GDELS M3 Bridge System handed over to Sweden

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) – Bridge Systems has handed over the first M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (SDMA) at its Kaiserslautern site.

A ceremony was held last Thursday with Brigadier General Jonas Lotsne as representative of the SDMA and Dr. Christian Kauth, Managing Director of GDELS – Bridge Systems, among others.

The amphibious rig now handed over is part of the first M3 batch for the Scandinavian country. With the delivery of all four contracted lots, Sweden will become one of NATO’s three major M3 users alongside Germany and Great Britain. It will operate a fleet capable of negotiating a total of 400 meters of obstacle width. Using coupling adapters, the M3 can also be used together with the IRB (Improved Ribbon Bridge) and SRB (Standard Ribbon Bridge) pontoon bridge system. Besides Sweden, other states such as the USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Brasil, and South Korea are equipped with these systems. With the youngest NATO member upgrading its stock of fully interoperable gap-crossing means, the alliance will experience a significant increase in its overall combat engineering capabilities.

The amphibious bridge and ferry system M3 is the fastest available means for wet gap crossing within NATO. It can be used as a floating bridge or ferry to carry even the heaviest main battle tanks to negotiate wide wet gaps. The all-terrain M3 is ready for use within minutes – a vital factor on today’s transparent battlefield. The system has proven itself in use under a wide range of climatic and topographical conditions, from tropics to arctic.

Source: General Dynamics European Land Systems news release