Mack victorious in battle for MSVS

 
Mack Defense LLC of Allentown, PA won the bid to supply the Canadian military with 1500 8X8 Standard Military Pattern trucks, 300 trailers and armoured protection kits in a $843 mn deal announced last week.

The trucks will be assembled in Quebec, creating 700 jobs before the expected 2017-2018 delivery and a five year, extentable in-service support program thereafter.

Many expected Oshkosh would get the job using a variant of their HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Military Tactical Truck) which is used by the US. (There may have been other bidders too, including BAE, Daimler, Navistar, Renault and MAN).

The much delayed program to replace 1980s era Canadian trucks, called the Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS), built by Bombardier, started in 2006 but was canned a couple of times due to budget constraints and political timing.

So what will the new trucks look like?

(Armoured cabin version shown)

There will be several versions, including cargo, cargo with crane, load handling system (shown above), mobile repair, and gun tractor. Plus up to 150 can be fitted with the add-on armour kits.

Mack is owned by Volvo nowadays, but has managed to retain much of its engineering in house. However the Volvo bus subsidiary, Prevost Car, will assemble the trucks at its Ste-Claire, QC factory, southeast of Quebec City.

Other companies involved are Dumur Industries, of Saskatoon (armour), EODC Inc of Ottawa, part of IBD Deisenroth (armour), and Raydan of Edmonton (Link Suspension, twin steers, etc.,)

And yes, the will carry the bulldog on the front hood. 

.

All aboard the Titanic

This year is the 100 th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, April 15, 1912, and Halifax in particular is marking the event with many ceremonies, memorials and exhibits. (Rescue ships from Halifax recovered many of the deceased and they are buried here in three different cemeteries).
1. Ambassatours have decorated one of their Prévost bendi-busses. It is not amphibious, so I am pretty sure the tour does not go offshore.

Canada Post is issuing new stamps and have decorated a number of their delivery vans accordingly.

2. The new stick-on graphic covers the entire vehicle, except for a few small areas around ventilators and body seams.

3. The standard issue Canada Post Utilimaster for comparison purposes.

.

Really Big Pink

1. The first of the Prevost articulated buses to be painted pink appeared this month. (2010-02-05) Sister buses will follow.


2. RML 2365, 2677 and 2534 emerge from hibernation and head for the paint shop (2010-02-16)

Ambassatours had several pink double deckers on the road in the past year, promoting breast cancer awareness, but I see that they are now starting to repaint their former Holland America Prevost bendy buses in the same pink colour.

The second one appeared last week. At the same time, some of their winter stored Routemasters emerged from a waterfront warehouse and headed for the paint shop.

.

Wall to Wall Buses, with guard

Most of Ambassatours articulated Prevosts are parked now that the cruise season is over, although they do see occasional service. This row shows nine of the former Holland-America Line Alaska cruise coaches lined up in Fairview (although there is one MCI imposter.)

A herring gull has been hired to oversee security when the units are idle.

Are You Lost?

Old Quebec Tours has this trim looking Prevost H3-45 in Halifax today on a charter, so it is probably not lost.

The company has an equally tidy looking web site: www.toursvieuxquebec.com/en/page/home

Holland America Tours Buses

Three weary looking Prevost artics still wearing Alaska plates, and are parked in the W.N.White film studio compound behind the Via Rail station.

They arrived mid-month with lots of road grime, so they probably drove here from the left coast.

But for why? Maybe for export.

They have been shuffled around and I've only been able to get shots of two of them.