The pontoon park is intended for the construction of ferry and bridge crossings over water obstacles on the path of the movement of troops. The pontoon park PP-91 was developed at the 15th Central Research and Testing Institute of the Ministry of Defense named after D. M. Karbyshev. It was created on the basis of the PPS-84 pontoon fleet, which was reduced to a battalion. Instead of BMK-460 boats, it included BMK-225 towing motor boats and MZ-235 motor links. From the material part of the new pontoon fleet, bridge crossings with a carrying capacity of 60, 90 and 120 tons can be created, as well as ferry crossings with a carrying capacity of 90 to 360 tons.
The set of this park is in service with the pontoon-bridge battalion, consisting of two companies. In our army, the PP-91 fleet came to replace the PMP pontoon parks. The entire material part of this fleet is transported by KrAZ-260G and Ural-53236 trucks. Since the production of KrAZ trucks remained on the territory of Ukraine, the pontoon fleet is supplied to the Russian army using Ural-53236 vehicles. Currently, the Russian army is also armed with a modernized version of the park - PP-2005 (PP-91M).
Sufficient attention has been paid to the Russian engineering troops lately. So in January 2015, Lieutenant General Yuri Stavitsky, the head of the engineering troops of the RF Armed Forces, noted that a pontoon-bridge brigade, as well as two engineer-sapper regiments, would be formed in the engineering troops this year. According to Stavitsky, in 2014, the Russian army had already formed 5 engineering military units and organizations of central and district subordination.
“To fulfill the tasks of maintaining and equipping crossings on water bodies of Russia, the purchase of the PP-2005 pontoon fleet was planned and carried out, the existing PP-91 fleets were modernized, and the PTS-4 floating transporter was adopted for the supply of the RF Armed Forces, which ensures the transportation of non-floating vehicles., the weight of which does not exceed 18 tons, as well as a new landing ferry PDP, the carrying capacity of which is 43 tons. In addition, work is underway to create a promising tugboat BMK-M,”said Lieutenant General Yuri Stavitsky.
Pontoon park PP-91
The set of the PP-91 pontoon fleet includes: 32 river links, 8 motor links M-235, 4 tugboats BMK-225, 4 coastal links, 2 pavements, as well as 4 containers for various auxiliary equipment (means for carrying out reconnaissance of water obstacles, rigging equipment, anchors for strong currents, traffic control devices, spare property). This entire set is transported using 54 Ural-53236 trucks.
When the pontoon bridge is guided, each of its links “self-unloads”, simply rolling off the Ural platform directly into the water, after which it “self-unfolds” on the water. At this time, the crew connects the links to each other. When folding a pontoon bridge, loading mechanisms are used to load the links onto trucks, which are on the platforms of the cars. The minimum time for both pointing and folding a bridge over a water hazard is ensured when each of the links is transported by its own vehicle. At the same time, the transportation of links in hard-to-reach areas and the guidance of the bridge itself can be carried out using helicopters (transported on an external sling). The PP-91 pontoon fleet allows sappers to assemble both floating bridges and transport ferries of increased and regular width.
This park is operated by a pontoon-bridge battalion of 225 people, including officers, as well as personnel of the support, maintenance and repair unit. The battalion consists of two pontoon companies, a repair platoon, an engineering platoon, a logistics platoon, a reconnaissance diving department and a communications department. Each of the battalion's pontoon companies operates exactly half of the fleet. The set of the pontoon park can be divided into two semi-sets. For example, the engineer battalions of the motorized rifle and tank divisions of the Russian army had one pontoon company each, which possessed half of the PP-91 set.
Using the PP-91 pontoon fleet set, the following ferries could be assembled:
- 8 ferries with a carrying capacity of 90 tons, assembly time 15 minutes. The speed of the ferry is up to 14 km / h, the permissible excitement is up to 3 points, the speed of the current is up to 3 m / s (the characteristics of the speed and permissibility of use are the same for all ferries). Calculation of personnel for one ferry - 18 people (8 pontoons, 6 drivers, 4 minders).
- 4 ferries with a carrying capacity of 190 tons, assembly time 20 minutes. Calculation of personnel for one ferry - 33 people (18 pontoons, 11 drivers, 4 minders).
- 2 ferries with a carrying capacity of 380 tons, assembly time 25 minutes. The calculation of personnel for one ferry is 66 people (36 pontoons, 22 drivers, 8 minders).
With the help of one set of PP-91 pontoon park, it is possible to build floating bridges with a carrying capacity of 60, 90 and 120 tons:
Floating bridge with a carrying capacity of 60 tons. The length of the bridge is up to 268 meters, it is guided in 30 minutes with the width of the roadway of the bridge 6, 55 meters. The permissible excitement is up to 2 points, the current speed is up to 3 m / s (the permissible characteristics are the same for all three bridges).
With such a width of the carriageway of the bridge, tanks can move along it at a speed of up to 30 km / h, wheeled vehicles without speed limits. For wheeled vehicles, this bridge is double-track, that is, it is allowed to organize traffic in two directions simultaneously. The length of the bridge of 268 meters is not only the maximum possible, but also the total, that is, you can build several bridges at once (at least two, since there are four coastal links in the park). In addition, it is possible to build a bridge of two park sets, 572 meters long. It is possible and longer, but this seems impractical, since it becomes difficult to keep the bridge strap in a sufficiently straight state, a lot of stress arises in the docking points, which can ultimately lead to the fact that the bridge breaks.
The pontoon bridge with a carrying capacity of 90 tons has a length of 165 tons and is built in 60 minutes, the width of the bridge carriageway is 10 meters. This is a one and a half wide bridge. Such a bridge makes it possible to organize along it the movement of tanks in one direction and road transport in the opposite direction at the same time, or to throw mobile launchers of Topol-M strategic nuclear missiles and similar ones over a water barrier.
The pontoon bridge with a carrying capacity of 120 tons has a length of 141 meters and is built in 48 minutes, the width of the carriageway is 13.8 meters. This is a double wide bridge. Such a bridge makes it possible to organize the movement of tanks in two columns in one direction or in opposite directions. In fact, there is no army cargo that could not be transferred across this bridge.
The composition of the pontoon park PP-91
River link
The river link consists of 4 pontoons interconnected by means of hinges, two of which (middle) have the shape of a parallelepiped, and the other two links (side) have one of the edges is rounded. The pontoons are made of steel, with the upper deck being hardened heavy plate steel, which is able to withstand the movement of heavy tracked vehicles. One side pontoon is composed of two parts. One of these parts can be retracted inside the second, so that the entire deck of the link becomes practically flat. This is done in order to be able to assemble bridges of the required double or one and a half width. One of the side pontoons has a fairing shield.
The unfolded dimensions of the river link are as follows: length - 7, 2 meters, width - 8 meters, width of the carriageway - 6, 55 meters. The draft of an empty link is 0.2 meters, the maximum draft of a link under load is 0.65 meters. The weight of one link is 7 tons. The lifting capacity of the link is 22.5 tons. When folded, such a link is transported by a Ural-53236 vehicle.
Motor link MZ-235
The motor link is a metal box with dimensions (except for the length) and profile similar to the profile of the river link and the same docking devices. All this makes it possible to embed such a link into the bridge tape on a par with ordinary river links. In this case, the link box is divided into 5 sealed compartments. In the aft part of the link there is a removable wheelhouse, there is a control panel in it, and under it in the compartment there is a 3D20 diesel engine, developing a power of 235 hp. The engine is cooled by seawater through a heat exchanger.
The diesel engine is connected by means of a mechanical transmission with a water-propeller fixed on the box, which is a stern-and-tilt column with a propeller in a POK-225 nozzle, the thrust of this propeller on the mooring lines is 2340 kgf. The thrust vector is changed by turning the lower head of the column with a screw, it is possible to rotate 360 degrees horizontally in any direction. The mass of the motor link is 7 tons, the length is 2.95 meters. The maximum speed of movement on the water is 15, 7 km / h (the speed is given for a free link).
The compartment adjacent to the engine contains a fuel tank with a capacity of 1000 liters. This volume of fuel is sufficient to ensure continuous engine operation for 12-14 hours. In the next compartment after the fuel compartment there is a sump pump, which is responsible for pumping out water from the compartments of both the engine section and using flexible hoses from several river links closest to it.
Motor links are included in the belt of the bridge directly during the assembly period in an amount that is determined depending on the speed of the current and the length of the bridge being guided. Motor links are used to move the belt of the induced bridge, turn the belt to the bridge and back, keep the bridge in alignment, replace broken or damaged links, remove some of the links from the bridge to allow ships to pass. In addition, the motor links can be used as towing means for ferries.
Tugboat BMK-225 "Perchik"
The semi-catamaran type tugboat BMK-225 acts as a backup means for keeping the tape in the alignment of the bridge and towing ferries in cases where there are not enough motor links or some of these links are out of order. It is also suitable for the organization of upstream and downstream river outposts (the fight against saboteurs, floating mines, floating with the flow of foreign objects that pose a danger to the floating bridge, reconnaissance of a water barrier, as well as the organization of emergency rescue service).
The hull of the BMK-225 boat consists of 3 sealed compartments. In the middle compartment there is a diesel engine SMD-601, which develops a power of 225 hp. The propeller is represented on the boat by two screws with nozzles in full-turn columns, which can be easily rotated horizontally 360 degrees in both directions, and this can be done independently of each other. Thanks to this solution, it was possible to ensure the absolute maneuverability of the boat on the water surface. The boat can turn on the spot almost around its own axis, quickly reverse and brake sharply. Mooring thrust reaches 2500 kgf. The maximum speed of the boat on the water can be up to 20 km / h. In the engine compartment, there was also a sufficiently powerful drainage pump, with which it was possible to pump out water from the holds of the boat and from the river links that make up the floating bridge.
Property container
The PP-91 set includes four containers with property, which are also transported by Ural-53236 vehicles. The park includes two sets of property container No. 1 and two sets of property container No. 2. Container # 1 includes devices for river reconnaissance (measuring cable, penetrometer, quantum rangefinders, hydrospinner, echo sounder), a set of entrenching tools, rubber inflatable boats, camouflage kits, a spare tool, cables, additional anchors and a set of means for regulating traffic on the bridge) … Container # 2 includes equipment for the construction of a false floating bridge (inflatable models of links made of metallized rubber, thermal and radar traps, a compressor, outboard motors).
Lining
The lining is made of special metal plates that are interconnected by rings and generally form a flexible metal tape 11.7 meters long and 3 meters wide. This belt is laid on a special vehicle Ural-53236, which provides mechanized laying of the belt on the ground and its reverse lifting. The pavement is necessary in order to allow the transported equipment to get to the ferry or bridge over swampy ground. According to the instructions, such a tape must withstand up to 1000 tank passes along it. However, in practice, it could be scrapped and scrapped after a company of tanks passed through it. Therefore, the use of pavements in peacetime was prohibited by order.
