M2 floating bridge Bundeswehr Steelbuddy
Description
M2 floating bridge Bundeswehr
drivable floating bridge M2 formerly Bundeswehr. like Steelbuddy
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The amphibious bridge and transfer vehicle M2 “Alligator” (called “amphibian” for short in everyday parlance) was a pioneering device of the Bundeswehr , which was also used by the armed forces in Great Britain and Singapore .
After the available bridge and translation device had turned out to be very cumbersome to use when the Bundeswehr was set up, demands were made on the industry to remedy the situation. They wanted to set up a kind of rapid reaction force in order to be able to carry out crossings over wider bodies of water as flexibly as possible with the help of highly mobile bridge equipment. The decision was made in favor of the M2 amphibious vehicle developed by Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern (today General Dynamics Land Systems ) since 1958. The M1 version presented by the rival consortium MAN / Krupp had been rejected because of serious technical problems.
A total of 235 vehicles were manufactured, of which the Bundeswehr received a total of 114 copies in the years 1967–1970. Of these, 36 units were assigned to one of the three amphibious engineer battalions of the corps (AmphPiBtl 130 in Minden, AmphPiBtl 230 in Ingolstadt and AmphPiBtl 330 in Speyer). The individual battalions thus had a capacity of 183 m floating bridge with the military load class (MLC) 60 (54.4 t load capacity), which was sufficient to accommodate the M48 bridge-laying tank , which was the heaviest vehicle in the Bundeswehr at the time.
The last vehicles went to the main system overhaul in 1982. By 1996 it was retired and replaced by the amphibian M3 .
M2 and M2B
Manufacturer: EWK / KHD
Useful life: 1967-1996
Weight: 21,500 kg (MLC 23)
length: 11.3 m
width: 2.99 m
height: 3.58 m
Ground clearance: 200-840 mm
engine: 2 x KHD F8L714A multi-fuel - each 130.9 kW at 2300 rpm
transmission: ZF S-6-55
Power take-off: ZF Z-65
Width with side float unfolded: 5.87 m
Width with set ramps: 14.16 m
wheelbase: 5.35 m
Front track: 2.13 m
Rear track: 2.16 m
Speed on land max: 60 km / h
Speed on the water max: 15 km / h
Fuel supply: 500 liters
Years/period: 1967-1970
Basic information
Brand | M2 |
---|---|
Model/Type | floating bridge Bundeswehr Steelbuddy |