Canadian Soldiers Killed Despite High-Tech Armoured Vehicles
Posted July 4, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The six Canadian soldiers who died on Wednesday were riding in a RG-31 Nyala, an Armored Personnel Vehicle (APV) manufactured by Land Systems OMC in South Africa.
The Nyala, a large, jeep-like four-wheeled vehicle, was designed to provide extra protection to soldiers while retaining mobility and occupant capacity. About 50 Nyalas were put into service in April 2006 by the Canadian Military with an option to order another 25.
The vehicle weighs over seven tons and is a little over 20 feet long. It’s eight feet wide and measures just over eight and a half feet high. It comes with a mounted weapon platform, the Canadian version using the PROTECTOR M151 Remote Weapon Station, which allows the gunner to both see and fire from within the vehicle.
The military was hopeful the Nyala’s could replace the less-armoured G-Wagon and the rarer, tougher LAV III’s.
The RG-31 Nyala is designed to protect soldiers primarily from small-arms fire and landmines. The underside of the hull has been made in a V shape, which allows the blast to flow around the vehicle rather than exploding beneath it. However, the sides and front are not designed in the same way and it’s unknown how this affects the Nayla’s performance in the field. It didn’t help those in Afghanistan on Wednesday, to the sorrow of six more families across the country.
