AVGP
The AVGP (Armoured Vehicle General Purpose) is a series of three armoured fighting vehicles purchased by the Canadian military in the late 1970s.
These vehicles were based on the six-wheeled version of the Swiss Mowag Piranha. These vehicles mounted propellers for amphibious use, like the eight-wheeled Coyote, but not the U.S. Stryker. The Canadian Armed Forces' Coyotes, the United States Marine Corps' LAV III, and the US Army's Stryker are all variants of the Piranha.
Variants
Cougar
- Used as a Tank trainer and Fire support vehicle on United Nations missions
- Three-man crew
- Turret of a British Scorpion tank (76mm main gun)
Grizzly
- Armoured personnel carrier (APC)
- Two-man crew
- Designed to carry a section of Infantry
- Armed with a .50 cal and 7.62mm machinegun
Husky
- Armoured recovery vehicle (ARV)
- Designed to provide mechanical support for the other two vehicles
AVGP today
The Cougar is only used for training in Canada as a Reconnaissance vehicle. The Grizzly is no longer in front line service but are being converted to support vehicles (i.e., Command post). The Husky still serves in its original role.In June of 2005 the Canadian government announced plans to loan AVGPs to African peacekeepers in the Darfur region. The AVGP were considered sufficiently modern to be useful in this low-intensity conflict. The Canadian government was to arrange for civilian contractors to take care of the maintenance of these vehicles.
As the vehicles contained some U.S.-manufactured or licensed parts, U.S. permission would be required to loan the vehicles. Instead, the vehicles will be shipped without those parts. The Cadillac-Gage turrets are one of the parts that required U.S. permission, so the loaned vehicles will be unarmed.