Pictured: Joint Assault Bridge system mounted on an M1A1 Abrams chassis. Credit: Leonardo DRS.

Leonardo DRS will develop and deliver Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) systems for the US Army and Romanian military (through a Foreign Military Sales agreement).

Collectively, the contract is valued at $49m, according to a statement issued by the supplier on 22 August 2024.

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The JAB is a tracked, armoured engineer vehicle mounted onto a modified M1A1 Abrams main battle tank chassis. Manufactured by Leonardo DRS, the US division of the Italian parent company of the same name, the platform is designed to manoeuvre US and allied forces more freely with bridging capabilities.

Enhance forward presence

Specifically, it provides a gap-crossing capability to cross wet or dry gaps, and freedom of manoeuvre on the battlefield to keep pace with Abrams Heavy Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) operations.

Some of these heavy brigade units are incorporated into the V-Corps (all US forces on Nato’s eastern flank). The contingent is based in Poznań, Western Poland. Notably, there is a regional competence centre in the same town that specialises in operating Abrams tanks. This would, of course, complement the use of JABs in the region.

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More than 100 JABs have been delivered to forces in partnership with the US Army, according to Aaron Hankins, senior vice president and general manager of Leonardo DRS Land Systems unit.

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“We are proud to continue to deliver this robust and reliable system to the US Army and allied militaries to ensure armoured vehicles can better navigate complex battlefield conditions,” Hankins added.

Past and present

The next-generation JAB replaces the M104 Wolverine and M48/ M60 Armoured Vehicle Launch Bridge in the ABCT Brigade Engineer Battalions and Mobility Augmentation Companies.

The system entered full-rate production in FY2021. Prior to this, the Live Fire Test and Evaluation agency discovered certain vulnerabilities during tests conducted from November 2017 to March 2018. Thus, the Army redesigned several subsystems and added or upgraded armour kits to reduce the JAB’s vulnerability to direct and indirect fires.

This is a key consideration given the forward presence of ABCTs in Europe, where the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the need for mobile, armoured firepower, and with that the need to keep operations going on the frontlines.