Deliveries of rapidly-deployable DSB Dry Support Bridges to the Australian Army are nearly complete.
Supplied by UK company WFEL under the LAND 155 Enhanced Gap Crossing Capability Project, the Dry Support Bridges are launched from the ADF’s new fully-armoured Rheinmetall MAN 45m 10 x 10 chassis. Deployed by a team of eight in under 90 minutes the DSB can support loads of over 120 tonnes and span 49 metres (or up to 76 metres with additional specialist equipment), providing Army with an enhanced capability to cross wet and dry gaps during combat operations.
Further, under LAND 155 WFEL is also supplying Army with new double-storey, link-reinforced MGB Medium Girder Bridge systems.
“Both bridge types now provide the ADF with rapidly-deployable temporary infrastructures which can be used both in combat situations and in the event of natural disasters,” WFEL says.
“The capability allows the ADF to quickly cross complex physical terrain including rivers, ravines and man-made gaps as efficiently as possible under a wide variety of operational scenarios.”
To date, WFEL has supplied almost 200 DSB and over 500 MGB bridging systems to armed forces around the world.
“We are extremely proud to have supplied our Australian customer with a world-leading set of bridging systems and we look forward to developing further our ongoing relationship,” WFEL Managing Director Ian Anderton said during a visit to his company’s facilities by Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group officials in June.