CNIM (Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée) has been awarded a contract by DGA (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement) to supply the French Army with an assault bridge as a support of the MBT Leclerc. The contract includes both development and fabrication of 18 systems. The amount of the contract is 138 millions euros.
The PTA is a wheeled modular assault bridge which is a brand new design. Modularity allows adapting the length of the bridge to the width of the gap by combination of the bridge sections carried by the vehicle. The wheeled chassis gives the equipment an excellent cross-country mobility and a great strategic mobility, which is a significant advantage for a projection army.
CNIM proposed two combinations with the same chassis 10 x 10. The PTA 2, fitted with two 14 m long bridge sections, which allows launching either two 14 m long bridges or, by combination of both sections, one 26 m long bridge. The PTA 3, fitted with three 10.5 m long bridge sections, allows launching either one or two or three bridges whose length ranges from 10.5 to 27 m according to the number of employed bridge sections. For budgetary reasons, DGA was lead to choose the PTA 2 despite the operational advantages of the PTA 3.
This concept gives rise of a huge interest worldwide. At the present time, no army is equipped with a modular assault bridge. The French order offers CNIM good prospect for export.