US 1st Infantry Division combined-arms soldiers test Joint Assault Bridge.

U.S. 1st Infantry Division Soldiers here recently finished operational testing of a new heavy assault bridge designed to cross wet and dry gaps, both natural and man-made. Maj. Eric V. McDonald, Test & Evaluation Officer, Maneuver Support and Sustainment Test Directorate, Operational Test Command, reports.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Launching a Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB) enables an Armor Task Force to cross a natural gap during the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) operational test at Fort Riley, Kansas. Soldiers with Alpha Company, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division took part in an operational test of the JAB at Riley (Picture source: Tad Browning, Lead Audiovisual Production Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

The Joint Assault Bridge (JAB), is a track-wheeled armored engineer vehicle built on a modified M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT) chassis. With an integrated hydraulic bridge launcher system, the next generation vehicle is designed to provide assault-bridging capabilities to provide freedom of maneuver to modern armored forces.

The Army currently requires an updated assault bridge to replace the aging Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB), according to Lt. Col. Christopher Ingenloff, the test officer from U.S. Army Operational Test Command, Fort Hood, Texas. The JAB is specifically designed to replace the AVLB and provide freedom of maneuver on the battlefield while keeping pace with armored forces, said Ingenloff.

Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB) laid over an anti-vehicle tactical obstacle during operational testing of the Joint Assault Bridge at Fort Riley, Kansas (Photo Credit: Mr. Tad Browning, Lead Audiovisual Production Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

During the 11-day operational test, of force-on-force training, Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, and 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division conducted over 40 natural gap crossings and 22 combined-arms breaches of anti-vehicle tactical obstacles.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle from 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, crosses a Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB) over an anti-vehicle tactical obstacle during operational testing of the Joint Assault Bridge at Fort Riley, Kansas. (Photo Credit: Mr. Tad Browning, Lead Audiovisual Production Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

Trainers from Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support, Warren, Michigan, and Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, gave detailed and all-inclusive new equipment operator training, field-level maintenance new equipment training, and training on doctrine, tactics and techniques during the weeks before the operational test. “Gap crossings and breaching operations are complex missions that require our engineer assets to work in concert with maneuver,” said Capt. Mitchell Ables, Company Commander for Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion. “The JAB allowed us to maintain tempo throughout.”

The operational test was led by the Maneuver Support and Sustainment Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command, from Fort Hood, Texas.

Sgt. Ean Hul, a vehicle commander with Bravo Company, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas, guides his driver as they reconnect the Joint Assault Bridge to the Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB) after passing the task force over a natural gap during operational testing of the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) at Fort Riley (Picture source: Tad Browning, Lead Audiovisual Production Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)