Military Mobile Bridges - Military Bridge Technology

The leading provider of armored wheeled and tracked vehicles in Europe is Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).

Krauss Maffei’s business unit Military Mobile Bridges (MMB), located in Mainz, Germany, has developed and produced internationally leading bridge systems since the 1950s.

The comprehensive product portfolio includes bridges for wheeled and tracked vehicles of load class MLC 70; air-transportable systems with medium and lightweight carrying capacity for fast attack troops; and floating and support bridges.

LEGUAN BRIDGE SYSTEM

The LEGUAN bridge layer's 26m light-metal bridge can overcome almost 90% of these obstacles and be laid in the form of tandem bridging. Obstacles 39m wide can be spanned.

LEGUAN 26M ARMOURED VEHICLE LAUNCHED BRIDGE (AVLB)

The 26m long MLC 70 LEGUAN bridge can be launched from a tank chassis (MBT), such as:

• Leopard 1 for the Norwegian, Belgian and Greek Armies
• Leopard 2 for the Finish Army
• M1A1/A2 'Wolverine' Heavy Assault Bridge (HAB) for the US Army
• M60/M47 for the Spanish Army
• PT91/T72 for the Malaysian Army

Features include:

• Bridge laying in less than five minutes
• Fully automatic launching through electronically controlled bridge-laying system
• One-man operation from within the vehicle and with hatch closed
• Bridge laying / retrieval in darkness
• EMC/ESD-protected components

LEGUAN 26m WHEELED BRIDGE LAUNCHING VEHICLE

The 8x8 or 10x10 launcher vehicle with shifting frame can lay the 26m long MLC 70 LEGUAN bridge in less than eight minutes.

A fully electronic unit, its horizontal laying ensures a low silhouette during the procedure.

LEGUAN FLOATING BRIDGE AND FERRY

The LEGUAN bridge has extra equipment for use as a MLC 30 or MLC 70 ferry; it is placed on pontoons for this application. Hydraulically adjusted ramps are added at the ends of the bridge for driving on and off the ferry. The aluminium pontoons feature an integrated pump-jet drive which makes them highly manoeuvrable, permitting movements in shallow water. Continuous crossing of vehicles and equipment is enabled by coupling the individual ferries together to form a floating bridge.

22M MEDIUM ASSAULT BRIDGE

The Class 30 Medium Assault Bridge is currently in production. Assembled on Singapore Technologies Kinetics' Bionix Infantry Fighting Vehicle, it is adaptable to other light tanks.

Design features include:

• Telescopic launching girder
• Class 30 aluminium bridge
• Class 60 crossing possible using 2 bridges
• 22m bridge length
• Launch time less than 10min
• No hydraulic parts in the bridge
• Horizontal launching
• Launch-under-armour capability
• System weight MLC 30 using 18t tank

PSB2 MODULAR BRIDGE SYSTEM

PSB2, developed for the Netherlands and German Armies, holds three bridges / bridge modules of 9.7m each. This enables the laying of several different combinations of bridges:

• 3 x 9.7m
• 1 x 9.7m, 1 x 18.7m
• 1 x 27.7m

The PSB2 on LEOPARD 2 chassis is operated by a crew of two and can carry loads of military weight class MLC 70 for tracked vehicles and up to MLC 100 for wheeled vehicles. Thanks to an optronics observation, driving and range-finding system as well as an IR imager, laser and CCD camera, a bridge can be launched day or night under tank protection.

Main performance characteristics:

• Modularity of the bridge system, comprising three modules
• Launching under armoured protection
• MLC 70/100 for the bridge
• Horizontal launching
• Interoperability with bridges of allied armed forces
• Same protection and mobility as Leopard 2 A5 battle tank
• MLC 70 load class for the system as a whole

MILITARY BRIDGE FOR LIGHT FORCES

Our military bridge for light forces:

• Is of carbon-fibre composite construction
• Has a modular concept for lengths from 4.8m up to 21.6m (2 to 9 modules)
• Is in MLC 12 (MLC 14)
• Can be manually assembled in less than two hours by six people without heavy equipment
• Weighs (for a 9-module bridge) 4.3t

It is a modular bridge system characterised by easy handling, innovative material and low weight.

Every bridge module is made of two side-girders and three carriage-way girders 2.4m long. Bridge lengths in multiples up to 21.6m are possible. The components are joined to the modules using positive locking connections. Plug-in couplings are used to join modules. Assembly is easy and failsafe due to the low number of differing components.

Dedicated carry frames and trailers allow bridge components to be transported by the MUNGO vehicle and in the CH53 helicopter. Transportation of the fully assembled bridge by the CH53 helicopter is also possible.