The flagship of the Canadian military vehicle fleet must be the Mercedes-Benz Actros AHSVS (Armoured Heavy Support Vehicle System) This huge 8X8 truck was ordered in 2007 for delivery to Afghanistan in 2008. A total of 82 were delivered at a cost of $87mn (my math says this is more than $1mn per truck!) with an option for 26 more.
The standard truck has a palletized loading system (PLS) allowing it to mount dump, box and other packages. There were also other variants including wrecker/recovery, tanker, and tractor for towing tanks and howitzers.
Main featutre is the armoured cab produced in South Africa by LMT. It has proven to be resistant to mines and improvised explosive devices. The engine is a Mercedes twin-turbo producinig 503 bhp and it has an automatic transmission. It is definitely an off road vehicle built to ford rivers, but can achieve 88 kph on roads.
Following Canada's mission in Afghanistan the remaining units were to be returned to Canada for storage.
The three trucks recently delivered in the port of Halifax appear to be brand new, so these are likely part of the option order.
1. Front of cab has Mercedes symbol in grille.
2. Mills Heavy Hauling uses a mighty Mack to haul the mighty Merc.
3. A gantry crane and hydraulic tongue are used to load and work the various packages the truck can carry.
4. One big truck
To see these might Mercs in action see the beautifully produced video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djzRWIhiD00
For more specs and photos see:
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