IRON SPEAR 26-01
Capt Scott Veale
Ex IRON SPEAR, the premier gunnery competition in the Baltics, has once again been ‘spear’ headed by B Sqn as part of Op REASSURANCE rotation 26-01. The primary focus of this rotation’s iteration was lethality, turning vehicle stowed rounds into hits on targets. No frills, no gimmicks, just focusing on moving, shooting, and communicating.
Ex IRON SPEAR invited a number of nations from other Forward Land Forces within the three Baltic states and Poland. Eight nations, totaling 19 teams answered the call. Canada, Poland, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Norway, and Sweden provided both main battle tanks (MBT) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) competing in separate categories.
As diverse as the countries involved were, the vehicle types were very familiar, at least to us Strathconas. The MBTs were multiple variants of the Leopard 2 along with the Italian Ariete, with the wheeled Italian Centauro, and the French AMX-10 competing in the same category. The IFVs provided much of the same with variants of the CV90, LAV 6.0, the Italian Dardo, and the Spanish Pizzaro.
B Sqn fielded a single team based on the most lethal combined fireteam from Ex STEELE BEASTS 25… well the second most lethal… the ever-pragmatic Capt Nate Bogya and his unflappable Tp WO, WO Spencer Richardson. As luck would have it, the Canadian team won the draft lottery and was the first team selected to participate in the competition.
Rules were simple for the competition. Hit the target, get the points, by day and night. The hard part: hitting the target. In pairs, competitors started their runs in a “Le Mans” style; running from the range tower to their vehicles, mounting and moving to their lanes. Once in their lanes, fireteams were to control their fire and movement together, gaining a bonus for engagements on the move. Thus, the first challenge, hitting the target while moving.
Next was target identification. The target array was kept a secret up until the competitors were in the hot seat. Initially, the crew commanders were isolated in a dark room to avoid cheating, however it was deemed cruel and unusual. Targets consisted of a relatively even mix of MBT, IFV, technicals, and figure 11s. Teams needed to communicate arcs as well as priority and distribution of fire to be successful, all while moving to attain maximum points.
This was the first iteration of the competition to have night runs and it proved essential for participating teams to test their night vision capabilities. Targets were jerry-rigged with a ration pack heater solution, oriented in various combinations to uniquely identify the target. This Red/Green like solution came from the inventive B Sqn SGWO, WO Mark Weir. This is where the Leopard 2 family of vehicles excelled and really emphasised that those with the best night optics, were the most lethal.
After four days and as many nights, Chief Tabulator, Capt Griffin Brophy and his band of score keepers had compiled the results. Before we get into that, it is important to know that the highly coveted and historic Canadian Army Trophy had made the overseas journey, courtesy of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School, to be once again handed out to the best MBT team after a 2-year hiatus (30+ years prior to that). The legacy of the Canadian Army Trophy is to inspire excellence in tank gunnery and emphasize the importance of MBT innovation. If we had captured even a fraction of that, the intent was met! Furthermore, the best IFV was recognized with the “leaning tower of 25mm” trophy and the best countries combined score, both MBT and IFV would win the Iron Spear as the overall competition winner.
The Results:
Iron Spear
- Sweden
- Spain
- Norway
- Canada
- Italy
Canadian Army Trophy:
- Norway (Leopard 2A4)
- Poland (Leopard 2PL)
- Spain (Leopard 2E)
- Canada (Leopard 2A4M)
- Sweden (Leopard Strv 122)
- France (AMX 10RC)
- Italy (Centauro)
- Italy (Ariete)
Best IFV:
- Sweden (CV 9040)
- Netherlands 2 (CV 9035)
- Netherlands 1 (CV 9035)
- Spain (Pizarro)
- Canada MNES (LAV 6.0)
- Canada RCD (LAV 6.0)
- Norway (CV9030)
- Canada Inf Coy (LAV 6.0)
- Italy (Dardo)
B Sqn’s team finished 4th in both Canadian Army Trophy and Iron Spear standing. A strong, yet disappointing finish. No one likes losing; however, this competition has shown how difficult being a skilled tank crew commander is. Lethality being the forefront of the conversation.
Huge shout out to the Norwegian team for being back-to-back winners of the MBT portion of the competition. Along with their professionalism, they competed in the competition’s oldest model MBT, (a ‘base model’ Leopard 2A4) and mopped the floor, reminding all participants that crew skill often trumps the shinier kit.
Perseverance!