November 11,
2008: Two years ago, Canada sent 17 of its Leopard 1 tanks to Afghanistan, to
give Canadian troops there some extra firepower against the Taliban. Some
Canadian legislators were inclined to do without tanks, but Canadian military
leaders believed the heavy combat vehicles would be useful. Not only are they
impervious to most weapons, but they scare the hell out of the enemy. The
troops proved to be correct in their assessment. The Leopards have seen
constant action, particularly because the Taliban have been intent on driving
the Canadians out by inflicting many casualties on the foreign troops. But the
tanks turned out to be the best weapon to deal with the Taliban attacks, and
the Canadian troops are glad to have them around.
There were
some problems. When the weather got warm, the lack of air conditioning, and the
age of the first tanks sent , became problems. Soon Canada has made
arrangements with Germany, the manufacturer of the Leopard, to lease twenty of
the most modern version of the tank, the Leopard 2A6M, which has considerably
better protection against mines, roadside bombs and RPG rockets. The 62 ton
Leopard 2 has a 120mm main gun and two 7.62mm machine-guns. The 43 ton Leopard
1 has a 105mm gun, and is actually a little slower (65 kilometers an hour) than
the Leopard 2. Both tanks have a four man crew. Germany is selling off some of
its Leopard 2s, and offered Canada 80 of them at a bargain price. Canada shopped
around and got a better deal from Holland, and is buying a hundred Dutch
Leopard IIs for $5.7 million each.
