> On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, Sylvester M. W. wrote:
> > There are less than a dozen nations that design their own tanks.
Actually, LAVs are built in southern Ontario! The US imports their LAVs
from us, not t'other way round... (OK, the chassis/hull is built here,
don't know about the fitting out/weapons/etc)
It's the great lie about "peaceful little Canada" again - we're actually
an arms-exporter on a reasonable scale. (Not on the scale of the US, but
then who else is?)
And AFAIK we've still got the Leopards for the moment; 114 according to the CF
website.
> But they work. And realistically enough, Canada's never
True enough... thankfully.
On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 23:33:51 -0800 (PST), Brian Burger
> <yh728@victoria.tc.ca> wrote:
Really? well, I never did stay abreast of their manufacturing details. Come to
think of it though, the bodies look similar to the ones the canadian army uses
for recon and apc units. Kinda makes sense, as that would lessen logistics
somewhat.
> It's the great lie about "peaceful little Canada" again - we're
Well, the differece is our stuff usually works better. Take our C7 and compare
it to it's daddy, the M16.
> And AFAIK we've still got the Leopards for the moment; 114 according
Somehow I thought only 14 was a little light, even for us.
> > But they work. And realistically enough, Canada's never
On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 23:33:51 -0800 (PST), Brian Burger
> <yh728@victoria.tc.ca> wrote:
> And AFAIK we've still got the Leopards for the moment; 114 according
How many are in mothballs? Last I heard you had one BN of "armor" and that was
mostly light armor.
Yes, I know Canada makes some fine light armor. It was humor folks, humor!
Some people need a laxative or a good lay or something.
I've been posting to this list since... 1998 or so. In the past six years,
probably 2 out of 3 of my posts have been at least mildly
tongue-in-cheek, and I've almost never used smileys. Nothing is
changing any time soon.
> Brian Burger wrote:
> Actually, LAVs are built in southern Ontario! The US imports their
Not merely that, but the ASLAVs in Australian service are designed by General
Dynamics Canada. They differ in a number of significant details from the USMC
variety. They've also picked up a great reputation for
them protecting their crews - we had 2 LARGE bombs go off nearby in
> (Not on the scale of the US, but then who else is?)
Russia, France and China. Of course the advantage of our stuff is that it
actually works.
The Canadians work so closely with the US, we essentially have the same
Military. Shared C&C facilities and a few combined commands (the old
NORAD - I forget what it's called now). Canadian pilots were a bit
more aggressive in exercises than many of the US pilots in many of the
exercises that we were a part of.
> Not merely that, but the ASLAVs in Australian service are designed by
Well, tis better to have the tank suffer than the crew. I'll let ya in on a
secret. Before we spray on the paint, we give each vehicle a thurough wrapping
with duct tape. Keeps it together AND absorbs kinetic attacks at 57%
effectiveness compared to chobblam plate but
with less than 1/4th the mass or thickness.
And repair kits are availabe at every hardware store from here to Dar El
Sallam
<grins really stupidly>
(sorry guys, couldn't resist)
Somehow, I get the feeling I really don't want to know if you're joking or
telling the truth, or both....
> --- "Sylvester M. W." <xveers@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 12:49:57 +1100, Alan and Carmel Brain
> <aebrain@webone.com.au> wrote:
> Not merely that, but the ASLAVs in Australian service are designed by
Oddly enough, I was reading a couple letters in the Army Times from NCOs in
the Stryker brigades which claim that although a number of Strykers have been
totalled by IEDs, no one inside has been killed or seriously injured.
Mike blasphemed:
> The Canadians work so closely with the US, we essentially have the same
Sacrilige! Draw and quarter the man immediately.
;-)
> Shared C&C facilities and a few combined commands (the old
It's still called NORAD.
http://www.norad.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.welcome
Very OT, but anecdote away:
A million years back (well, during the summer of 1987) when I was in the
Cadets, I did a flight training course at the airforce base in North Bay. We
got a tour of the NORAD facilities there. CFB North Bay (which used to
be a firing point for nuke-armed BOMARC missiles, among other things,
back
in the day when Canada had nukes...) had a back-up command facility
buried
deep underground. They gave us a tour, and it was fascinating - very
cold
war-esque. The tour was conducted by a very impressive USAF senior NCO
with what seemed like a hundred stripes, and we got to see the great big steel
door (like something out of a movie...), the cave containing and office
building on shock absorbers, etc. They let us sit at the consoles with great
big radar screens, and I remember moving (using a big trackball
controller - shades of "Missile Command" for those who remember) the
cursor over a blip off the East Coast. The computers told me it was a
Concorde, gave altitude and speed info, etc. Anyway, the whole trip was
fascinating, but possibly the most memorable part was the ride down into the
complex in
a bus (entry was via a one-lane "road"). The drivers, obviously very
very bored people apparently saw visitors as an opportunity for fun, and ours
drove the damned bus at what seemed like a hundred kph down this long tunnel,
in which the rock walls were only about 8 inches or so off the side mirrors.
It was rather terrifying (though as a bunch of rather macho
teenagers - we were all 17 or 18 on that course - no one would dare to
*show* it). We all expected something really dramatic to happen (other than
crashing...), but the trip into the complex ended very undramatically in a
parking lot.
Anyway... NORAD is still going good and strong. (I have no idea if the North
Bay facility is still open, but it was really interesting)