Home Americas Canada nears completion of SMPV project with roll-out of final vehicle

Canada nears completion of SMPV project with roll-out of final vehicle

Photo: Canadian defense ministry

The final of a total of 1,587 Standard Military Pattern vehicles built for the Canadian Armed Forces has been rolled-out in a ceremony in Quebec, marking the completion of the CA$1.5 billion project.

The February 13 milestone is important for Canada as it completed the production of vehicles to replace its fleet of medium logistics vehicles that is more than 30 years old.

The new logistics vehicles significantly increase the country’s capacity to transport equipment, personnel, and supplies, with a capacity of up to 9.5 tonnes.

In addition to the five variants of medium support vehicles, this major project also delivered 322 trailers, 161 armored protection systems, 1,300 militarized trucks in six variants for the Reserves, and 995 shelters, of which 846 shelters are configured for specific roles in military operations.

“Today, we highlight the last medium support vehicle rolling off the production line. These vehicles have already proven a great improvement to the Canadian Armed Forces’ ground transportation capability and flexibility at home during the flooding of 2019 and now abroad in support of Op Reassurance,” Canadian defense minister Harjit S. Sajjan commented.

Canada started the program in July 2015, with the award of two contracts to Mack Defense, valued at a total of $834 million. The contracts would deliver 1500 new trucks, in addition to new trailers, armor protection systems and in-service support. Since the contracts were awarded, options were exercised to increase the total quantity of trucks to 1,587, which raised the contract value to $880.3 million.

Mack Defence will also sustain the standard military pattern trucks for up to 15 years if all contract options are exercised.