GDELS M3 Amphibious Bridge. (Photo: GDELS)
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.
The effort to develop uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) is heating up with research efforts and exercises improving the speed of the process and the war in Ukraine is working as a proving ground for rapid development and fielding.
The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher is in high demand with Lockheed Martin doubling speed of manufacture since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As orders are racked up in Europe, the Indo-Pacific region is seeing the increasing presence of the system.
The company's Riddler uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) is designed to be small and light to allow easy deployment and the ability to access smaller areas such as bus or train aisles.
The Spanish Government has outlined plans to purchase communications and cybersecurity capabilities but most notably amphibious combat vehicles, self-propelled howitzers (SPHs), bridge-laying vehicles and an effort to replace its tanks from 2040.
Germany is Europe’s leading country for tank manufacture and until this month was committed to the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) which included tanks and other vehicles. Earlier this month, Germany and other European countries set up the Main ARmoured Tank of Europe (MARTE) project casting a shadow over the MGCS.
Denmark signed the Technical Arrangement for the multinational Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) in April this year. The order means the country will receive its first vehicle this year.
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