AVGP The AVGP ( " Armoured Vehicle General Purpose " ) is a series of three armoured fighting vehicle s ordered by the Canadian military in 1977 . The three vehicles are the Grizzly , Cougar and Husky . These were based on the six - wheeled version of the Swiss MOWAG Piranha I . The Canadian Army retired all AGVP variants beginning in 2005 ; however , a number of the retired vehicles were transferred to other militaries and police forces , where they continue to serve . The AVGP had propellers and trim vanes for amphibious use , like the eight - wheeled Bison which was the vehicle family ' s immediate successor . Recent retrofits have removed the marine drive system , as it was seldom used and maintenance was costly . The Canadian Army ' s LAV III , the United States Marine Corps ' LAV - 25 , and the US Army ' s Stryker are other variants of the Piranha family , and directly evolved from the Canadian designs . History . Canada . The AVGP variants were introduced into Canadian service in the late 1970s . Intended for use only in Canada , they were pressed into service for several United Nations missions , including UNPROFOR and the mission to Somalia . One Grizzly was captured by Serb forces in the late 1990s , despite it being present on a peace keeping mission . The Cougar was used for training in Canada as a reconnaissance vehicle . During the 1980s and 1990s it was used by armored units as a tank substitute , for those units not equipped with the Leopard tank . The squadrons equipped with the Cougar in those regiments were humorously referred to as the " boat squadron " as opposed to the reconnaissance squadrons which were equipped with the Lynx , and later the Coyote ( another AVGP successor ) . The Grizzly was used as an armoured personnel carrier in regular force infantry battalions not equipped with the M113 APC , and also by reserve units . The majority of vehicles had their marine propulsion systems removed . Under the Wheeled LAV Life Extension project , the Canadian Forces planned to convert Grizzly and Husky vehicles to support variants such as Command Post and Mobile Repair Team Vehicle . However , the project was cancelled in 2005 , and the vehicles retired . In May 2007 , the Edmonton Police Service accepted the donation of a disarmed Grizzly from the Canadian Army . In March 2010 , the Canadian Army donated two disarmed Cougar AVGPs to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia for use by the Emergency Response Team . They were retrofitted to transport ERT assault teams into hazardous areas where transport in unarmored vehicles would not be safe . Use in Africa . In June 2005 , the Canadian government announced plans to loan 105 AVGPs ( 100 Grizzlys and 5 Huskys ) to African peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan . The AVGP was considered sufficiently modern to be useful in this low - intensity conflict . Canada planned to arrange for civilian contractors to maintain these vehicles . As the vehicles contained some U . S . - manufactured or licensed parts , U . S . permission would be required to loan the vehicles . Initially , the vehicles were to be shipped without their Cadillac - Gage turret s . The vehicles arrived in Senegal in the late summer of 2005 . The Sudanese government required various kinds of assurances before they would allow peacekeepers to use the vehicles in Sudan . On November 18 , 2005 the vehicles started arriving in Sudan , in white livery , with their turrets . The loan of vehicles for peace - keeping service in Sudan was originally for one year . However , the loan was extended , and transferred from the African Union to the United Nations . According to Amnesty International the soldiers who used the loaned vehicles served in Sudan for too short a term to be properly trained , and become experienced . One of the vehicles was destroyed by a rocket - propelled grenade . A second vehicle was damaged when it rammed a more heavily armed , but unarmored Technical vehicle . Uruguay . In 2008 , the Uruguayan Army bought 44 surplus Cougars from the Canadian Army . They were rebuilt without the turret by the Chilean MOWAG - Piranha builder FAMAE , as they will act as armoured personnel carriers for the UN deployment in the Republic of Congo ( MONUC ) , and domestically . In 2009 Uruguay bought 98 Grizzlys and 5 Huskys that were on loan with the AMIS / UNAMID mission in Darfur . Variants . Variants of the AVGP are :