Army Composite Bridging Applications Supporting the Future Combat System and Future Force

摘要

This brief presents U.S. Army composite bridging research and technology, which is intended to support the Future Force. It provides a review of the current state of mobile military bridging followed by an overview of the Future Force requirements. The current fleet has short comings as the Army is transforming the Future Force. Current composite technology efforts to address the requirements of the Future Force are the Composite Army Bridge (CAB) and the Modular Composite (MCB). The CAB is a technology demonstrator, which successfully demonstrated the ability of a reinforced plastic structure to withstand the aggressive crossings of military vehicles (i.e. M1, HET w/M1). The MCB successfully demonstrated that a composite joint could be designed, which can support the required design loads for a 25m span. Concepts are presented, which will address the requirements of the Future Force.