Sweden orders interoperable bridging equipment
The M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system. (Photo: GDELS)
Swedish defence procurement agency FMV has ordered M3 amphibious bridges and Improved Ribbon Bridges from GDELS.
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) announced on 29 June that it has received a contract from the Swedish defence procurement agency FMV to deliver the newest version of its M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system for the Swedish Army.
The value of the deal and delivery timescale were undisclosed.
‘In addition, GDELS will provide additional bays of the Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) system, which is already in service in Sweden,’ the company noted in a statement.
Designed for Arctic-style conditions, the latest M3 variant is interoperable with the IRB and only requires two soldiers to operate it ‘due to a higher degree of automation’, said Dr Christian Kauth, Managing Director of GDELS Bridge Systems.
Both the M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system, as well as the IRB floating
Bridge, can carry all NATO vehicles on a 100m-long structure with a maximum setup time of 10 minutes for the M3 and 30 minutes for the IRB.
The procurement of interoperable bridging equipment by the FMV comes the day after Turkey dropped its objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.
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