Royal Canadian Armoured Corps

The Corps' school at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick, designs and conducts both tactical and technical training for armoured crewmen and officers, in addition to maintaining certain specialized qualifications on behalf of the Canadian Army. Crewmen and officers alike are trained on the Leopard 2A4 MBT, Coyote IFV and TAPV vehicle.[5]

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The Tactics School at CFB Gagetown develops, conducts and monitors combined arms operations. Within a battle group context, the tactics school focusses on tactics, techniques, and procedures at the combat team level. The Tactics School's mission is to educate and train army junior officers in the integration of combat functions at the combat team level on the tactical battlefield.[5]

• Mark V tank – WWI ended while the 1st Canadian Tank Battalion was still training in Mark V tanks in the U.K. Shortly after the war ended, the tanks were returned to the British.
• Carden Loyd tankette – 12 used by Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in a training role from 1931.
• Vickers Light Tank Mk VI – 12 delivered in 1938, Pre WWII machine gun equipped light tank (some retained for driver training in Canada early in WWII)
• M1917 – Acquired by Canada on an emergency basis early in WWII (used as a tank trainer in Canada)
• Valentine tank – First Canadian built tank (most sent to the Soviet Union under Lend Lease a small number remained in Canada for training crews)
• Matilda tank – Acquired in small numbers from British stocks to train crews in the U.K. prior to the arrival of the Ram Tank from Canada (Did not see action with the RCAC)
• M3 Lee – Acquired in small numbers from British stocks to train crews in the U.K. prior to the arrival of the Ram Tank from Canada (Did not see action with the RCAC)
• Ram tank – Canadian indigenous tank design based on the M3 (superseded by the Sherman tank as standard equipment in the RCAC but the Badger variant did see action as a flame thrower tank in NW Europe) The Ram tanks main contribution to the war effort was to fully equip armoured units in Canada and the U.K. with a modern tank to conduct essential tactical training prior to re-equipping with Sherman tanks for the invasions in Italy and Normandy.
• Churchill tank – Issued to Canadian Tank brigades which saw action at Dieppe, Italy, Normandy and NW Europe.
• M3 Stuart – Used as a Recce Tank throughout the WWII campaigns. The updated Stuart tank known as the M5 Stuart and some turretless versions were also used.
• Grizzly I cruiser – Canadian-built M4A1 Sherman tank with modifications (production in Canada halted when U.S. factories overwhelmingly produced enough Sherman tanks for the U.S. and its allies).
• Sherman M4A1 tank – U.S.-built, issued on a very large scale (mostly M4A4 or known as Sherman V in Canadian service) it became the standard medium tank in the Canadian Army during WWII replacing the Ram tank (some remained in Army Reserve service and were used for training during the post war years until replaced by the Canadian version of the M4A3E8.
• Sherman Firefly – bolstered Canadian armoured formations giving them the firepower needed to defeat German Tiger and Panther tanks late in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman but fitted with the powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon.
• M10 Gun Motor Carriage An American turreted tank destroyer armed with the 3-inch Gun M7, the chassis was based upon the M4A2. The M10 was issued to Canadian Anti-Tank units in NW Europe.
• 17pdr SP Achilles More commonly known as the M10 Achilles today. The Achilles was a modification of the M10 GMC, which entailed modifying turret to accommodate the more powerful and larger 17pdr (76.2mm) gun over the original 3-inch Gun M7 that the M10 GMC fitted. Of the 1,600 M10 GMC's given to Britain, about 1,000 were modified into the Achilles.[6]
• Self Propelled 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer A British modification of the Valentine to mount a 17 pdr (76.2 mm) gun. It proved very effective in the ambush/fire and maneuver roll due to its unique configuration.[6]
• Staghound Armoured Car – Although the Canadian Army used various machine gun and cannon armed light armoured cars in WWII as scout cars, the Staghound Armoured car with a turret mounted 37 mm main gun was the only heavy armoured car employed by Armoured Car and Reconnaissance regiments in the NW Europe campaign. The Staghound's were deployed for flank security, protecting lines of communication and in the screening force where they fought in the recce role. Some Staghounds remained in Army Reserve service and were used for training during the post war years.
• Sherman 'Easy Eight' M4A2(76) W HVSS – Canadian nomenclature for the excellent M4A3E8, 294 were purchased by the Canadian government in 1947 for Korean War service. They were equipped with the long barrelled 76 mm High Velocity gun. E8 referred to the revised hull fitted with HVSS Horizontal volute spring suspension giving a much better ride and so was nicknamed the 'Easy Eight". Canadians fought these tanks with distinction in the Korean War (afterwards they were replaced by the Centurion tank in the regular force but they lasted into the early 1970s with some reserve force units in Canada).
• M24 Chaffee light tank – 32 were ordered in 1947 for recce duties.
• Centurion Tank – Canada Initially ordered 274 Mk 3 Tanks, plus 9 Armoured Recovery Vehicles and 4 Bridge-layers and additional orders followed. Acquired for NATO use, most served with 4 CMBG in Germany and the remainder served in Canada. The Mk 5 (upgunned to 105 mm) were used later. Towards the end of their service the Mk 5 and Mk 11's were used as combat tanks and the earlier Mk 3 was retained as a training tank. From 1969 to 1970 the Canadian Army lists 77 tanks based in Germany (mostly Mk 5 and Mk 11's) and the remainder in Canada (60 at CFB Wainwright AB, 59 at CFSD Longpointe PQ, 46 at CFB Gagetown NB, 30 at CFB Borden, 29 at CFB Meaford ON, 27 at CFB Calgary AB, 12 at CFB Petawawa ON, 6 at RCEME School Kingston ON and 1 at the LETE Test Establishment Orleans, CFB Ottawa ON) for a total of 347 Tanks (including 120 Mk 5's, 3 Mk 5 Recovery tanks and some Mk 11's with IR and ranging guns fitted). Replaced by Leopard C1 MBT and to a limited extent, AVGP Cougars were originally intended (as a cost saving measure) to replace the Centurions that had been used for the training role in Canada. Many of the tanks were sold to Israel which converted them to diesel. Some are still in use as variants. (The Canadian Centurion tanks served for 25 years, from January 1952 to January 1977 when they were replaced by Leopard 1).
• Ferret Armoured Car – 124 Ferret Armoured cars were operated by Canadian Armoured Recce units from 1954 to 1981. Canada ordered the Mk1's but some Mk2's were also acquired from BAOR stocks in Germany. They were replaced by the Lynx with some retained for reserve training.
• Lynx reconnaissance vehicle – The Canadian Forces accepted 174 vehicles from 1968, replacing the Ferret. Lynx was issued to the reconnaissance squadron of an armoured regiment (D Sqn). Consisting of three troops, each equipped with seven Lynxes—three two-vehicle patrols plus the troop leader's vehicle. In addition, nine Lynxes equipped the reconnaissance platoon of an infantry battalion's combat support company. The commander operates a M2HB from the M26 manually traversed heavy machine gun cupola from inside the vehicle. The rear-facing observer operates the radio and fires the pintle-mounted 7.62mm machine gun. In 1993 they were withdrawn from service and replaced by the Coyote.
• Cougar AVGP – manufactured at GM Diesel Division in London, ON (now part of General Dynamics Land Systems) the AVGP was the first Canadian built AFV in service since the Second World War. The amphibious Cougar was a direct Fire Support Vehicle (Wheeled) FSV(W) variant of the Armoured Vehicle General Purpose. It was based on the Swiss MOWAG 6X6 Piranha hull with a 76 mm main gun mounted in a British FV101 Scorpion Tank turret. Originally intended to be used as a tank trainer in Canada and as a light armoured vehicle in peace keeping missions Cougars entered service in the late 1970s in Canadian based regular and reserve Armoured Recce Regiments. They were also used as a quick air transportable fighting vehicle by the CAST Brigade for Cold War service in Norway and later with the 1st Canadian Division in NATO's CENTAG. They were too light to be effective against MBTs however the end of the Cold War meant they were used in stability operations in Serbia and Somalia, training the tank crews in Canada, and then served side by side with repatriated Leopord tanks brought back from the bases in Germany that closed in 1994.
• Coyote Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle – A Canadian produced eight-wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle based on the LAV-25, 203 in service by 1996.
• Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank
• Leopard C2 Main Battle Tank
• Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank