ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (July 1, 2015) - While boats don't normally (if ever) come to mind when one thinks of Army systems, the new XM30 Bridge Erection Boat, or BEB, is certain to turn more than a few heads in and outside the Engineer Regiment. To be sure, these force projection-enabling vessels did here last week.
Acquisition officials assigned to the Army's Product Management Office for Bridging showcased the BEB, the most recent addition to the Engineer Regiment's equipment portfolio, last week at the Aberdeen Test Center's Amphibious Landing Area. The demonstration was designed to educate key individuals from across the program's stakeholders on the BEB, its role in enhancing and enabling maneuver and sustainment, and its advantages over the legacy system.
The new XM30 BEB will replace the 30-year-old legacy Mk II BEB platform and represents an important part of the Army's incremental modernization efforts.
"Aberdeen Test Center has been the pre-eminent developmental test facility for each iteration of the Bridge Erection Boat since inception," said Mike Reedy, Aberdeen Test Center's BEB program test officer. "Thus far, this is one of the most suitable, effective, and safe pieces of equipment that I've tested, and our unique facilities here are an important part of ensuring that this system meets the capability gap identified by the Soldiers."
Frank Fleming, the Army's assistant product manager for the BEB, said, "We wanted to show our stakeholders what America's taxpayers are buying and what our Soldiers will soon receive in terms of a new capability. We got them out on both the legacy and the new boats so they can feel the capability difference this boat delivers."
The visitors, including senior leaders from the Army's acquisition, test, and programming communities, as well as Congressional staffers, climbed aboard BEBs to get an up-close look at how they operate and their role in employing the Improved Ribbon Bridge, or IRB. The vessel will provide Multi-Role Bridging Companies (MRBCs) significantly enhanced capabilities not only for bridging operations, but also for diving support, rafting transport, and patrols.
Lt. Col. Jeff Biggans is the Army's product manager for Bridging, assigned to Project Manager, Force Projection in the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, headquartered at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Mich. He explained that tactical bridging systems like the BEB are increasingly important to America's Soldiers and Marines.
"The Army Operating Concept describes a future that is constantly changing, and that means commanders need flexibility in maneuver," said Biggans. "Soldiers can use IRB equipment including these boats as bridges, rafts, or in other ways that increase the speed and manner of maneuver, which is always important. These platforms have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we're proud to make the equipment even better for the future."
The BEB, the IRB and their transporter are required to construct and retrieve up to 210 meters (nearly 690 feet) of floating bridge. The IRB has a Military Load Class (MLC) 96 wheeled (normal) and 110 (caution); MLC 70 tracked (normal) and 85 (caution); and is used to transport weapon systems, troops and supplies over water when permanent bridges are not available.
Rand Ponting, the BEB's outgoing assistant product manager, noted, "The BEB is key to employing the IRB because the boats actually assemble the rafts and bridges by maneuvering five to seven bay combinations of ramp and interior bays forward, reverse, and sideways in water where currents flow at speeds of up to six feet per second."
Fleming explained the legacy Bridge Erection Boat was developed in the 1970s and served Bridge Engineers well for its time. "Today, the new Bridge Erection Boat is a vast improvement over the legacy system," he said. "It has a wide-beam hull that provides excellent load carrying capacity and stability. It's stronger, faster, more reliable, much easier to operate and maintain. Maneuverability is greatly improved, and most importantly -- crew survivability -- the new boat also has ballistic protection for the crew," he added.
Another advantage of the BEB is it will allow the Army to retire the Improved Boat Cradle. Now, both the IRB bays and BEB will ride on the Bridge Adaptor Pallet. "That takes 14 boat cradles out of a bridging company and eliminates an entire piece of equipment," said Maurice Peyton, integrated product support manager. "As a logistician, anything we can do to reduce the logistics footprint and maintenance burden on Soldiers makes a big difference, and this does just that."
The BEBs can also operate on several different types of fuel, and will be used by Soldiers deploying the IRB in wet-gap crossings. The boats provide propulsion, maneuvering, thrust, and anchoring to the IRB bays, enabling tactical float bridge and rafting operations. The BEB also can provide short-term anchorage, assist in troop transport, as well as recover personnel and equipment.
A BEB sports a two-Soldier crew (operator and crewman) and is launched and retrieved from the Common Bridge Transporter, a modified Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The new BEB is interoperable with MRBC equipment and launches in less than five minutes to assemble IRB sections, which can be constructed to provide a bridge, raft or ferry capability. The BEB will support rafting operations in fast water and operates in high-particulate-matter environments, such as sand in the air, as well as in silt in fresh, brackish, and sea water.
The Army plans to acquire and field nearly 400 BEBs; full-rate production is slated to begin about a year from now and the training base will receive the first BEBs off the production line. BEBs are designed for a 20-year life and will be fielded to Active Army, Reserve and National Guard MRBCs, while the U.S. Marine Corps will retain the older MKIII version.
(U.S. Army photos by Erika K. Jordan, Army Test and Evaluation Center)
Related Links:
U.S. Army Weapon Systems Handbook - Bridge Erection Boat
U.S. Army Weapon System Handbook - Improved Ribbon Bridge
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