Netherlands orders General Dynamics floating bridges
The Royal Netherlands Army is to join Australia, Germany, Sweden and US as an operator of the Improved Ribbon Bridge. (Photo: General Dynamics)
General Dynamics European Land Systems has received an order from the Royal Netherlands Army for three Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) floating bridge systems.
The Royal Netherlands Army has ordered three Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) systems from General Dynamics European Land Systems under a deal signed on 20 July. The order comprises bridge sections with a total length of over 225m together with support boats manufactured by Birdon USA.
The new systems will replace older pontoon bridges beginning in 2025, providing the Dutch Engineer Corps with a capability in accordance with modern military standards.
All NATO vehicles can cross the system and, due to using the same connectors, pontoons are fully interoperable with those of other nations including the USA, Brazil, Germany and Sweden. Bridge sections can easily be combined during operations while increasing speed of movement and military mobility.
Related Articles
GDELS receives Aussie bridge order
GDELS to supply IRB to Brazilian Army
Sweden orders interoperable bridging equipment
The IRB system is also connectable through a coupling device with the widely used amphibious bridge system M3, operated by Germany, the UK, Latvia and Sweden, with the latter having recently ordered an additional number of M3 units.
The IRB can be operated as a multi-bay ferry as well as a floating bridge. It provides wide wet gap crossing capability for loads up to MLC80 tracked/96 wheeled, including the Leopard 2 main battle tank.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
You may also like
More from Land Warfare
-
![Thales to modernise Netherlands TACTIS combined arms trainer]()
Thales to modernise Netherlands TACTIS combined arms trainer
Thales will modernise the Royal Netherlands Army’s TACTIS simulation system over eight years with enhanced synthetic environments, new simulators for the CV9035NL, Boxer and Leopard 2 tanks.
-
![Hanwha contracted to develop radar for South Korean missile defence]()
Hanwha contracted to develop radar for South Korean missile defence
Hanwha will develop the multi-function radar of the Low Altitude Missile Defense (LAMD), work which is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2028.
-
![Anduril Industries unveils improved electromagnetic warfare system]()
Anduril Industries unveils improved electromagnetic warfare system
Pulsar-L has already entered service and weighs about 12kg with range of 5km. It was only in May last year that the company disclosed that earlier versions were already in service.
-
![Romania approved for additional $280 million Patriot Air Defence System buy]()
Romania approved for additional $280 million Patriot Air Defence System buy
The possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) from the US will cover the system and any related equipment with Lockheed Martin and RTX as primary contractors.
-
![Polaris to unveil new MRZR Alpha base vehicle at Modern Day Marine]()
Polaris to unveil new MRZR Alpha base vehicle at Modern Day Marine
The new platform was designed to provide 1KW of exportable power as standard and has been developed in partnership with the US Marine Corps (USMC).
-
![British Army details Ajax plans]()
British Army details Ajax plans
Of the six variants in the Ajax programme – reconnaissance (Ajax), reconnaissance support (Ares), C2 (Athena), equipment repair (Apollo), equipment recovery (Atlas) and engineering reconnaissance (Argus) – the Ajax reconnaissance version is now entering service.
