This week UK National Armaments Director Andy Start and his counterpart, German National Armaments Director Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki, signed a “Letter of Intent” declaring the two nations’ commitment to ongoing bilateral cooperation for the military bridging projects Wide Wet Gap Crossing (WWGC) and General Support Bridge (GSB).
WWGC, also called Project TRITON, is a modular, scalable and configurable bridging and ferrying system for military crossings of wet gaps over 40m. This fulfils a NATO commitment to provide a WWG capability which is operated by a joint UK/GER multinational bridging battalion based in Minden, Germany.
The General Support Bridge (GSB) project, also called Project TYRO, is a rapidly deployable military bridge system produced by KNDS’ at its premises in Stockport, UK. The GSB system enables a 46M bridge to be built in less than 90 mins which can be crossed by all current NATO Main Battle Tanks along with the UK’s future tank, Challenger 3.
This statement of intent ensures the UK and Germany continue to work on the various bridging solutions, identifying opportunities for further cooperation that benefit both countries’ interests. As part of this, Germany plans to procure the GSB, produced by British industry, and to seek maximum commonality with the system already being procured by the UK MoD.
Bridging the gap: essential military bridging contract secures 300 UK jobs (25. Januar 2024)
British Army battlefield mobility will be bolstered in a new £150 million contract placed by Defence Equipment & Support for military-grade general support bridges which will secure 300 UK jobs.
Stockport-based company KNDS UK (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter), which has a long history of manufacturing military bridge systems, will deliver the support bridges based on their Dry Support Bridge design.
Extending up to 46 meters – the length of five buses – and able to carry the weight of the Army’s future tank, the Challenger 3, the bridges can be used to cross both wet and dry gaps.
The £150 million contract for General Support Bridges has been placed by Defence Equipment and Support as part of Project TYRO. TYRO will provide a significant capability improvement for the British Army, facilitating the mobility of future Armoured Brigade Combat Teams, and equipment across gaps in the terrain.
Our armies signed a new bilateral vision statement to drive this forward, they have agreed a new Statement of Intent on Bridging, enabling Germany to purchase General Support Bridges via an existing UK contract.
Interessante Nachricht.
2024 hörte ich von jemandem, der es wissen musste (InfS), dass man sich damals im Heer vom Konzept der Pionierbrücke (außer für die zivil-militärische Zusammenarbeit/Amtshilfe bei Katastrophen) verabschiedet hatte. Aus dem Ukraine-Krieg glaubte man gelernt zu haben, dass stationäre und Pontonbrücken zu verwundbar sind, und Gewässer allenfalls im Fährbetrieb überwunden werden könnten. 90 Minuten Aufbauzeit sind halt schon eine Ansage.
