"New" engineering vehicles go into service in India

A number of indigenously developed engineering equipment are currently in service with the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. A number of new combat engineering equipment newly developed by DRDO are on the verge of entering into service, further reducing the dependence of the Army on cost prohibitive imported equipment.

Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) Ahmednagar, one of the premier laboratories of DRDO, have developed a range of combat engineering equipment which includes the Armoured Engineering Reconnaissance Vehicle (AERV), Armoured Amphibious Dozer (AAD) and the NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle.

The AERV and AAD are designed to provide engineering support in both offensive and defensive operations in plains, desert and riverine terrain. The AERV is designed to carry out terrestrial and riverbed survey to facilitate construction of assault bridges across water obstacles. The AAD is capable of providing integral engineering support to battle groups in offensive operations for construction of assault bridges and for construction of tracks, thereby improving the mobility of advancing armoured columns.

The NBC Reconnaissance vehicle is designed to diagnose the existence of life endangering nuclear, biological and chemical contaminants in the atmosphere during NBC warfare and cordon off such areas.

All of these equipments are based on tracked BMP 2 amphibious Infantry Combat Vehicle, which allows it to operate on land and on water bodies. The onboard equipment in each of these vehicles can be operated by the crew in hatch down condition from within the confines of the armour-protected vehicles.

Ordnance Factory at Medak has been entrusted with the responsibility of production of these vehicles in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited, Pune.

The AERVs are already under limited series production and have entered service with the Corps of Engineers recently.

New first off production vehicles in the category of AAD and NBC Recce Vehicle have been realized and a demonstration of capabilities of these vehicles to the Users is planned at VRDE, Ahmednagar, on 03 March 2008, in the presence of visiting Engineer-in-Chief, Lt Gen RR Goswami. Flagging off of new serials of AERV to be handed over to the Army is also planned on this occasion.

Source and Photo : DDRO

Prepare to heave... heave!

ST. THOMAS, Ontario - Recently, troops from three Ontario-based Reserve engineer regiments, 31, 32 and 33 Combat Engineer Regiments (CER), gathered at the armoury in the City of St. Thomas, not only to build steel bridges, but also ties of friendship and comradeship.

For the younger engineers, the presence of more than 100 troops was a great opportunity to tap a wealth of experience and it gave them the opportunity to experience the technically and physically demanding rigors of building a medium girder bridge (MGB) and an Acrow bridge.

Building started early on an unusually warm autumn morning once the engineers were divided into two main groups. One group was responsible for assembling the Acrow Bridge while the second group was tasked with building the MGB. The Acrow Bridge will rest in front of the armoury as a monument to the engineers, right next to the Sherman tank, a reminder of the Elgin Regiment’s armoured past.

For many of the engineers, this was their first hands-on exposure to assembling bridges. Private Miro Mostovac of 33 CER was very excited about the opportunity, as well as the opportunity to work with members of the other two brigades. “So far, it seems pretty good, everything seems to be working really nice,” he stated.

Sergeant Jayme Querry, 33 CER, is an old hand at building bridges.“The main concept is for the younger soldiers to get acquainted with the bridges,” he declared. “I’m hoping the troops will actually go home, essentially understand the bridge and how it gets put together.”

In the back of the armoury, another crew of engineers was busy assembling the MGB, which is a modern functional equivalent of the Bailey bridge of Second World War fame. The pallets of interconnecting pieces can be very intimidating to those who are not familiar with the MGB. No need to apply if you have a bad back as there does not seem to be anything small about this piece of equipment.

Bridge assembly is a daunting task. “When it’s done, it’s going to look like this bridge appeared from nowhere,” commented Sgt Anderson Thomas, 32 CER. He felt that the weekend was an excellent chance to get together and involve the newer troops into the business of building bridges. “It’s rewarding for them, it’s what engineers do, build bridges.”

Source: The Maple Leaf, Vol 10, #37