CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan was at London's General Dynamics Land Systems Canada on Feb. 10 to announce an additional $404 million dollar for Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) III vehicles upgrades.

Canada's Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan announced on Feb. 10, the government will provide an additional $404 million dollars to upgrade 141 existing army vehicles.

Through an amendment contract with General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS)-Canada, Sajjan made the announcement at the London plant, who will see firsthand where the investment will be going, as they make the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) III vehicles.

“It's about making sure that our troops have the right equipment,” Sajjan said. “It's not just a highlight to the company, but it's a highlight to the community of what great innovation, great skills and great opportunity jobs that it has not only for now, but also in the future as well.”

Sajjan, who rode in the LAV III while on duty in Afghanistan, said the vehicle is the “backbone” to the army fleet and keeps troops safe from harm.

Designed to operate in harsh environments and rough terrain, Sajjan said the LAV not only allows the troops to move across the battlefield with protection in a combat tested vehicle, but also in admirable fashion.

Sajjan made clear that although the current vehicles are safe with high levels of protection, the LAV III upgrade project, which will make the vehicles to a LAV 6.0 configuration, will bring the vehicles to a new upgraded standard and become “more mobile, more secure and more effective in combat”.

According to the Sajjan, the current vehicles are equipped with added armour and blast-absorbing seats along with other upgrades to help solders against explosive devices, but will now include an upgrade in a number of things such as power train suspension and running gear, along with improvements to the command support system. The latter will allow information to be integrated for multiple sources such as target acquisition systems which the minister pointed out will allow troops to make decisions quickly while on the battlefield.

Lastly, the vehicles will now be comfier, which the minister joked about how he wished that upgrade would have occurred while he was in the military.

With these upgrades, Sajjan said it would ensuring that the military will have 550 “state of the art” combat vehicles, which will expand life to 2035.

“It will also ensure the lowest possible maintenance cost, which is also extremely important and that makes it a very good deal for Canadian tax payers. This is good for Canadian businesses and jobs too,” the minister said.

Since 2011, the government of Canada has been in partnership to with GDLS, and according to Sajjan, will now see over a $1.5 billion injected into the local, regional and national economy.

London in particular was mentioned, since it is the base where the vehicles are created. It has roughly 2,000 people on the advance skills jobs, particularly 250 Londoners focused on these upgrades

“That's 250 people who will be able to continue to contribute to the economy of London, that's 250 who will be able to keep supporting their families and propelling our local economy forward in securing to the GDLS-Canada's reputation as a global leader in this industry,” Sajjan said.