The defense forces are using German Biber bridge-laying tanks, which Ukraine has received as part of military aid.

The photo of these bridge-laying tanks was published by the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Biber is a bridge-laying tank that carries and deploys cross-river bridges, anti-tank ditches, and other obstacles.

Recently, military engineers of one of the tank units of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conducted training with the use of a German Biber bridge-laying tank.

As the plan of the exercises envisages, a bridge must be placed over a natural obstacle for the vehicles to pass: “A few minutes and the bridge is ready: the equipment successfully overcomes the obstacle,” the military emphasized.

According to the commander of the Ukrainian brigade’s engineering unit, this bridge-laying tank is able to cover terrain sections such as water bodies and gorges up to 20 meters wide.

Biber

The Biber bridge-laying tank is based on the Leopard 1 tank chassis. It is equipped with a bridge construction system instead of a turret. The bridge has an aluminum structure and consists of two sections of 11 meters each. In the transportation mode, the sections are moved over each other.

The bridge is laid horizontally, and the main advantage of this design is invisibility to the enemy.

The bridge has an aluminum structure with a weight of about 9.94 tons, a total length of 22 meters and a width of 4 meters. It can cover an obstacle 20 meters long. Tracked and wheeled vehicles weighing up to approximately 55 tons can move across the bridge.

The bridge is laid within three minutes. The vehicle’s crew consists of two people: the driver and the commander.

The vehicle is designed in accordance with the requirements of the Bundeswehr. Its development commenced in 1965, and the first prototypes appeared in 1969. The production of the first serial bridge builders was completed in 1975. A total of 105 such vehicles were built for the German army. Also, such equipment is operated by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy.

The Ukrainian troops have received this equipment from the German government as part of military assistance. The use of Biber bridge-laying tanks by the Ukrainian military was first reported in December 2022.