June 7, 2015: Strategy Page

China recently offered (for export) another new variant in its line of ZBL 09 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle; the VN1 vehicle launched bridge. This is an old concept that goes back to World War II. What it amounts to is a 15-20 meter (46-66 foot) bridge than can quickly be deployed from the vehicle over obstacles allowing similar (in size and weight) vehicles to quickly cross.

China introduced the ZBL line of armored vehicles in 2006 after more than a decade of development. The first model was a personnel carrier but other variants quickly followed. For example the ZBL 09 ST1 is equipped as a tank-destroyer with a high velocity 105mm gun. This appears to be a variant on the 2007 version that had a lower velocity 105mm gun that was intended to give infantry front line artillery support. The Germans called this an “assault gun” when they invented the concept (as the “Sturmgeschütz” during World War II. These vehicles are particularly useful for infantry attacking as an assault gun could quickly take out enemy opposition with one or two shells.

The assault gun version of its ZBL 09 had a smaller turret than the ST1. The larger turret of the ST1 is apparently to hold the additional recoil and fire control equipment for the more powerful and longer range 105mm gun. In 2009 there was already an artillery version of the ZBL 09, carrying a 122mm howitzer in a larger turret similar to the one used by the ST1.

Since 2012 the Chinese Army has been using the ZBL 09 with the turret and 105mm gun as a wheeled light tank. That appeared to indicate that an anti-tank version was already in the works. The ZBL 09/105mm assault gun could, with some extra training, be capable of shooting up other armored vehicles. The 105mm gun carried is not powerful enough to destroy most modern tanks, but could knock out most other armored vehicles.

The basic ZBL 09 is a 21 ton vehicle that has a crew of three and carries seven passengers. The ST1 apparently has a crew of four and weighs over 25 tons. All ZBL 09s are 8 meters (25 feet) long, three meters (9.2 feet) wide, and 2.1 meters (6.5 feet, to the hull roof) high. It's amphibious and has a top water speed of 8 kilometers an hour. On roads, top speed is 100 kilometers an hour, and max road range on internal fuel is 800 kilometers. The infantry carrier version has a turret with a 30mm autocannon.

The infantry version of the ZBL 09 entered service in 2009, and a growing number of combat brigades are being equipped with it, to operate somewhat like the American Stryker brigades. China has been developing new wheeled armored vehicles for over a decade. Until recently, these were all based on Russian designs. The ZBL 09, however, borrows more ideas from the West. Still, some of the more recent (since 2009) Russian type designs were interesting and instructive.

The Chinese have observed NATO success in Iraq with the Stryker and LAV wheeled combat vehicles. Chinese designers eventually concluded that the roomier internal layout of Western vehicles did serve a useful purpose, and the ZBL 09, and all the electronics installed in it, are an example of what the Chinese learned.

16.06.2014 Armée de Terre

Du 3 au 6 juin 2014 : montage du Pont Bailey. Samedi 7 juin : inauguration du pont en présence d'autorités et avec pose de plaque commémorative.

L'unité responsable de la construction du pont est la 2ème compagnie de combat du génie aux ordres du CNE ASCIONE Thibault, elle sera renforcée par un détachement de réserviste ainsi que des soldats britanniques.

11 July 2013 Ministry of Defence

UK airborne engineers joined French paratroopers on a bridge building exercise to prepare them to respond to urgent operations worldwide.

Bridging is a key aspect of 23 Engr Regt (Air Asslt)’s role providing close combat engineering support to the Air Assault Task Force (AATF), which sees 16 Air Assault Brigade maintain a force ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice for operations from disaster relief to war fighting.

The training ranged from setting up a Medium Girder Bridge, capable of carrying a Challenger 2 main battle tank across a 30 metre deep and 30 metre wide gap, to taking to the streets of Weymouth to assess which military vehicles could use the town’s bridges.

Crossing the tidal waters of the Fleet, sandwiched between the shore and Chesil Beach, was a stern test for sappers setting up an Air Portable Ferry Bridge (APFB). APFB can be parachuted or moved by helicopter and set up either as a conventional bridge or a self-propelled ferry to cross wider obstacles.

Staff Sergeant Kieran Dale was in charge of the build, with APFB designed to be set up by 24 men in 2 hours and carry a 35-tonne load. He said:

AFPB is very flexible and capable kit, but setting it up in a strong current is a real challenge. The ferry is built on the water and it’s very important to ensure the parts are correctly aligned, which is hard when the current is moving everything around.

Among the 20 reservists on the exercise was Sapper Nathan Gibson from South Shields, a medical electronics technician in civilian life.

The 26-year-old has been in 299 Para Sqn RE (V), which is the only parachute-trained engineer unit in the Army Reserve, for 18 months.

Sapper Gibson said:

I’ve always been interested in the military and joined up to challenge myself. This is my first major exercise and it’s great to get out and do practical engineering tasks. The training is really well done and we’ve been treated the same as the Regulars.

The skills I’m learning don’t directly relate to my job, but the wider experience I’m getting does. What I’ve learnt about teamwork and pulling together in uncomfortable situations has really developed my confidence at work.

Parallel to bridging activity, the Regiment’s dive team was put through its paces in joint training with 17e RGP’s divers. In the waters of Portland Harbour the divers practised surveying underwater structures, clearing obstacles using hydraulic tools and search tasks.

The French engineers, who were divers and reconnaissance specialists, joined the exercise to learn about British equipment and techniques to be ready to deploy together as part of the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, a partnership between 16 Air Assault Brigade and 11e Brigade Parachutiste (11e BP) for contingency operations.

Lieutenant Colonel Jason Hones, Commanding Officer of 23 Engr Regt (Air Asslt), said:

This exercise has been an excellent opportunity to work with the Regiment’s integrated reserve squadron and our French counterparts.

The Weymouth area is a tourist destination but this has been anything but a holiday for my sappers. We have worked extremely hard to practise and refine our techniques, particularly in the key mobility skill of bridging, to prepare for potential deployments as part of the Air Assault Task Force.