British military bridge manufacturer WFEL will provide the Philippine Army with its dry-supported bridge (DSB) in accordance with the Horizon 2 phase of the revised AFP modernization plan.
The DSB system can be deployed in approximately 90 minutes to provide temporary infrastructure and will be equipped with sidewalks for disaster relief operations and other military scenarios. The Philippine Army chose a launch vehicle chassis for its bridge, so it chose the Rheinmetall MAN military vehicle (RMMV) 45m 10 x 10 system.
The dry support bridges for Philippine combat engineers will be manufactured at WFEL’s production plant in Stockport, UK; delivery will begin in 2023.
The contract for this new type of combat engineering equipment also includes a comprehensive logistics support package to ensure the backup and support of the WFEL technical engineering team, and to provide combat engineers with continuous life-long support and confidence in the availability of spare parts.
Photographer’s name: Millbrook
Location: Millbrook Proving Ground
File name: Bridge Launcher Hill Route & Off Road
Description: Bridge Launcher Hill Route & Off Road
Ian Anderton, Managing Director of WFEL, commented: “We warmly welcome the Philippine military to join our growing user base of DSB military bridging systems. We are proud that the dry support bridge is the most technologically advanced and rapidly deployable military bridge of its kind in the world. , And has proven its value time and time again in combat and disaster relief situations.
“By adopting dry-supported bridges, the Philippine Army is ensuring that it has the ability to quickly maneuver through complex physical terrain (including man-made cracks, ravines and rivers) in the future, and to cross dry and wet cracks in the widest terrain as efficiently as possible. Operational scene.”
The dry support bridge has a military load rating of 120 tons and was originally designed and developed by WFEL for the US Army. It provides full interoperability with any other DSB bridging system and has been adopted by many countries around the world, including the United States, Turkey, and Australia. Switzerland has also acquired many dry support bridges, and it is well known that DSB is widely deployed as temporary infrastructure after floods and other natural disasters.
The growing global user base provides ready-made, low-risk military bridging solutions. Currently, the British Ministry of Defence is evaluating DSB as an alternative to its BR90 bridging system.
