CASR

Canadian
American
Strategic
Review

Armoured Vehicles  –  Danish CV9035s Arrive in Afghanistan  –  February 2010 Afghan South 2010: the Danish CV9035 DK Infantry Fighting Vehicles Arrive in Helmand Province and Prepare for ISAF Combat Operations CASR  has previously covered  Danish preparations to deploy new CV9035 infantry fighting vehicles to Afghanistan, including some details of how these infanterikampkøretøjer or IKK were being up-armoured. The Danes have encountered  delays in deploying their CV9035s in time for Denmark's ISAF Roto 9. [1] Here we cover how those difficulties are being overcome.  On 15 Feb 2010, the last of  ten  Danish infantry  fighting vehicles off-loaded at Camp Bastion in  Helmand Province. Delivery of these 10 CV9035  IKKs was fraught with challenges. First a cargo  vessel transporting the armoured vehicles to an  undisclosed  Middle Eastern  jumping off  point  experienced mechanical problems.  Air transport  was then delayed while diplomatic transit permit approval was frantically sought by Danish logistics command. Once permits were in place, the vehicles could finally be loaded onto leased Antonov An-124 aircraft for delivery to Helmand. The IKKs were scheduled to complete that final leg of their journey to Afghanistan by aircraft in late January but  notification was not received  until  10 Feb 2010  that overflight permission to Afghanistan had at last been granted. Once local officialdom had been satisfied,  the leased Antonovs cargo aircraft were loaded with CV9035s and their kit and flown in to Camp Bastion. While this Middle Eastern bureaucracy and baksheesh were sorted out, other forms of  IKK preparations were taking place 6,000 km away. Two infanterikampkøretøj were put through IKK-klimatest or hot weather trials in South Africa (see Danish Press Release). The goal was to test vehicle  performance and  maintenance routines in hot, dry, dusty conditions – and  South Africa at the height of a Southern Hemisphere summer was the ideal location. The klimatest also included live firing of all types of ammunition for the CV9035 DK. The IKK-klimatest  continues even as the operational  CV9035 DKs are delivered  to Helmand. Changes dictated by the climate trials  –  such as new computer router ventilators and coolant formulae – will be made at Camp Bastion. New maintenance training procedures and orders for the necessary extra spare tracks plus replacement track pads are, no doubt, being put in place.  The Helmand CV9035s began their transformation  into fully operational vehicles the evening of their  arrival at Camp Bastion.  The vehicles had arrived  'nøgne', looking little different from other CV9035s  in Danish service. Once at Camp Bastion, the IKK  fleet were swathed in Barracuda camouflage mats  whose thermal  properties also serve to reduce the  temperature of  the vehicles interior compartments. Barracuda mats have been proven in Helmand on Danish Leopard 2A5 tanks – as well as on other Danish vehicle types in-theatre. (Canadian Forces Leopard 2A6Ms also use Barracuda mats while the CF's older Leopard C2s in Kandahar mount different, but similar, thermal mats.) Such mats do provide a visual camouflage but their primary purpose was to mask the vehicle's thermal 'signature'. An unexpected side benefit was that the thermal mats also reduced interior temperatures thereby lessening the cooling equipment loads for personnel and for electronics. The operational CV9035 DK is also being fitted with a slat armour 'cage'. With RPGs a major threat in Helmand, slat armour has been applied to Danish vehicles in-theatre (other than tanks). This contrasts with CF practice. Canadian vehicles have not been fitted with slat armour other than Leopard 2A6M tanks. This might just be indicative of different  threat  types in  neighbouring Afghan provinces. Slat armour aside, it's worth contrasting Danish and Canadian approaches. Like Canada, Denmark had extended the life of its tracked M113 fleet. The European version of the LAV III, the Piranha, was bought  – but as an ambulance not as a infantry carrier. Moving rather cautiously, the Danish Army then decided to buy a small number of CV9035s at the end of  2005.  Four years later,  those 45  'IKK 9035s' are in service and about  to engage in combat. DND expressed interest in the CV90 when that Swedish vehicle was still under development in the early 1990s. But the CV90 per vehicle cost was judged too high. Almost a decade later, the CV90 pops up again under the Close Combat Vehicle project. What has changed is mostly the vehicle numbers involved. Instead, of  1,500 LAVs [2],  just over 100  CCVs were to be bought. Denmark faces similar fiscal constraints and political divisions as Canada does.  So why have the Danes just fielded a modern infantry fighting vehicle while DND's  CCV project  is stalled? The simple answer is: a different approach to managing procurement projects. Danish defence planning is done in four year blocks covering both objectives and costs. As a result, a project office is unlikely to survive if its planned procurement has not borne fruit in this 4-year period. There is also a major difference at the political level. That Danish plan is based on agreements arrived at in the Danish parliament. A ruling party may hold more sway than minor opposition parties but that 4-year defence plan cannot be dictated to the Folketinget by the government. As a consensus document,  the Danish defence plan provides more continuity and stability to procurement projects than is currently possible in Canada. Until Canadian defence policy and procurement priorities are determined by Parliament rather the ruling party, we will continue to see partisan political interests take precedence over timely and practical procurement policies. [1] The IKK was to replace Danish TLAVs –  the M113 G3 PMV (pansret mandskabsvogn)  in Afghanistan in early Feb 2010.  Now,  PMVs must fill in until the CV9035 fleet is combat ready. [2] When the Conservative government of the day baulked at a $2.8B price for the 'Multi-Role Combat Vehicle' project,  MRCV was axed in favour of  1,500 LAV IIIs ( later cut down to 651 ).