The Canadian defense ministry has shared photos of the first armored combat support vehicle (ACSV) General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada has built for the Canadian Armed Forces.
The new generation of ACSVs will replace the current fleets of M113 tracked light armored vehicle (TLAV) and the LAV II Bison vehicles currently in service.
Built at the GDLS Canada’s London, Ontario, facilities, these new vehicles are based on the company’s LAV 6.0 platform. They are designed to fulfill a variety of combat support roles such as that of troop/cargo vehicle (TCV), ambulance, command post, and mobile repair and recovery.
The contract for this project was awarded in September 2019, and since then, a number of subcontracts have been awarded by General Dynamics to allow work to start. The contract for 360 ACSV, initial spare parts, technical manuals and training has a value of approximately C$2 billion.
The first vehicle, a troop/cargo variant, rolled off the production line this month, according to schedule. The entire fleet will be delivered by February 2025. Testing, training, and procurement of spare parts will be required before the initial vehicles are distributed to Canadian Armed Forces bases in 2022.
“These vehicles will form the backbone of the Army’s combat support fleet, and be used on a wide range of operations including domestic disaster relief and international peace support missions,” Canadian defense minister Harjit S. Sajjan commented at the start of construction in August this year.
