Senior military officers were praising the new G-wagon yesterday after three soldiers and a journalist riding in one survived an explosion near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The robust Mercedes-built vehicle is a large step up from the light and open Iltis, which was criticized after separate blasts earlier in the mission killed three soldiers, said Major-General Christian Barabé, who led the investigation into one of those incidents.
"The G-wagon is a more modern vehicle and the adaptations that have been made to it reflect a more modern thinking," he said in a telephone interview from Montreal.
He said that the already sturdy vehicle, properly known as a Gelaendenwagen, had been substantially modified for the Afghanistan mission and that soldiers using it were better protected as a result.
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"I know we worked [extensively] on the body itself -- for protection of the driver and the passengers -- and the turret."
Another senior officer, one with experience leading troops in Afghanistan, agreed yesterday that the new vehicle is a much needed improvement over the Iltis, whose design dates back half a century.
Major-General Andrew Leslie knows the fragility of the Iltis after seeing two of his men killed by a blast near one of the light vehicles.
"Is the G-wagon more heavily protected than the Iltis? Absolutely," he said from Ottawa.
Maj.-Gen. Leslie had not been briefed yet on yesterday's incident. After hearing a description of the damage, though, he ventured that "we could assume that the G-wagon saved their lives."
While the Iltis left occupants essentially unprotected, the G-wagon has shock-resistant windows and light armour plating on the body. The strength of those features is clear from the wreckage left after yesterday's blast: The front end of the vehicle was wrecked but the body had not crumpled. Even the windshield wipers remained intact.
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