David Axe reports in Forbes:
Rivers, and the Ukrainians’ ability to cross them, could dictate the pace of the advance. The Ukrainian army has Tank-like armored bridgelayers that can drop a 60-foot aluminum bridge capable of supporting a 60- or 70-ton tank; aluminum girder bridges -100 feet long with a capacity of 70 tons—that a couple dozen engineers can assemble in as few as 10 minutes; steel logistical-support bridges that are 240 feet with a minimum capacity of 70 tons, but require a hundred engineers and hours to erect; and floating steel pontoons that, lined up end-to-end and side-by-side, form a full or partial span that motorized launches can tug back and forth from bank to bank.As Ukrainian forces wait for the spring rains to subside and the muddy landscape to dry out—preconditions for Ukraine’s long-anticipated 2023 counteroffensive—keep a close eye on the 808th Pontoon Bridge Regiment. The Ukrainian army’s oldest and possibly best bridging unit.If Ukrainian brigades succeed in punching through Russian fortifications, they’re going to want to advance as far as possible as quickly as possible in order to liberate as much of occupied Ukraine as they can before the Russians stabilize the front line.
Rivers, and the Ukrainians’ ability to cross them, could dictate the pace of the advance. The Russians know this. While retreating, they—and the Ukrainians, to be clear—tend to blow up bridges behind them.
The Ukrainian army like any modern army has several options for laying down a temporary span. Tank-like armored bridelayers that quickly can drop a 60-foot aluminum bridge capable of supporting a 60- or 70-ton tank.
Plus aluminum medium girder bridges—100 feet long with a capacity of at least 70 tons—that a couple dozen engineers can assemble in as few as 10 minutes. Also: steel logistical-support bridges that are as long as 240 feet with a minimum capacity of 70 tons, but require a hundred or so engineers and hours to erect.
There’s a fourth option, one that’s in the name of the 808th Pontoon Bridge Regiment. Floating steel pontoons that, lined up end-to-end and side-by-side, form a full span or a partial span that motorized launches can tug back and forth from bank to bank.
The 808th Regiment isn’t necessarily Ukraine’s only bridging unit. There are other engineer brigades, battalions and companies—and it’s likely many of them have bridgelayers, girder bridge kits and pontoons. But the 808th specializes in pontoons and has the benefit of experience. It’s been around since the Soviet era.
The 808th has been busy in the current war. Last year, the Russians even captured some of the regiment’s troops, ultimately exchanging them for some Russian prisoners being held in Ukraine.
The 808th might operate the four new pontoon bridges that The Netherlands and the Czech Republic together have donated to the Ukrainian war effort. But a photo of the regiment training in April depicts the engineers working with a classic, Soviet-made PMP pontoon bridge.
A full PMP set is 32 center pontoons and four ramp pontoons that fold up and travel on KRAZ-255B trucks. A truck crew dumps a pontoon into the water, where it automatically unfolds. Engineers on motor-launches maneuver the sections into one 750-foot chain, or two parallel 375-foot chains, and bolt them together with ramp segments at each end. The full bridge should support the weight of one tank at a time.
As a third option, a smaller combination of pontoons can function as a raft—and the motor-launches as propulsion.
How fast the engineers can work depends on their training, leadership and motivation—and also the weather and whether anyone is shooting at them. “Real-world evidence indicates that the bridge can be assembled as fast as 30 [yards per] minute,” the U.S. Army reported.
Count on the 808th to work fast. Whole Ukrainian brigades could be waiting for the regiment to deploy its pontoons so they can prolong their advance.
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