General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) – Bridge Systems and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) have presented for the first time the Anaconda tactical bridge-laying system mounted on a high-mobility 8×8 HX2 carrier vehicle. The system was displayed at the 5th User Forum Armament and Utilization (RÜ.NET 2023) conference, held on 30-31 August in Koblenz, Germany.
The bridge, the laying mechanism and vehicle together provide a dry-gap bridge capability for medium- and heavyweight forces. The Anaconda from GDELS is the latest version of the well-known BIBER (‘Beaver’) bridge, over 300 of which have been built for the Bundeswehr, Germany’s NATO partners and other export customers.
The Anaconda system, which can span gaps of up to 22 m, is certified for payloads of MLC 80+, meaning that the latest and heaviest variants of NATO main battle tank can cross it.
Mounting this bridging system on Rheinmetall’s HX family of tactical trucks, which are in service with numerous armed forces and many NATO nations, provides substantial advantages regarding interoperability, training, service and the supply of spare parts, contributing to the system’s low lifecycle costs.
RMMV’s HX family are among the world’s most widely used military trucks, over 16,000 of which are in service worldwide.
Peter Felstead
