During the civil war in Syria, there were no serviceable engineering equipment and specialists, therefore, when the need arose, the ferry fleet had to be transferred from Russia. Establishing a ferry across the Euphrates in the Deir ez-Zor region took only three days, taking into account the delivery of equipment for several thousand kilometers.
The demountable bridge allowed the Syrian military to continue a successful offensive, the militants of the IS banned in Russia did not have time to gain a foothold and prepare for defense. It is worth remembering that during the war in Syria and Iraq, the sides repeatedly faced the need to cross rivers and reservoirs, but each such obstacle created serious problems for the attackers and often led to the disruption of the operation. It turns out that only a few armies of the world now possess the secret of building crossings.
The Pentagon in the fight against remnants
In the world in recent years, the development of the tactics of the engineering troops and the equipment attached to them went only in one direction: the disposal of explosive devices. Back in 2008, in a report on modern wars and armed conflicts, Pentagon experts said that the need to use special equipment to organize a crossing is very unlikely. However, this thesis has been refuted by the experience of the coalition battles in Iraq and Syria.
Until the early 90s, the USSR and NATO paid close attention to the development of technology that ensured the smooth movement of troops in a combat situation. The arsenals included not only mobile means of mining and demining, but also various machines that accelerated the construction of field fortifications and helped build roads. A special place was occupied by the means of crossing. The NATO and Warsaw Pact countries were preparing to fight in Germany, where there are many rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs. The predicted theater of military operations imposed its demands on armored vehicles. Soviet armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles were necessarily created floating, and their design meant the minimum time to prepare for the crossing of water obstacles.
And pontoon parks were on the list of priority ground targets for the NATO Air Force. At the headquarters of the Alliance, a kind of "war on bridges" was planned: in front of the advancing ATS forces, crossings are destroyed, and while new ones are being built, troops stuck on the other side are exposed to air and artillery strikes. It became very important to inflict losses on engineering units with such tactics.
First of all, special anti-vehicle mines were created to combat pontoon parks. They were used to equip artillery shells and rockets of multiple launch rocket systems. The power of the mines thrown on the roads in this way was enough to rip off a wheel or kill a caterpillar from equipment transporting pontoon property. The damage seems to be minor, but it could seriously slow down the passage of the columns.
With the end of the Cold War in NATO countries, engineering equipment was gradually withdrawn from service. The development of new products of this kind was not carried out. Engineering units and divisions were reduced.
In 2003, during the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon abandoned the use of pontoon parks, although the offensive plans were to cross several large rivers. Instead, the troops had to move forward decisively, avoiding the blowing up of bridges. Raids of reconnaissance units and special forces were planned specifically to capture the crossings.
But the British allies decided not to risk it. Their forces included several pontoon parks and units with heavy engineering equipment. All this property came in handy during the battles in Basra and the crossing of rivers.
At the end of the active phase of the conflict, representatives of the Central Command, which was responsible for planning and conducting operations, announced that they had taken radical measures to increase the maneuverability of the troops. The rejection of engineering and ferrying equipment has become one of such decisions. It was argued that it fully justified itself.
However, several years later, the American military department released several scientific papers in which experts analyzed all aspects of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And the rejection of special equipment already looked somewhat different. In fact, at that time, the US Army did not have enough trained engineering units and divisions. Therefore, it was their absence, and not just the desire to maintain a high pace of the offensive, that forced the coalition to seize the bridges in advance.
For the same reason, they, like road junctions, were excluded from the list of targets for American aviation. It is impossible to quickly restore such facilities in the absence of strong engineering units.
But despite the conclusions of experts, and in 2008, the Pentagon continued to assert that the ferry facilities are remnants of the Cold War, and the main task of the engineering units is the fight against improvised explosive devices.
The Russians' secret weapon
Unlike NATO and the United States, the Russian military did not believe that it was time to say goodbye to engineering equipment and ferry facilities. The experience of military operations in Chechnya has confirmed such conclusions. In the late 80s, a large number of unique samples of various engineering vehicles, pontoon parks and other property were developed. The main problem was the lack of money for the purchase of such equipment.
We have repeatedly conducted exercises in which the use of engineering troops in the course of local conflicts was practiced. Used equipment and pontoon parks both for the conduct of hostilities and for the crossing of rivers. Since the beginning of the 2000s, a solid methodological base has been developed, new tactical techniques have been mastered.
The adoption of the newest pontoon fleet PP-2005M became a great help for the RF Armed Forces. It includes more than 40 vehicles. They carry not only sections of the ferry, but also special boats. A bridge with a length of more than 250 meters and a carrying capacity of 120 tons can be assembled from a standard kit. In this case, the direct work on guidance takes about an hour. In terms of its characteristics and technical solutions, this pontoon park is the best in the world.
It was the timely activated PP-2005M that allowed the Syrian forces to cross the Euphrates. Recently, Russian engineering equipment has attracted close attention of foreign customers.
After us - even a pontoon
In December last year, during the assault on Mosul, IS units effectively took advantage of a natural obstacle in the path of Iraqi troops - the Tigris River. Leaving several crossings under control, the militants eliminated the rest. Initially, it was planned that the coalition troops would recapture the objects from the IS, but the enemy effectively defended, and reinforcements were going along the bridges. Therefore, they had to be bombed. This weakened the defensive capabilities of the jihadists, but also created many problems for the attackers. And the Americans were forced to recall the Soviet experience.
Since the time of the Iran-Iraq war, there were Soviet pontoon parks of the PMP in the arsenal of Baghdad, by 2016 they were partially preserved. American military engineers urgently began to restore them, purchasing the missing elements from the stocks left over from the Czechoslovak army. HEMTT trucks delivered the PMP to the Tigris area.
The appearance of the pontooners came as a complete surprise to the IS detachments. True, the militants quickly came to their senses and tried to resist, starting mortar attacks and even drone strikes. This seriously slowed down the crossing of the Iraqi troops, but could not stop the offensive - the units of the tank division of the Iraqi Armed Forces managed to cross to the other side of the Tigris. Although the low speed of the construction of crossings and the transfer of equipment allowed the jihadists to withdraw and prepare new defensive positions.
A similar situation has developed in Syria, in the Raqqa region. The US military was unable to transfer pontoon parks from Iraq here, and raids by "rangers" solved the problem of crossings. Using the support of helicopters and operating on Stryker armored vehicles, the fighters of the 3rd battalion of the 75th regiment were able to repulse and hold several crossings in stubborn battles, which became a key element of the Kurdish offensive. But in the presence of ferrying equipment, Western experts note, American units and Kurdish detachments could simply bypass the enemy's positions and cross over where it is more convenient.
The battles in Syria and Iraq have refuted the thesis about the death of engineering equipment. The modern armed forces, like thirty years ago, need a variety of engineering equipment, including pontoon parks.
Our military coped with the construction of the bridge across the Euphrates in three days, and this is taking into account the transfer of equipment from Russia and the march through almost all of Syria. The militants also actively interfered with the construction of the bridge - there were both mortar attacks and drone strikes. But the high speed of the construction of the crossing did not allow the ISIS to gain a foothold and create a defense. We emphasize that the full complement of the PP-2005M was airlifted thousands of kilometers only by the military transport aviation. This is a clear demonstration of the unique mobility of the park.
At the Army-2017 forum, Russian engineering equipment aroused the keen interest of foreign military specialists. Its cost, performance and capabilities were evaluated. Now, when the PP-2005M has shown unique maneuverability, productivity and reliability, the Russian engineering troops equipment can become a fairly popular product on the arms market.
