Bison (Canadian LAV)

The Bison is an eight-wheeled amphibious armoured vehicle in Canadian Army service, developed by the Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada from the LAV-25. A French-language fan page on Canadian Army vehicles describes it.

The hull has a boat-shaped bow. The driver sits at front left with the engine to his right, and the commander sits behind the driver in a cupola with a 7.62 mm C6 machine gun on a semicircular rail. The large troop compartment at the rear, for eight infantrymen plus two crew, is reached by a hydraulic rear ramp or a door in it; anti-rocket screens on the hull sides double as extra stowage. Combat weight is about 12,800 kg and top speed 100 km/h. In the water it is driven by two propellers.

Besides the troop carrier, there are command post, mortar and recovery versions. The same page describes the closely related Coyote, an 8x8 reconnaissance vehicle (13,000 kg, 100 km/h, crew of three) essentially an improved LAV-25 with a 30 mm cannon in a two-man turret, extra armour and a sensor suite including radar and infrared camera; it too swims with two propellers.