South Korea acquires 110 GDELS M3 vehicles
GDELS M3 Amphibious Bridge. (Photo: GDELS)
M3 vehicles will be jointly produced by GDELS and Hanwha Defense Corporation under the Korean Amphibious Bridging Vehicle programme.
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) announced on 30 September that the company have been selected by South Korea to supply 110 M3 amphibious bridging vehicles for the Republic of Korea Army.
The vehicles will be jointly produced with Hanwha Defense Corporation under the Korean Amphibious Bridging Vehicle programme.
A press release from GDELS noted that South Korea will operate the largest M3 fleet in the world with more than 1.3km of bridge length.
It was added that this platform provides load capacity, assembly time and manoeuvrability both on water and land in addition to ‘mobility, availability and seamless land-to-water transition'.
The M3K was chosen in a competitive selection process and competed against the FNSS Armoured Amphibious Assault Bridge (AAAB) from Turkey.
The M3 is already operated by the militaries of Germany, the UK, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia.
According to Shephard Defence Insight, the M3 is a self-propelled amphibious bridging vehicle developed from 1982-92 to meet the requirements of the British and German armies.
It is operated by a crew of three and has a maximum road speed of 80km/h. When driven into the water, the M3 is propelled and steered in water by two fully traversable pump jets at speeds of up to 14km/h.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
You may also like
More from Land Warfare
-
![First capability of Israel’s Iron Beam laser to be delivered by the end of December]()
First capability of Israel’s Iron Beam laser to be delivered by the end of December
Iron Beam is a family of high-energy laser weapon systems currently in development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and is designed to provide a low-cost kinetic effect against aerial threats at short distances.
-
![Hanwha awarded $482 million in major step for South Korea’s missile defence programme]()
Hanwha awarded $482 million in major step for South Korea’s missile defence programme
The deal to produce and supply launchers and missiles to South Korea follows a contract placed with Hanwha Systems last month for the manufacture of multi-function radars.
-
![China goes for ground-launched attack weapons as it strengthens deterrence strategy]()
China goes for ground-launched attack weapons as it strengthens deterrence strategy
China has been advancing its capabilities with a new generation of precision-guided artillery and loitering munitions, positioning ALIT’s WS-series as direct competitors with Western systems like the US’s M982 Excalibur.
-
![Strengthening Baltic defence capabilities]()
Strengthening Baltic defence capabilities
How Latvia is bolstering its territorial defences, industrial capacity and international cooperation with Dynamit Nobel Defence’s SKORPION2 Remote Mining System.
-
![Land forces review: British Army vehicle programme stalls and company results land]()
Land forces review: British Army vehicle programme stalls and company results land
In the first monthly review of land forces stories, the Shephard team looks back to evaluate the major news events that have impacted the sector. The UK’s Land Mobility Programme was notable but another setback occurred when a market industry day was scrapped.
-
![Sweden boosts air defence capabilities with Diehl Defence, Saab and MBDA orders]()
Sweden boosts air defence capabilities with Diehl Defence, Saab and MBDA orders
The orders continue the country’s growing investment in its air defence systems across land and sea, coming months after previous investments by the government into IRIS-T SLM equipment.
