[quote=@Foster] They were in the process of phasing them out in favor of the Leopard 2A6 since the early 2000s. OEF started in 2001 in response to the attack on the world trade center, also I'm not entirely sure if extending the Soviet-Union's cold-war dominion over Afghanistan would've done more than buy a few more years before [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eANoGQ89O5k]something similar would've occurred anyways[/url]. OTOH, Canada only had like... 50 working tanks by 2006, compared to the massive stockpile Belgium was apparently sitting on until 2023. [/quote] Right, but that was in a world where the threat of war with the Soviet Union no longer existed. In Heavenfall as far as anyone knew war with the Eastern Bloc was on the horizon, and in fact NATO and the Soviets literally shot at each other in the Gulf War. It doesn't really make sense for Canada to be writing off huge portions of its tank stockpile like that in that context. Mothball them in favor of the 2A sure, but just selling or scrapping them would be hugely imprudent. There also just isn't a GWOT or 9/11 canonically. [quote]Author's Note: This is the first major point of divergence. The most notable thing is that the Berlin Wall did not come down, and of course; the Soviet Union did not break apart. This results in a very different 1990s in some ways, but with many of the same events, just playing out differently in some ways. This provides a fertile background for characters old enough to have gained experience in direct combat, or have relatives who would have done the same. It also lays the foundations for the post-Heavenfall period. Notably 9/11 did not happen, and there was, as a result, no second Gulf War or war in Afghanistan. [/quote]