Beware of the Leopard?

[chickenfeet]

According to the Globe and Mail, Canada is proposing to deploy a squadron of Leopard tanks to Afghanistan, This is really odd. Neither the British or the Americans, who have lots of quite capable MBT units have chosen to deploy them so why would the Canadians, whose tanks*, despite a few upgrades, are so obsolete that they don't even compete in NATO gunnery competitions, and despite the logistical nightmare of getting these beasts to Afghanistan doing this?

*The Leopards were bought second hand from the Bundeswehr in the 1980s. They are basically 1960s technology with some upgrades to night sights and the like. In essence they are the same generation of technology as the burnt out Russian tanks that litter the countryside in Afghanistan.

Comments

Well...

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Logistical issues aside, when the other side has no tanks, even a few obsolete tanks are a huge advantage to your side... But seriously, yes, that does strike me as being really, really odd.

Re: Well...

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

even a few obsolete tanks are a huge advantage to your side..

It didn't do the Russians much good. I also think the Glob is quite wrong about the relevant vulnerability of the Leopard and the LAV3. AFAIK the LAV3 has slatted armour which is rather effective against shaped charge weapons while the Leopard is good old armour plate; good against kinetic rounds but that's hardly a threat!