Since the beginning of this week, bomb squads from Dęblin have been working intensively at Odra in Wrocław. There is simply a training course aimed at mastering the installation of fresh PFM PFM bridges purchased by the Polish Army. French crossings are much simpler to usage and much more modern than the PP-64 bridges utilized to replace.
The course for soldiers from the 4th Bomb Squadron from Dęblin has been going on for 2 weeks in Wrocław, at the Centre for Training of Engineering and Chemical Forces there, but only a fewer days ago the military went from explanation to practice. Bombers train in Oder on the terne of the Water Breaking and Forcing Center, owned by CSWIICH.
So far, the military has received 2 PFM (Pont Flottant Motorisé) kits from 9 purchased. Each allows you to build a bridge up to 100 metres long or 2 ferries carrying a cargo across the river. French constructions are able to cross even the heaviest equipment, including Abrams tanks. Bomb squad from Dęblin admits that specified training is simply a pleasance to them. The fresh bridges are a real technological leap.
– We're enthusiastic. At the moment, we are able to handle the floating modules and ramps, prepare for launching and build a ferry, allowing to carry to the another side any equipment in the equipment of the Polish Army – explains Captain Leszek Mućek, commander of the pontoon company in the 4th Bomb Squadron of Dęblin.
52 soldiers work at Wroclaw training during a one-time operation of assembly of the French construction bridge or ferry. The time needed to assemble the crossing depends on the terrain conditions: if convenient and all vehicles can drive in parallel to the mirror of the water and at the same time drop the modules, it can be up to respective minutes.
This is simply a gigantic economy compared to the time and human resources and the vehicles needed to install the presently utilized bridges that were produced in the 1960s. To assemble PP-64, you request to work as many as a 100 people and it takes respective hours. These structures are transported by over 50 vehicles, while fresh French bridges are only 12. In addition, the PP-64 utilized requires the transport and presence of boats on the water, which, erstwhile pushing sections of the bridge, let them to be adjusted accordingly. In PFM sets each module has its own drive – 2 100 horsepower outboard motors each. So just go to the right place on the water.
As the commander of the pontoon company 4 psap explains, the large advantage of French kits is besides hydraulic systems, thanks to which the elements of the bridge are mildly "putted" on the river, preventing impact on the bottom and possible harm to the crossing modules.
The implementation of Polish soldiers for PFM service is supervised by instructors from France. The course will take 2 more weeks and will end with an exam and a certificate by the bomb squad confirming the ability to operate fresh bridges. Next in line for monthly military training from Dęblin are bomb squads from the 3rd Chelmn Regiment.
