LAV III

LAV III
A New Zealand Army LAV III in Afghanistan
Type	Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Place of origin	Canada
Service history
Used by	See 'Operators'
Wars	See 'Service history'
Specifications
Weight	16.95 t
Length	6.98 m (22 ft 11 in)
Width	2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Height	2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Crew	3 (+ 6 or 7 passengers)
Main armament	1 × M242 25 mm chain gun with TIS
Secondary armament	1 × C6 7.62 mm machine gun (coaxial) 1 × C9A2 5.56 mm or C6 7.62 mm machine gun (pintle mount)
Engine	Caterpillar 3126 diesel 260 kW (350 hp)
Suspension	Hydropneumatic
Operational range	450 km (280 mi)
Speed	100 km/h (62 mph)

The LAV III, originally named the Kodiak by the Canadian Army, is the third generation of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of Infantry fighting vehicle built by General Dynamics Land Systems first entering service in 1999. It is based on the Swiss Mowag Piranha IIIH 8x8.

It was developed in Canada and is the primary mechanized infantry vehicle of the Canadian Army and the New Zealand Army.

By July 1991, the Canadian Armed Forces had identified the need to replace their aging fleet of 1960s and 1970s era armoured personnel carriers. As a result, $2.8 billion was earmarked for the Multi-Role Combat Vehicle (MRCV) project by the sitting Conservative government. The mandate of the MRCV project was to provide a series of vehicles based on a common chassis which would replace the M113 armored personnel carrier, Lynx reconnaissance vehicle, Grizzly armoured personnel carrier, and Bison armoured personnel carrier. The project was, however, deemed unaffordable and cancelled by March 1992.

By 1994 after the Liberal Party had returned to government, the army was still in need of new vehicles. As a result, the army embarked on the Light Armoured Vehicle Project, which would adapt parts of the MRCV Project, and be implemented incrementally to spread out the costs. Also, the requirement to replace the Bisons was dropped. The first phase of the project saw the selection of the Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle to replace the Lynx.