The German/British Amphibious Engineer Battalion 130, the only unit in NATO equipped with the “Amphibie M3” rigs, are in Korzeniewo, Poland for exercise Dragon 24. The M3 amphibious rigs, four-wheel vehicles, with all-wheel drive are used for constructing floating bridges and ferries. They enable tracked and wheeled vehicles to cross middle-sized and wide waterways fast. During exercise Dragon, the Battalion not only utilised German and British Forces, but also Polish and French companies joined with their capabilities. The battalion, based in Munster, is part of the 1st Panzer Division and currently consists of approximately 1,000 personnel, including 3 amphibious companies equipped with M3 rigs and 2 combat engineer companies.
“The Wide Wet Gap Crossing (WWGC) capability is important especially in Europe because there are a lot of large rivers and bodies of water that could stop or hamper our movements. This is why it is so important for NATO to have their own capability to cross large bodies of water. This is an important achievement for the battalion, following a lot of hard work. It only goes to prove that by working stronger together bi-national battalions can work,” said Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Loges.
On Monday, Mar. 4, 2024 during exercise Dragon 24, the battalion reported that they achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC). Battalion Commander Loges says they have proved their competency on numerous occasions during national and multi-national exercises. Over 20,000 NATO troops, including 15,000 soldiers from the Polish Armed Forces, and 3,500 units of equipment from 9 Allied nations, (France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom and United States) are participating in the Polish-led exercise.
Exercise Dragon 24, which continues until March 14, is part of the Steadfast Defender exercise series. 90,000 troops from all NATO countries and partner Sweden are participating in exercises, demonstrating ability to deploy forces rapidly from North America and other parts of the Alliance to reinforce the defence of Europe. It demonstrates NATO’s ability to conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometres, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any conditions. NATO Allied national exercises will continue throughout Alliance territory until the end of May.
