Canada to rely on borrowed tanks until 2011
Refurbishment of Dutch tanks bought by Canada won't be complete until troops begin withdrawal from Afghanistan
OTTAWA - Canada will be forced to rely on borrowed tanks for the war in Afghanistan until 2011, a federal tendering document has revealed.
Public Works Canada recently asked the defence industry if it was interested in upgrading some of the 100 Leopard tanks it purchased second-hand from the Netherlands last fall.
The first of those refurbished, 60-tonne A6s will not be ready for service for another 3-1/2 years -- just as Canadian troops begin their withdrawal from Kandahar.
The "initial delivery of 20 tanks and two recovery vehicles" is not expected until some time in 2011, said the letter of interest issued to industry on March 19.
The federal government likely won't even issue a tender for the work until November 2009.
When the $1.3-billion tank-replacement program was announced almost a year ago by former defence minister Gordon O'Connor, the plan called for Canada to borrow 20 mine-resistant Leopards from Germany for immediate use in Afghanistan.
Those tanks arrived in theatre last summer and were to be returned once the Dutch Leopards had been purchased and upgraded to Canadian battle standards.
The loan arrangement with the Germans, which isn't costing Canadian taxpayers anything, was expected to run until September 2009.
The fact the Dutch tanks won't be ready by that time means the loan will likely have to be extended.
National Defence was asked to explain the reasons for the delay, but declined. Most information and interview requests are flagged to the attention of the Privy Council Office -- the administrative arm of the prime minister's office.
The only comment defence officials made was that "a number of options were being considered, including replacement in kind and extending the loan."
It has been suggested that, given the wear and tear on the German Leopards in Afghanistan, it would be simpler for Canada to hold on to the borrowed vehicles and replace them with spiffed-up ones purchased from the Dutch.
"As stipulated in the arrangement, Canada will be returning the tanks in the same condition that they were received," Defence spokesman Jeremy Sales said in an e-mail note.
It was suggested last fall that some of the upgrade work might have to be done in Europe because Canadian industry isn't capable of overhauling the iron monsters.
A defence expert said the delay can likely be traced back to the fact that few Canadian companies have the technical ability to overhaul battle tanks and the Defence Department virtually gave up the skill in the late 1990s, when it planned to phase out tanks.
"I'm not surprised it's going to take that long to pull the upgrades together given that we no longer have the capability," said retired colonel Chris Corrigan, who spent 32 years in the armoured corps.
"That was a straight dollars-and-cents budgetary decision."
One of the companies that could be in line for the refurbishment, which was estimated in the range of $200 million, said last year that a worldwide shortage of armour plating -- generated by the war in Iraq -- could also contribute to delays.
The federal government spent $120 million to buy 100 surplus Leopards from the Netherlands, the vast majority of which are older A4 models, dating from the mid-1990s. The Dutch government mothballed them at the end of the Cold War.
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