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Pontoon bridge
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===Amphibious float bridges=== [[File:Timsach-Gillois-latrun-1.jpg|thumb|EWK-Gillois amphibious bridging vehicle]] [[File:German M3 amphibious bridging vehicles 2015.png|thumb|German M3 amphibious bridging vehicles, 2015]] [[File:Mobile Floating Assault Bridge-Ferry 1980.jpg|thumb|Mobile floating assault bridge–ferry, 1980]] Several alternatives featured a self-propelled amphibious integrated transporter, floating pontoon, bridge deck section that could be delivered and assembled in the water under its own power, linking as many units as required to bridge a gap or form a raft ferry. An early example was the Engin de Franchissement de l’Avant [[EFA (mobile bridge)]] amphibious forward crossing apparatus conceived by French General Jean Gillois in 1955. The system consisted of a wheeled amphibious truck equipped with inflatable outboard flotation sponsons and a rotating vehicle bridge deck section. The system was developed by the West German firm Eisenwerke-Kaiserslauter (EWK) and entered production by the French-German consortium Pontesa. The EFA system was first deployed by the French Army in 1965, and subsequently by the [[West German]] {{Lang|de|[[Bundeswehr]]|italic=no}}, British Army, and on a very limited basis by the U.S. Army, where it was referred to as Amphibious River Crossing Equipment (ARCE). Production ended in 1973. The EFA was used in combat by the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF), which employed former U.S. The [[Egyptian Army]] used the equipment to cross the Suez Canal in their attack on Israeli forces during the [[Yom Kippur War]] of 1973. [[File:PP-2005 pontoon bridge.webm |thumb|Deployment showing automatic unfolding of the most recent Russian ribbon bridge system PP-2005 in 2020]] EWK further developed the EFA system into the M2 "Alligator" Amphibious Bridging Vehicle equipped with fold-out aluminum flotation pontoons, which was produced from 1967 to 1970 and sold to the West German, British and Singapore militaries. The M2 was followed by the revised [[M3 Amphibious Rig|M3 version]], entering service in 1996 with Germany, Britain, Taiwan and Singapore. The M3 was used in combat by British Forces during the [[Iraq War]]. More recently, Turkey has developed a similar system in the [[FNSS Samur]] wheeled amphibious assault bridge, while the Russian PMM-2 and Chinese GZM003 armoured amphibious assault bridge ride on tracks. A similar amphibious system, the Mobile Floating Assault Bridge-Ferry (MFAB-F) was developed in the U.S. by Chrysler between 1959 and 1962. As with the French EFA, the MFAB-F consisted of an amphibious truck with a rotating bridge deck section, but there were no outboard flotation sponsons. The MFAB-F was first deployed by the U.S. Army in 1964 and later by Belgium. An improved version was produced by FMC from 1970 to 1976. The MFAB-F remained in service into the early 1980s before being replaced by a simpler continuous pontoon or "ribbon bridge" system.
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