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The Badger - From Clearing Mines to Making Routes, It Does It All

Armoured Engineer Vehicle
Armoured engineers have one of the most important roles in Afghanistan today. They are combat engineers who have been trained to use the Armoured Engineer Vehicle (AEV), also known as the Badger. The AEV is considered one of the most important assets currently in theatre.

The AEV is a heavily armoured engineer tank which is based off of the Leopard 1 main battle tank chassis. It is equipped with a twin super charged power pack which has 840 horse power. The AEV has many different capabilities, the two most important being:

• the use of a large dozer blade and telescopic excavator arm.
• It also has a 35 tonne capstan winch, which is capable of a constant pull of 35 tonnes.

Some of the other capabilities include the welding system, the ability to drive cross country, and the ability to drive at night using light amplification optics.

Mechanized Operations
On every mechanized operation that the Canadian Forces conducts in Afghanistan, you will find the AEV as one of the lead elements in the combat team. Following a tank equipped with a mine roller, the AEV uses its dozer blade to breach a safe lane for other combat vehicles.

Reduces Mine Threats
The mine and IED threat in Afghanistan is one of the highest in the world which poses a threat to all coalition vehicles. The AEV helps to reduce this threat by dozing combat roads. Another important task the AEV does in Afghanistan is to create roads through otherwise impassable terrain.

Helps Navigate Wadis
One terrain feature in particular that proves difficult for wheeled vehicles, are wadis. They are small river-like gaps used by the locals to irrigate water. Some wadis can be quite deep and filled with water. If they are wet, the AEV uses a fascine to breach these wadis and create a road. The fascine is a 2.5 tonne piece of equipment which is made of reinforced piping and metal chains linking it together. To breach a wadi with a fascine, the operator will drop the fascine into the gap, and push dirt over top of it to allow traction for wheeled vehicles. This allows running water to pass through and makes a lane for vehicles to cross the wet gap.

Scrapes Legers
Another task assigned to the AEV is to scrape legers. Legers are a defensive position that the combat team uses while out on operations. In the leger, the AEV will dig defensive positions so that combat vehicles such as the LAV III can be partially protected from potential enemy fire. The AEV will also dig sleeping positions so that friendly troops can sleep while being protected from enemy fire. These are just some examples of the many task performed by armoured engineers.

Crew
An AEV crew consists of two people, the operator and a crew commander. The operator’s job is to drive and operate the hydraulic controls. The crew commander’s job is to command the vehicle while also monitoring the radios and manning the C6 machine gun.

The AEVs are worked hard in Afghanistan, and each operation that it goes on usually requires a minimum of 24 hours of maintenance before the vehicle can be considered fully operational again. Some of the maintenance includes inspecting the track, applying the appropriate torque to road wheels and shock absorbers, and cleaning air/fuel filters.

Although out dated, the AEV still proves to be one of the most useful assets on the battlefield.

Story by: Corporal Jason P. Lafreniere and Sapper James N. Percy
Task Force 3-09 1 CER 11 FD SQN