural analysis shows, Lt Col Wells said that they may have to revisit their doctrine. "Maybe we'll have tanks that don't have guns, or have other systems going into theatre that have rollers and ploughs and things [the Expedient Route Opening Capability] and maybe that's what does it for the future Canadian armoured group," he said.
Operations in Afghanistan have been a challenge as a result of the heat and dust. As the heat in the tanks can reach over 60 degrees Celsius, Canada has fitted its tank crews with chiller vests made by Med Eng in Ottawa. Wells said: "Initially, we thought we wanted an air conditioner, but when you look at what the soldier has to wear on the battlefield in a tank, the cooled air of an air conditioner will never get into him. But with this vest right next to your skin, it's instant gratification."
Keeping the sensitive electronic equipment cool is a bigger challenge. The tanks are being fitted with the Saab Barracuda thermal blanket system, as well as fans to suck hot air out of the electronics area and a turret umbrella that will reduce the solar loading. "We're also continuing to investigate enhanced air conditioning of some sort," stated Lt Col Wells.
The Canadian estimate that the tanks would be driven approximately 200 km per week has turned out to be accurate despite German warnings that it would be unable to provide sufficient spares from its inventory based on that rate of usage. Canada has, as a result, bought 15 more tanks to be disassembled and used as spares, though the contract for that work has not yet been awarded.
Canada has promised to return the German A6 tanks by the end of 2009, but "it will be a challenge" to do that, according to Wells. He said that the problem is "the bureaucracy of acquiring the tanks, putting a contract in place with industry to do the work and then to do the work". Since no Canadian company was capable, the contract went to KMW, but there are several long-lead items such as armoured steel "and there's quite a shortage of some of this material in the world right now".
The 80 Dutch A4 tanks will be modified by Canadian industry "to the maximum extent possible", with the contract to be awarded in November. The initial delivery of 20 tanks and two recovery vehicles is scheduled for 2011.
The army expects to start a separate project to replace the Badger armoured engineer vehicles and possibly the Beaver armoured bridge layers. According to Wells, that project will run in parallel with the tank project to take advantage of the synergies inherent in them.
С уважением, Exeter
Спасибо. (-) - Сергей15.11.2008 17:28:58 (37, 0 b)
