Bison (armoured personnel carrier)

The Bison is an armoured personnel carrier based on the 8x8 MOWAG Piranha II platform, and was produced by General Motors Diesel Division (now General Dynamics Land Systems Canada) in London, Ontario. They were purchased and intended for operation by the Canadian Forces Primary Reserve, but were rapidly appropriated by the regular force of the Canadian Army.^[1]

Design

By starting with a basic Piranha II, the Bison design process took only 7 days.^[2] The Bison differs from the baseline Piranha II by raising the height of the roof, removing the turret ring, placing a commander's cupola behind the driver, and incorporating a rail mount system in the cargo/passenger compartment to quickly change mission specific equipment. The driver is seated in the front-left of the crew compartment. The commander has a slightly raised position directly behind the driver with access to his own hatch and mounted machine gun. The engine is to the right of the crew compartment.

The Canadian Forces began upgrading the Bison between 2002 and 2008. The upgrades include improved engine power, new torsion bars, fittings for add-on armour, air conditioning, and the VRS respirator system for NBC defence.^[3]

Variants

The Bison's rail mount system allows it to be adapted to a variety of roles without any major modifications. Bisons used by the Canadian Forces have been adapted for use as armoured personnel carriers (original configuration - mostly replaced in this role by the LAV III), 81mm mortar carriers, ambulances (32), Mobile Repair Team (MRT) vehicles (32), Armoured recovery vehicles (32), Electronic Warfare vehicles (25), and NBC Reconnaissance vehicles (4).

Operators

Map of Bison operators in blue

Current operators

•  Australia
  • Australian Army - 97^[2] (See ASLAV Type II)
•  Canada
  • Canadian Army - 199^[2]
•  United States
  • US National Guard - 12^[2]

See also

• Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle - Canadian armoured reconnaissance vehicle also based on the Piranha II platform
• LAV III - Canadian infantry fighting vehicle. Replaced the Bison in many roles. Based on the Piranha III platform
• MOWAG Piranha - Vehicle that the Bison originated from

References

External links

• Canadian Army > Bison Armoured Vehicle
• Military-Today.com > Bison Armoured Personnel Carrier

Canadian Army
History	History of the Canadian Army Canadian Corps First Canadian Army Military History of Canada Fort Frontenac Library
Structure	Structure of the Canadian Army 2nd Canadian Division 3rd Canadian Division 4th Canadian Division 5th Canadian Division List of Units
Mechanized brigade groups	1 CMBG 2 CMBG 5 CMBG
Brigade groups	31 CBG 32 CBG 33 CBG 34 CBG 35 CBG 36 CBG 37 CBG 38 CBG 39 CBG 41 CBG
Small arms	C9 machine-gun C7A1 rifle/C8A1 carbine/C7A2 rifle C6 machine-gun Browning .50 calibre heavy machine gun Browning-HP 9 mm pistol P225, 226 C15 Long Range Sniper Weapon (LRSW) C3A1 sniper rifle C14 Timberwolf C13 fragmentation grenade M203 grenade launcher M72 SRAAW(L)
Crewed weapons	Carl Gustav SRAAW(M) ERYX SRAAW(H) TOW LRAAW(H) 81 mm mortar 60 mm mortar Javelin short-range air defence missile Skyguard C1 close support howitzer C3 close support howitzer LG1 Mark II 105 mm towed howitzer M777 lightweight 155mm howitzer C16 CASW
Armoured fighting vehicles	LAV III Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle ADATS Leopard C2 Leopard 2 Bison APC M113A3 and MTVL RG-31 Textron TAPV
Schools	Canadian Army Command and Staff College Peace Support Training Centre Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre
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