Indonesian Army received delivery of another batch of M3 amphibious rigs from Czech Republic’s Excalibur Army, which works closely with General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS). The second to arrive was a shipment of five M3 amphibious pontoon vehicles arrived in Surabaya, Indonesia recently, which will be used to provide combat support to the Indonesian Army Combat Engineer Battalion. Indonesia has an order for 18 units confirmed in 2017 as a follow-on from an earlier order.
On 24 November 2016 Indonesian government ordered an undisclosed number of Pandur II Armored Fighting Vehicles and M3 Amphibious Rigs from the Czechoslovak Group. The deliveries will include an ILS package consisting of a simulator system, training, special tools and manuals. 18 M3 Rigs will bridge a 100m water gap this way, and can be traversed by vehicles up to and including the heaviest 60+ ton main battle tank like the Indonesian Army Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 2RI.
The M3 Amphibious Rig is a self-propelled amphibious bridging vehicle that is used for the projection of tanks and other vehicles across water obstacles. Originally developed by the German firm Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern (EWK, since 2002 acquired by General Dynamics European Land Systems), it succeeded the conceptually similar M2 made by the same company.
The M3 is self-deployable by road, operating as a 4×4 wheeled vehicle with a maximum road speed of 80 km/h. It is driven into the water for amphibious operation, for which it deploys two large aluminium pontoons, unfolding them along the length of its hull. In water, the M3 is propelled and steered by 2 fully traversable pump jets at speeds of up to 14 km/h.
