Leopard 2 packs a heavyweight punch into Canada's operations in Afghanistan

The Canadian Forces are aiming to certificate their fleet of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) Leopard 2A6M CAN battle tanks at a new gross weight of 69 tonnes (76 US tons), increasing their utility when supporting troops deployed in Afghanistan.

According to Major Alan Bolster, Deputy Programme Director for the Canadian Forces (CF) Tank Replacement Project, Leopard 1 tanks (Canadian nomenclature Leopard C2) fitted with 105 mm rifled guns were first deployed in Afghanistan in the third quarter of 2006, coinciding with the start of offensive operations by Canadian troops participating in Operation 'Medusa'. Earlier it had been planned to dispose of the Leopard C2s in favour of a developmental wheeled mobile gun system, but in the meantime the 25 mm armament of Canadian Forces LAV III infantry carriers had shown itself to be insufficiently lethal to deal with Taliban combatants in prepared defensive positions. There was, therefore, a stopgap requirement for a heavier and more-protected organic direct-fire capability to support Canadian ground troops, said Maj Bolster in February 2009.

A squadron of Leopard C2s, supported by a number of associated Leopard 1-based armoured recovery vehicles and armoured engineer vehicles was, therefore, transported to theatre by air. As a consequence of a subsequent decision to extend the Canadian Forces' mission in Afghanistan to December 2011, it was further determined that a more modern tank would be needed (in the shape of the KMW Leopard 2A6M armed with a 55-calibre 120 mm smoothbore gun) and the MGS programme was dropped.