Barry, 45, works for the Light Utility Vehicle Program (LUV), a five-year project to replace the Canadian military's fleet of 2,300 jeeps. He deals with everything from writing technical specs and lifecycle costing, to operator training and vehicle testing. Projects like the LUV, which is run out of an office in Hull, Quebec, generally take about five years. "It's a long process," Barry explains, "because after inception, when a requirement is identified, you go through the army staff - what they're looking for, the role it's going to play, and the type of missions it's going to be used for." Then, various civilian and military boards have to give their approval.

Once precise needs and finances have been sorted out, Barry's group is given the statement of requirements so that they can write the technical specs. Barry has to ensure that the vehicle requirements are realistic and achievable. "If we think something is not attainable we go back to them and say 'this is not practical.' We can't make a vehicle that will walk on water. We can't do stuff that is beyond the capability of the industry."

Writing spec sheets is a comprehensive task - the average document runs about 70 pages and is extremely detailed. "I did a detailed study of load planning," Barry explains.

"Let's say we need to know what we can expect of a vehicle carrying a crew of three and their kits. I have to sit down and work out a load table that includes the weight of a little tube of Chapstick - that's part of the kit."

Once the top three choices have been identified, Barry and his crew spend months testing the vehicles. "We'll do a user trial and an engineering configuration trial. We want to put some mileage on it - like 72,000 kilometres. We put all kinds of sensors on it. What we're basically testing is mean-time failure rates compared to what the manufacturers have told us."