Army, DRS Set To Integrate New Bridging System on Tanks

WASHINGTON – The Army is readying production of a new bridging system used by Armored Brigade Combat Teams after awarding DRS Technologies, Inc., a $400 million production contract to integrate the bridge platform onto an M1 Abram tank

M1 Abrams tank. 
Mission: Ground Combat Fire Support, Anti-Tank
Manufacturer
General Dynamics Land Systems
Service
US Army, USMC
Engine
1500 HP Gas Turbine
Armament
120mm XM256 Smooth Bore Cannon; 7.62 M240 coaxial Machine gun; .50 cal M2 Machine gun
Maximum Speed
42 mph
Range
265 mi 
Crew
4
Categories
Tanks, Military Vehicles, Army Vehicles, Marine Corps Vehicles, Army Equipment, Marine Corps Equipment


DRS was selected at the end of an engineering and manufacturing development phase competition where General Dynamics Land Systems also was competing. DRS and GDLS were both selected to produce the Joint Assault Bridge for the course of the EMD phase in 2012. 

The Marines led the technology development effort with BAE Systems prior to the EMD phase, Donna Morgan, the program officer for Army bridging, told Defense News last week. 

M60 AVLB (Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge)

An M60A1 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB), deploying its scissors-type bridge.
Type Armored vehicle-launched bridge
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1967–present
Used by See operators
Wars Gulf War
Iraq War
Production history
Manufacturer 1967–1996: Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Chrysler Defence (now General Dynamics Land Systems)
1996 onwards: Anniston Army Depot
Unit cost US$749,000
Produced M60: 1967
M60A1: 1987
Variants See variants
Specifications
Weight Loaded: 56.6 short tons (51.3 t)
Length Overall: 9.44 metres (31 ft 0 in)
Width 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in)
Height 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Crew 2 (Commander and driver)
Main armament None
Secondary armament None
Engine Continental (now General Dynamics) AVDS-1790-2DR V12, air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine 750 horsepower (560 kW) Power/weight 13.2 hp/t
Payload capacity 1× scissors-type folding bridge ,Transmission CD-850-6A 2 speeds forward, 1 reverse 
Suspension Torsion bar suspension , Ground clearance 457 mm (1 ft 6.0 in)
Fuel capacity 1,419 litres (312 imp gal; 375 US gal) ,Operational range 290 miles (470 km)

Speed 30 miles per hour (48 km/h)


The JAB system is a track-wheeled vehicle designed to carry and deploy a heavy “scissor” bridge that provides Army Mobility Augmentation Companies supporting ABCTs the ability to cross over wet or dry chasms. 

M104 Wolverine Heavy Assault Bridge from 59th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army.


The JAB will replace a couple of older bridging systems – the Armored Vehicle Launch Bridge (AVLB) and the Wolverine – because the older AVLB “doesn’t quite keep up to the other vehicles in the brigade combat team formations like the M1 tank or the Bradley,” Lt. Col. Jeff Biggans, the product manager for Army bridging, said in the same interview. 

United States Army
Emblem of the United States Department of the Army.svg
Seal of the Department of the Army
Founded 14 June 1775; 241 years ago[1][2]
Country United States of America
Type Army
Role Ground-based warfare
Size 460,000 Active personnel (2017)
530,000 Reserve and National Guard personnel (2017)
990,000 total (2017)[3]
4,836 aircraft[4]
Part of
U.S. Department of Defense

Dept. of the Army (since 1947)
Headquarters The Pentagon

Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.


The AVLB system is on an M60 chassis, which is not only slower than the rest of the vehicles resident in an ABCT but is also becoming more difficult to maintain and sustain, according to Biggans. “A lot of the parts are becoming obsolete,” he said. 

The JAB will also replace the Wolverine bridging system which came online in the late 90s and early 2000s with the intention to replace the AVLB, but “we found out it was hard to operate and maintain, and we couldn’t afford it at the time,” Biggans said. 

The Army built over 400 AVLBs for its own inventory and foreign militaries and produced only about 40 Wolverines. 

The JAB is the assault bridge for the heavy

maneuver force. It is capable of keeping

pace with current Abrams Legacy Fleet. The

JAB will be assigned to the Mobility

Augmentation Companies to support Heavy

Brigade Combat Teams (HBCTs). Current

allocation of JAB is 6 per MAC. The AVLB

bridge has recently been successfully tested

up to MLC-85.

Abrams M1A1 Chassis

New Launcher

MLC-85 AVLB

“The JAB is a compromise” between the aging AVLB and the Wolverine that is too expensive and complicated to operate, Biggans said. 

DRS has a public-private partnership with Anniston Army Depot in Alabama to manage the chassis assembly and worked with Israel Military Industries Systems (IMI) on the design and engineering of the system, according to a DRS statement.  The Army wanted the winner of the contract to include Anniston Army Depot’s organic industrial base experience in the JAB’s production, Biggans noted. 

The new bridging system, which is 18.3 meters long, will improve deployment time with a set-up of three minutes compared to AVLB’s six-minute set-up. The Wolverine – not a “scissor” style bridge – spans 26 meters and takes three to five minutes to deploy. Wolverine was built by GDLS. 

Biggans added that the competition and source selection took pages in the procurement book from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle when considering best value across the program’s full life cycle. As a result, the Army expects to spend $300 million less than originally anticipated to buy the new JAB systems. 

The Army plans to take delivery of the first vehicle in the third quarter of 2017, according to Morgan, and expects to reach low-rate initial production in 2019.

DRS TECHNOLOGIES AWARDED UP TO $400 MILLION U.S. ARMY CONTRACT TO BUILD NEW JOINT ASSAULT BRIDGE SYSTEM


ARLINGTON, VA, August 23, 2016 - DRS Technologies, Inc., a Leonardo-Finmeccanica company, announced today that the U.S. Army has awarded it a competitively-bid  indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract worth up to $400 million to build the new Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) system. 

MORE ABOUT THIS CONTRACT

The Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) system is a track-wheeled vehicle built on a modified M1 Abrams platform.  It is designed to carry, deploy and recover a heavy “scissor” bridge that provides gap-crossing capability for combat vehicles to cross wet or dry chasms.  The system is an important tool for U.S. military ground forces, giving combat vehicles the ability to freely navigate the battlefield.

“The ability for combat vehicles to navigate easily on the battlefield is critical to the success of our armored vehicle warfighters,” said Joe Matteoni, vice president and general manager, DRS Sustainment Systems. “This is an important program for our ground combat units, and DRS Technologies and Israel Military Industries Systems are proud to support our heavy armor combat teams by providing this technology to assist them in achieving their missions,” he said.

DRS Technologies’ Sustainment Systems business unit, based in St. Louis, MO., will be responsible for the overall production, management of the M1A1 chassis assembly, hydraulic bridge launcher production and the entire system integration. Production will occur in West Plains, Missouri, and Anniston, Alabama.

DRS has a public-private partnership with Anniston Army Depot for the management of the chassis assembly and worked with Israel Military Industries on the engineering and design of the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) system.