Second River Crossing during NATO Multinational Exercise Anaconda 2016 with another General Dynamics European Land Systems Bridge, the Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB)
Posted on 2016-07-01
CHELMNO, POLAND – Only a few days after German and British engineer units built the record-breaking 350m M3 bridge over the Vistula River near Chelmno, Poland as part of the NATO Exercise Anakonda 2016, a second river crossing took place at the same location in this case with an Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) constructed by United States, German and Dutch bridging engineers.
Engineer units of the United States and Germany operated the Improved Ribbon Bridge from General Dynamics European Land Systems, whereas the Dutch engineer company provided the Standard Ribbon Bridge. Both systems are fully interoperable and require the same operational skills and bridge building procedures.
The U.S. Army provided Improved Ribbon Bridge bays for a total of 200m of the 350m floating bridge.
The IRB can be used as a full span floating bridge or a multi-bay ferry to cross vehicles and equipment across a body of water. The bridging crews worked alongside each other, learning how bridge-building procedures are conducted by other militaries.
According to the participating army units this was the first time in 26 years that such an international joint river crossing with Ribbon Bridge equipment was conducted. The exercise Anakonda 2016, that took place from June 7-17, was a Polish-led multinational exercise involving more than 31,000 participants from more than 20 nations.
About General Dynamics European Land Systems– General Dynamics European Land Systems, headquartered in Madrid, Spain, is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), and conducts its business through five European operating sites located in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Czech Republic. With around 1,800 highly skilled technical employees, the company designs, manufactures and delivers land combat systems, including wheeled, tracked and amphibious vehicles, bridge systems, armaments and munitions, to global customers. More information is available at www.gdels.com.
Additional information on exercise Anakonda 2016 can be found a
- US Army: https://www.army.mil/article/169696/
Additional information the Longest M3 Bridge Built for Anakonda 2016