Kabul, Afghanistan — The new light-infantry vehicle Canada has ordered to replace unarmoured jeeps like the one destroyed in a fatal mine blast Oct. 2 are not the answer to soldiers' prayers, Maj.-Gen. Andrew Leslie said Saturday.

In an address to 400 troops at the main Canadian army base here, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan said the new four-door vehicles due next year are no better than the 17-year-old Iltis jeeps they are intended to replace.

"The Mercedes, the Wolf, the type we're getting is essentially a slightly bigger Iltis," Leslie said during a 45-minute question-and-answer session.

"Quite frankly, it's not much different than that which we have now. Is that a suitable vehicle for the light-infantry battalions to do their business? I've got my doubts."

Two Canadian soldiers, Sgt. Robert Short and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, were killed and three others were wounded when their unarmoured, Canadian-made Iltis struck an anti-tank mine southwest of the base.

Critics claim the Canadian mission was ill-planned and that the soldiers should not have been travelling in Iltises. But Germans and Dutch used similar light vehicles in the sector before the Canadians took over Aug. 22.

Leslie said neither the Mercedes jeeps nor any other light-infantry vehicle used by troops in the 32-nation International Security Assistance Force -- the British use Land Rovers and the French drive Renault light trucks, for example -- would likely have saved Short and Beerenfenger.

The new four-door Mercedes was chosen about three years ago, although the official contract wasn't signed until last year.

None of the 802 new vehicles will likely be delivered to Afghanistan before next summer, though Canadian military officials say everything is being done to speed up the process.

"The decision to buy the Wolf was made a whole bunch of years ago," Leslie said. "The decision to actually think real hard about what we need for the light-infantry battalions, the debate started not too long ago.

"So it's going to take a while to figure out what we actually need and what its capabilities are."

One soldier asked why the users -- Canadian infantry soldiers -- haven't been consulted about what kind of vehicle would be best for them.

Leslie pointed out that the Coyote and the LAV-3 armoured vehicles were designed in part by Canadian soldiers and are among the best armoured vehicles on the road.

He said consultations are likely in the case of a light-infantry vehicle, as well.

"Our people are thinking about it right now," he said, adding that no army has come up with the ideal light-infantry vehicle. "It's still in the formative stage."

Regimental Sgt. Maj. Erroll Gapp of Parry Sound, Ont., the top enlisted man in Afghanistan, said he and Leslie have been on Iltis patrols since the mine strike and they were "nerve-wracking."

"The Iltis -- yeah, it's a piece of shit, but it's what we've got," he told the troops.

"Don't go putting the (U.S.-made) Hummer or any other vehicle out there on a pedestal, because if the enemy wants to destroy it, it will destroy it. Just read about how many Americans lost their lives in Hummers in Iraq."

Gapp, a veteran of six tours and winner of the Medal of Bravery for saving a wounded Turkish peacekeeper in Bosnia, said any army can have the best equipment, but what makes an army good is its soldiers.

"We do have some of the best equipment in the world," he said. "But no army is going to have all the best equipment in the world.

Canada's 650 frontline troops patrolling mountain passes and goat tracks, back alleys and crowded city streets have been given additional armoured vehicles commandeered from other Canadian elements in Kabul.

As well, patrol areas have been shifted to better reflect company capabilities, and 15 more armoured vehicles will arrive from Canada by mid-November, bringing the total to 65.