(LAWV) are becoming the norm on the modern battlefield. Can they survive or are they just cannon fodder?
LAWV have been a success story for Canada with our LAV III and now the LAV VI. One of the problems the wheeled vehicles have is they can not keep up with (MBT) tanks such as the leopard 2 over rough terrain.
Militaries are adding more protection to wheeled vehicles. This increase in weight further impedes them. Because they do not have the ability to disperse the greater weight as tracks would.
With drones and AI vehicles starting to take over the light armed ground, water and air warfare space. Less troops in the future will be jammed into LAWV’s and other transport vehicles.
For Canada this could be a lucky break. The evolution of the battlefield will aid us. Because of the small number of boots on the ground that we can field (Canadians do not want to serve in the military… any branch). Canada can start developing drones of our own. This will be a growth industry, with many spinoff industries in fields such as: AI, sensors and optics.
Canada has spent $1.8 billion from 2009 till 2017 upgrading 550 LAV III to the new LAV VI standards. This will keep them going till 2035. On Sept.5 2019 DND announced General Dynamics Land Systems Canada has received a contract for 360 Canadian Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV) to replace the retiring LAV II Bison and M113 tracked vehicles. A contract with Kongsberg for their remote controlled weapon stations for the new ACSVs has been negotiated.
image sources
- Stryker_US Dept of Defense: M. Rauchenberger DOD | Public Domain Mark 1.0