M60A1 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB)

An M60A1 AVLB in use on the Lahn near Bellnhausen in 1985

An M60A1 AVLB unfolding the folding bridge

The M60A1 AVLB is a bridge laying tank made in the USA . The tank was manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems Division . For the pioneers in the US Army, the M60A1 AVLB replaced the M48 bridge-laying tank .

description

The M60A1 AVLB essentially consists of three parts, the bridge hydraulics, the folding bridge and the tank chassis. The base of the bridge-laying armor is the hull of the M60A1 armor with six track rollers, three support rollers and rubber-padded connector chain links. The vehicle's fuel supply is around 1400 liters of diesel fuel . The 19.19 meter long folding bridge is located on the main battle tank chassis. The total weight of the vehicles crossing must not exceed the military load class (MLC) 60. In the late 1980s, the M60A1 AVLB system was introduced to the Marine Corps . In 1996 the US Marines still had 55 bridges and 37 laying vehicles.

Technical data of the folding bridge:

• Length (extended): 19.10 m
• Length (folded): 9.75 m
• Span: 18.28 m
• Width (over all): 3.99 m
• Width (lane): 3.81 m
• Height (not folded): 0.94 m
• Weight: 13.28 tons

Users

•  Israel : Israeli Army
•  Pakistan : Pakistani Army
•  Singapore : Singaporean Army
•  Spain : Spanish Army
•  United States : United States Marines

Web links

Commons : M60A1 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB)  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Description on www.fas.org (English)