WFEL's Market Assessment

摘要

During the Cold War the prevailing view was that military bridging would be transported over short distances for operations on mainland Europe. However, today's conflicts often occur thousands of miles from the nation's homeland and as a result the emphasis has shifted toward a need for rapid deployment with modern armed forces demanding bridges that are lightweight and easily transportable. The military requirement is now for expeditionary equipment that helps to quickly suppress a skirmish before it becomes a battle. This rapidity of deployment is also a requirement in the aftermath of a natural catastrophe such as the earthquake in Pakistan or the tsunami in the Far East. These requirements have lead to a resurgence in popularity for our traditional products like the Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) and the Air Portable Ferry Bridge (APFB) used by the British Army in UN relief operations and on operations in Afghanistan.rnMeanwhile, the lightweight, 40m span, Dry Support Bridge (DSB) continues to evolve. This year we will ship the first 46m gap DSB to the US military making it the longest non-reinforced bridge in its class anywhere in the world. As a result, we are re-designing our vehicle launch systems to meet this increased gap crossing capability. The 46m DSB reflects how advanced this new generation of bridging has become since we first reached our historic agreement to build it for the US in 2000. Our engineering capabilities have neared the maximum desired limits set out to us by of one of the world's most advanced armed forces.