Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle

The Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle is a lightly armoured fighting vehicle built by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada for the Canadian Forces, for use in the reconnaissance role. Its eight-wheeled design is a licensed version of the Swiss MOWAG Piranha 8x8. In service since 1996, the Coyote is a later generation of the six-wheeled Canadian AVGP, also developed from the Piranha. It is of a similar family and similar generation as the, Bison APC, USMC LAV-25 and the Australian ASLAV.

Armament
The Coyotes mount a 25 mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun and two 7.62 mm C6 general purpose machine guns. One of the machine guns is mounted coaxial to the main gun while the other is pintle-mounted in front of the crew commander's hatch. The main gun is equipped with dual ammunition feeds that allow for separate weapons effects, selectable by the gunner/crew commander; the standard load is a belt of armour-piercing sabot rounds and a belt of HE-T explosive/fragmentation rounds. The main gun and coax machine gun are 2-axis stabilized. The turret is equipped with a laser rangefinder, but no ballistic computer; elevation and lead corrections are applied manually by the gunner using multi-stadia reticules in the day, thermal, and image intensification sights. The turret is also equipped with grenade dischargers that can be loaded with smoke and fragmentation grenades.

Mobility
The Coyote is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V53T engine developing 400 hp, and can reach speeds of 100 (on road) kilometres per hour. The coyote has a maximum road range of 660 kilometers. The Coyote uses a larger wheel than initially used on the Bison and AVGP (these vehicles were later retrofitted with this wheel). Compared to the later LAV-III family of vehicles, the Coyote is physically smaller, uses smaller wheels and tires, has a "sharp" rather than "rounded" nose profile, and has a smaller, oval driver's hatch. Like the LAV-III, the Coyote can be fitted with additional ceramic bolt-on armour panels for increased protection. The Coyote can be transported on a Hercules C-130 transport plane but their turrets have to be removed first.

Variants
Coyotes come in three variants: Command, Mast, and Remote. The Mast and Remote variants have a sophisticated suite of electronic surveillance equipment including radar, video, and infrared surveillance night vision devices. The mast variant has this equipment mounted on a 10-metre telescoping mast that can be extended to raise the surveillance suite out from behind cover. The remote variant of the Coyote has its surveillance suite mounted on two short tripods, which crew can deploy remotely using a 200-metre spool of cable.

Unlike the USMC LAV-25 from which it was derived, the Coyote was not equipped with an amphibious propulsion system. The areas where the marine drive propellers would normally be mounted were replaced by external fuel tanks, and the trim vane has been deleted.

When first purchased, the Coyote was designated for service with both the Regular Force and Reserve Force, with the Mast variants earmarked for the Regular units and the Remotes designated for the Reserves. Shortly after taking delivery of the vehicles, but before they were assigned to the Reserve units, all Coyotes were reassigned to the Regular Force.

Service history
Since the introduction of the Coyote in the Canadian Forces, this vehicle served national interest and also served overseas. The Coyote served during the United Nations/ NATO missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and in Kosovo. A task group of Coyote were deployed during "Operation Grizzly" to Kananaskis to secure the 28th G8 summit. The Coyote reconnaissance vehicle currently serve in Afghanistan and has served in Canada to defend the 36th G8 summit and the G-20 Toronto summit.