Active Protection System

Whether one looks at conventional state actors such as North Korea and Iran, or nationalist and ethno-religious asymmetric threats, such as those found in the Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia, many within the wider academic community have identified a measureable growth of instability within the international system since the end of the Cold War in the early-1990s. This growth in geopolitical instability, along with economic and domestic political factors, has resulted in a recent transition of Canadian foreign policy. Canada has witnessed a measurable shift from largely lower-level conflict and United Nations-based peacekeeping operations, such as the Suez, Cyprus, Iraq, and even Bosnia, to now include more volatile operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya. But while the Canadian government has decided to slowly wind down operations in Afghanistan by temporarily shifting our remaining forces from a ‘combat role’ to a presumably less dangerous training facilitation role with the Afghan National Army around the Kabul region, our activity in this turbulent region has nevertheless hammered home the need for greater protection for our armoured combat vehicle fleet in future expeditionary operations. Extensive resources have been provided to improve communications, counter-improvised explosive device technologies and techniques, and countless other efforts limit the potential casualties incurred through both enemy contact and fratricide. Considerable effort has also been dedicated to improving the traditional armour protection of our individual personal protective equipment with newer protective vests, and there has been an evolution of add-on armour packages for our older and up-and-coming combat vehicles. It is the position of this article that while traditional avenues of increasing armour protection to our fleets of combat vehicles have merit, such considerations should also embrace non-traditional protective measures. Any future Canadian expeditionary force should also include the introduction of Active Protection Systems.