The Chilean government is purchasing 12 second-hand Coyote 8×8 armoured scout vehicles from Canada to outfit its navy’s Marine Corps. Deliveries are expected to take place during 2020, but could start in late months of 2019. The value of the deal hasn’t been released as negotiations are still under way for new engines and spare parts. The Coyotes are coming from Canadian Forces surplus stock. Since the introduction of the Coyote to the Canadian Armed Forces, the vehicle has served national interest domestically and abroad. The Coyote served during the United Nations/ NATO missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, and in Afghanistan. Domestically, it has been deployed during “Operation Grizzly” to Kananaskis to secure the 28th G8 summit, the 36th G8 summit, and the G-20 Toronto summit, in addition to a number of domestic emergency response incidents.
The Light Armoured Vehicle II (LAV II) Coyote is a derivative of General Dynamics Land Systems Piranha II that anticipated features of Piranha III built by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada for the Canadian Forces. The Coyotes mount a 25×137mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun and two 7.62×51mm NATO C6 general purpose machine guns. One of the machine guns is mounted coaxial to the main gun while the other is pintle-mounted in front of the crew commander’s hatch. The Coyote is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V53T engine developing 400 horsepower (300 kW), and can reach speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) (on road). The Coyote has a maximum road range of 660 kilometres (410 mi). In service since 1996, the Coyote is a later generation of the LAV-25 and is of the same family and similar generation as the Bison APC and the Australian ASLAV.