Breakdowns plague Army's new vehicles

By KEVIN TAYLOR and SCOTT MacLEOD

Mechanical faults have struck the first six of the Army's expensive new armoured vehicles.

The faults include breakdowns in a turbo unit, a heater and an auxiliary power unit.

One vehicle was out of action from October 24 until mid-December after breaking an axle.

But Defence Minister Mark Burton yesterday defended the LAV III's reliability, saying the glitches were minor and to be expected with a new piece of equipment.

NZ First MP and former Army officer Ron Mark attacked the vehicle's reliability after Mr Burton revealed the faults in answer to his parliamentary questions.

The Government is buying 105 LAVs (light armoured vehicles) for $672 million to replace the Army's ageing M113 armoured personnel carriers.

The first batch arrived in August from the manufacturer, General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, and 15 were delivered by November, although only six were in service by mid-December.

The faulty vehicles had travelled between 277km and 2344km.

"I would not accept it on a Toyota Landcruiser," Mr Mark said.

"We should not accept it on an LAV III. Given their much-vaunted performance in the Canadian theatre, I'm surprised we are having any of these problems.

"The public were told these vehicles were tried and tested around the world and we were not buying a prototype."

But Mr Burton accused Mr Mark of a "beat-up", saying the faults occurred in the pre-acceptance phase for the vehicle and the manufacturer had accepted liability for all faults except the broken axle.

He said the LAV III was a "generational" leap for the Army, which was on a steep learning curve.

"The test of the reliability is the thousands of these vehicles that are in operational use."

Mr Burton said the chief of the Canadian Defence Force had told him the force was happy with the LAV's serviceability.

Critics of New Zealand's LAV purchase have complained about the cost and the fact that the vehicle is wheeled, unlike its tracked predecessor.

Mr Mark said the lack of serviceability showed there was a shortage of spares, tools, and mechanics.

Spares and tools were to have been delivered with the vehicles as part of the purchase.

Mr Burton said the shortage of parts and tools was temporary, and the time out of service did not reflect on the LAV III's reliability.

An American version of the LAV, the Stryker, has been criticised overseas for its lack of armoured protection but is being widely used in Iraq.


A Canadian Army project director, Major Jim Atkins, was quoted in a Canadian newspaper on Monday as saying concerns about the Stryker's ability to withstand rocket-propelled grenades had been partly addressed.

But its landmine armour had always been a concern, and new Strykers would probably need extra armour bolted on.

Many US soldiers in Iraq seemed to like the vehicles.

ABC news producer Mike Gudgell, who is in Iraq with a Stryker brigade, said the vehicle gave soldiers confidence because it could move quickly.

Shiny, new and out of action

Mechanical faults that have struck the first six LAV IIIs:

* Heater unserviceable.

* Axle assembly damage, broken rear steering damper, coolant leak, fan damage (out of service Oct 23-Nov 19, Nov 22-Dec 16).

* Auxiliary power unit unserviceable.

* Transfer gear-case unserviceable (out of service from Oct 24).

* Third differential oil leak.

* Turbo unserviceable (out of service Nov 21-Dec 16).