On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, the European company General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) – Bridge Systems announced that it had delivered the first of the ordered M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system to the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) of the Ministry of Defense.
Photo: GDELS
The ceremony took place at the GDELS – Bridge Systems production facility in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with the participation of Jonas Lotsne, Head of Military Equipment at FMV, and Dr. Christian Kauth, Managing Director of the manufacturer, along with other invited guests.
The agreement between FMV and GDELS – Bridge Systems was signed on July 5, 2022, and covered 16 sets. The system was scheduled to enter service in 2024 under the name Amfibiebro 400, complementing the GDELS Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) amphibious bridges, known in Sweden by the military designation Däcksbro 300. Subsequently, on March 7, 2024, an amendment to the agreement was signed, extending it by an additional 9 sets for a total value of approximately 400 million SEK.
The delivery of all sets is expected to be completed by 2027. This number of sets will enable the construction of a crossing approximately 300 meters long.
Photo: FMV
The M3 system consists of self-propelled amphibious ferries on a wheeled chassis with an integrated, deployable bridge span. Constructing a 100-meter crossing is expected to take engineers approximately 10 minutes.
The M3 system features a load capacity of MLC 85 (77.11 tons) for tracked vehicles and MLC 132 (119.75 tons) for wheeled vehicles, while the IRB system has corresponding capacities of MLC 80 (72.57 tons) and MLC 96 (87.09 tons). The Military Load Classification (MLC) system is based on short tons.
Interestingly, the Swedish Armed Forces tested the M3 system as early as 20 years ago, but due to geopolitical changes (the global war on terror) and a shrinking economy, the project was subsequently shelved. The experiences FMV gained during those tests are now being largely implemented.
So far, M3 sets have been delivered to the armed forces of Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Latvia, and Slovakia, with Ukraine expected to receive them as part of military aid from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Interestingly, in June 2023, the Netherlands ordered the aforementioned IRB sets on a truck chassis for their own armed forces.