Just wondering as to what everyone is thinking in regards to the Coyote? Is it being used effectively? Will it turn into a white elephant? Has it been properly integrated into an infantry section's battle capability (functionally that is)? Some very interesting points of discussion indeed. This piece of kit is supposed to protect us during battle but at the same time add to our mobile defensive capability. Thoughts, questions, complaints. Lend me your ears!!!!

The Coyote is a recce veh, not for the infantry sections. The infantry will get the LAV III which is a completely different vehicle (the next generation).

The Coyote will be used by Recce Sqns and Infantry Recce Pls.
The LAV III and its variants will be issued to the infantry section, Mortars, Pioneers, Anti Armour, and FOOs in the Arty.
As an interium vehicle it will also be used for one or two sqns within each armd regt until the ACV project comes on line in 2010 (one sqn will remain with the tank until at least 2010).

I'm going to still some of Mike O'Leary's thunder and suggest you check out his website at http://regimentalrogue.tripod.com/ to get his comments on the new LAV III and its integration into Canada's Infantry Section.

Does this piece of kit (with the surveillance suite) belong in the Infantry Battalion?

A battalion commander tends to be very interested in what may be coming up the coulee in the middle of his battalion area or in the best route from theier present positions to the LD for the assault element companies in a battalion attack. Information on these things is not only valuable to the battalion commander, but also is something he actually can act on. Further, if the recce experts in the battalion are busy manning high-tech equipment scanning for long-range threats, tasks like these will have to be done by rifle company personnel, reducing the numbers available for rifle company main tasks and using generally less skilled individuals for recce tasks.

The equipment itself is capable of generating information about enemy activity far beyond the battalion commander's ability to deal with it. For instance, the Visible Spectrum Camera can detect targets out to 12km while the battalion mortars can only reach out to 4.5km.

Even training is a significant issue, with the Coyote creating a huge impact on number of courses and course durations for Infantry recce personnel.

I would suggest that a resource as valuable as the Coyote should be placed at the level where the commander actually owns resources (Artillery and Air) to deal with the the targets identified. Doctrinally, this means Division and Corps level although in our peacetime regular force it could be Brigade Group and/or Joint Task Force.

Since it is possible for an independant Canadian Battle Group to deploy with Artillery, our regular Brigade Group resources should be able to deploy slices of themselves to support this. Similarly, in the real world, the Coyote could be an extremely useful piece of kit on many peacekeeping missions. The ability to deploy slices could also support this if needed.

To this end, it might be most useful to create RISTA (Reconnaissance, Intelligence, Surveillance and Target Acquisition) (including Coyote) sub-units in each regular and reserve Brigade Group, one regular unit for Div or JTF operations and two reserve RISTA units and one reserve RISTA formation for ultimate mobilization and sustainment.

I believe that these RISTA organizations would be more economical and more effective in really using the abilities of the Coyote than would parceling them out to all Mech Infantry or Armoured Reconnaissance (more like Cavalry) units.

Of course, those Coyotes without surveillance suites are usable for Infantry and Armoured recce.