THE CANADIAN ARMY TROPHY Achieving Excellence in Tank Gunnery
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THE CANADIAN ARMY TROPHY Achieving Excellence in Tank Gunnery Robert S. Cameron, Ph.D. About the Cover The cover shows the special logo developed for the Canadian Army Trophy, indicating the com- petition range and year. The six national flags represent the participating nations. The inner circle includes the insignia for HQ AFCENT flanked by CENTAG on the left and NORTHAG on the right, all superimposed over a maple leaf symbolizing the competition’s Canadian origins. (Ron Mihalko) THE CANADIAN ARMY TROPHY Achieving Excellence in Tank Gunnery Robert S. Cameron, Ph.D. U.S. Army Armor Branch Historian U.S. Army Armor School Fort Benning, Georgia 31905 iii iii iv iv Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Forward iii Introduction xi Chapter 1: The Early Years of the Canadian Army Trophy, 1963-1968 1 Evolving U.S. and NATO Policy 1 Competition Origins 3 CAT in the 1960s 5 Belgium’s American Cast-off 6 The German Armored Force Comes of Age 8 British Centurions 13 The Canadian Experience 15 The Netherlands 16 Whither the Americans? 17 Changing CAT 20 Chapter 2: Improving the Canadian Army Trophy, 1970-1979 25 NATO Developments 25 Updating CAT 28 Rule Britannia in 1970 29 The Doldrums of 1973 and 1975 33 Upping the Ante 37 O Canada in 1977 37 CAT 1979 44 The American Thunderbolt in Disarray 48 Reforging the Thunderbolt 53 Chapter 3: The Canadian Army Trophy in the Spotlight, 1981-1985 67 Cold War Background 67 Rules and Conditions 69 National Preparations 71 CAT 1981 75 Preparing for CAT 1983 79 CAT 1983 81 The U.S. Experience 85 Britain’s Challenge 90 CAT 1985 Rules 96 CAT 1985 97 The United Kingdom’s CAT Conundrum 106 v v Table of Contents CAT 1985 Through American Eyes 111 Chapter 4: America First at the 1987 Canadian Army Trophy 127 The Cold War at High Tide 127 The State of American Armor 128 Tank Training Areas and Gunnery Ranges 132 Improving Realism in Gunnery Training 133 To Zero or Not to Zero? 137 Tank Gunnery Skills and the People Factor 142 When Training Standards Became the Enemy 149 A British Challenger 154 The Diplomatic Niceties of CAT 1987 161 Rules and Conditions 166 CAT 1987 169 The Canadian Success in Preparing Not to Win 172 A Challenger’s Debut 175 America Prepares to Win 180 The SIMNET Factor 191 America First 193 Chapter 5: The Canadian Army Trophy’s Final Years 213 End of the Cold War 213 The Training Revolution Continues 216 American Preparations for CAT 1989 219 The Trials and Tribulations of Precision Gunnery 224 German CAT Team Preparation 229 CAT 1989 231 Assessing American Performance 237 A Winning Approach to CAT 1991 242 MRS: To Update or Not to Update? 247 CAT 1991 251 A Different Sort of CAT: Tank Gunnery in the First Gulf War 257 Challenger’s Vindication 266 Endgame 269 Epilogue: The Canadian Army Trophy Legacy 285 The Canadian-American Cup 1997-2003 285 Sullivan Cup 288 Worthington Challenge 291 Nordic Tank Challenge 292 Russian Tank Biathlon 293 Strong Europe Tank Challenge 296 vi vii Table of Contents Note on Sources 307 About the Author 309 Tables CAT 1963 Team Scores 5 CAT Results 1964-1968 6 Tank Gunnery Tables 1964 18 CAT 1970 Results 30 CAT 1973 Results 35 CAT 1975 Results 36 CAT 1977 Results 41 CAT 1979 Scoring 45 CAT 1979 Results 47 Tank Gunnery Tables 1977 57 CAT 1981 Results 76 Final Scores for 1-32 Armor 77 CAT 1983 Scoring 80 CAT 1983 Platoon Scores 82 Company Team Placement for CAT 1983 85 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards CAT 1983 Training Schedule 95 CAT 1985 Scoring 97 CAT 1985 Platoon Scores 98 CAT 1985 Company Team Placement 99 CAT 1985 Performance Statistics 107 CAT 1985 Vehicle Engagement Speed and Accuracy Data 107 Tank Gunnery Tables 1980 130 Tank Gunnery Tables 1984 149 CAT 1987 Scoring 168 CAT 1987 Scores 169 Vehicle Performance at CAT 1987 170 4-32 Armor’s Road to CAT 1989 220 CAT 1989 Scores 233 CAT 1989 Night Firing Scores 235 CAT 1989 Comparative Vehicle Performance 240 Comparison of American and Dutch Performance 240 U.S. CAT 1991 Ammunition Requirement 245 CAT 1991 Scores 255 Illustrations The Canadian Army Trophy 2 A prototype MBT 70 3 The American M47 during training 7 vi vii Table of Contents The special patch worn by Panzer Battalion 33 in 1968 9 American M48s on a firing range in Germany in 1959 10 An early model of the Leopard 1 12 The Centurion 14 A Canadian Centurion in the field 16 The patch worn by the Dutch 41st Tank Battalion team for CAT 1967 16 An American M60A1 on a training exercise in Germany 17 Soviet tank crews mount up 20 The patch worn by Panzer Battalion 33 CAT team members in 1970 26 The lethal Chieftain 28 A Canadian Centurion is serviced in the field 31 Canadian Centurions on a field exercise 35 Canadian Leopard 1 crossing an obstacle 38 Canadian Leopard 1 conducting a CAT battle run 39 The Canadian Leopard 1 40 The competing steeds of CAT 77 43 Contenders for the Canadian Army Trophy in 1979 44 The U.S. M60A1 49 CAT 1979 patch of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment 51 The M60A1 with its associated tools and cables 53 M60 tank being towed 55 A T72 on parade in the Soviet Union 68 Medal issued for CAT 1981 70 Patch worn by the 1-32 Armor CAT 1981 team 72 The CAT 1981 team patch for Panzer Battalion 294 74 The CAT 1981 patch for the British Queen’s Own Hussars team 78 CAT 1983 Targets 81 The patch worn by the Dutch 11th Tank Battalion team for CAT 1983 83 A German Leopard 1 emerging from a tree 84 The 2-66 Armor team patch for CAT 1983 86 An M1 tank crossing a stream on Fort Knox in 1983 88 Britain’s mighty Chieftain 90 CAT 1985 Target 93 The CAT 1985 patch for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 94 The German Leopard 2 101 The CAT 1985 patch worn by the Panzer Battalion 24 team 103 Canadian tankers pose in front of the Leopard 1 105 A British Chieftain in the field 110 The patch worn by the 3-64 Armor CAT team members in 1985 112 2-66 Armor’s decorative CAT 1985 team patch 114 T72s in a movement to contact exercise 128 3rd Armored Division M60A3 tanks in 129 viii ix Table of Contents Grafenwoehr’s Gate 1 entrance 132 Tank from 2-64 Armor on Grafenwoehr’s Range 109 135 Old fashioned boresighting with tape and thread 138 Using the in-bore muzzle boresight device 140 Standard boresight panel 142 M60A1 tanks mired in mud during training exercise 144 An M1 churns its way through a muddy field 146 Soldiers securing a Hoffman tank gunfire simulator to an Abrams 148 Two M60A3 tanks move along a road near Giessen, Germany 151 An M60 tank platoon in echelon 153 Britain’s CAT 1987 hopes—the Challenger 155 Another view of the Challenger 157 A close-up shot of the Challenger 160 CAT 1987 patch worn by NORTHAG team members 162 Patch worn by the Netherlands 43rd Tank Battalion team for CAT 1987 164 CAT 1987 Targets 167 The patch worn by the Belgian 4th Lancers team at CAT 1987 171 Distinctive patch worn by the Panzer Battalion 124 CAT 1987 team 172 Canadian Leopard 1s at CAT 173 Royal Canadian Dragoon CAT 1987 team patch 174 The patch worn by the British Royal Hussars CAT 1987 team 176 British Challenger at CAT 1987 178 Challenger on the gunnery range 179 A tank from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3-64 Armor CAT 1987 181 A tank belonging to the American 3-64 Armor team at CAT 1987 182 Patch worn by the 2-66 Armor CAT 1987 team 184 Patch worn by the CAT 1987 team from 4-8 Cavalry 186 Tanks lined up on the boresight line 189 The 3-64 Armor CAT 1987 team patch with its pouncing feline 191 A-33, a tank of the 3-64 Armor CAT 1987 194 “Bill the Cat” 195 The first Abrams tank to be drawn from a POMCUS site 214 A column of M1 tanks maneuver during a REFORGER exercise 216 A tank platoon from 3-64 Armor at Hohenfels 218 The CAT team patch worn by the 4-32 Armor team in CAT 1989 222 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) tanks in NATO exercises 224 Patch worn by the 3-66 Armor CAT 1989 team 226 An Abrams tank of 2-41 Infantry, 2d Armored Division 228 The CAT 1989 patch of the Panzer Battalion 203 team 230 Panzer Battalion 123’s Leopard 2 CAT 1989 patch 232 The patch worn by the Dutch 41st Tank Battalion team at CAT 1989 234 The CAT 1989 patch of the 8th Canadian Hussars tea 236 viii ix Table of Contents 3rd Infantry Division’s 2-64 Armor CAT 1989 team patc 238 CAT 1989 coin 242 Close-up shot of part of the Muzzle Reference System 248 The CAT 1991 team patch for 1-37 Armor 249 The patch worn by the 2-66 Armor CAT 1991 team 251 The all-powerful Committee of Control for CAT 1991 253 CAT 1991 Targets 254 The distinctive patch worn by the Belgian 3rd Lancer’s CAT 1991 team 255 The Dutch 43rd Tank Battalion’s CAT 1991 team patch 256 U.S. armor arrives in Southwest 258 An Iraqi tank burns in the desert 260 U.S.