The Role of Armoured Reconnaissance Within the Canadian Army

Introduction

The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC) is divided into two streams; tanks and armoured reconnaissance, with approximately 30% of personnel specializing in the former and 70% in the latter. Recently, the role of those in armoured reconnaissance has come under scrutiny. The acquisition of the Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) prompted this re-evaluation as it quickly became evident to many within the RCAC that the TAPV’s armament and turretless configuration made it too different from its predecessor, the Coyote, to simply replace it without changing tactics, techniques or procedures. The TAPV is fine for it’s original purpose, namely replacing the G-Wagon. However, its adoption as the RCAC’s primary vehicle highlighted the fact that the RCAC does not have a clear vision as to how to organize, employ, train and equip its armoured reconnaissance forces for combat against peer forces.

Captain Vladimir Kessia was born in 1991 in the U.S.S.R (now Moldova) and came with his family to Canada in 1995. He joined the Canadian Army in 2010 as an Armour Officer and has been in the reconnaissance role throughout his career. He was deployed to Ukraine in 2016 as a translator. He is currently an instructor at the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School.

(This article was researched and written in 2019-2020. Since then, the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School has spearheaded an ongoing change to a cavalry model for the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps’ medium armoured forces.)