In addition to the United States and South Korea, Israel is known as a supplier of defense equipment to the Philippines. So far, several Israeli arms manufacturers have supplied surface-to-surface missiles, fast missile boats, to the Sabrah light tank to the Philippine military.
And there is the latest news, that the Philippine Army has just received two units of armored vehicle launched bridges (AVLB) or popularly referred to as bridge tanks.
What's interesting about this bridge tank is the platform used, namely the Merkava MK IV Main Battle Tank (MBT). Because the Merkava family of MBTs has never been exported, netizens have become noisy in the news, namely the Philippines' label as the first country outside Israel to receive "Merkava."
Quoted from shephardmedia.com (15/7/2022), it was stated that two Merkava AVLB units ordered by the Philippine Army from Elbit Systems had arrived at Batangas Port, Philippines on 12 July. According to the MaxDefense Philippines website, the Merkava AVLB is based on the Joint Assault Bridge developed by Leonardo DRS and Israel Military Industries (IMI) which is now part of Elbit Systems.
The difference to the version ordered by the Philippine Army is that this bridge tank has a longer span, and uses a different armored vehicle platform, in this case the Merkava IV instead of the M1A2 Abrams.
The AVLB specifications requested by the Philippine Army require that it has a maximum operating weight of 60 tons, with a bridge span of at least 18 meters, a minimum road width of 3.5 meters, and has a military classification of MLC 50.
The Philippine Department of Defense awarded the project to a joint venture company Elbit Systems Land & C4I, and IMI Systems Ltd. in December 2018, and a US$27.7 million contract was signed at the end of 2019.
Along with the modernization of the cavalry line, the Philippine Army also provided support equipment for tank operations and armored fighting vehicles, including this bridge tank. In addition to the Merkava AVLB bridge tank, the Philippine Army has also ordered a tactical bridge carrying truck from the UK to support the mobility of combat vehicles (ranpur), namely the Dry Support Bridge (DSB) produced by WFEL Limited.
The DSB WFEL also carries a Rheinmetall MAN truck but with a 10×10 drive. If the MAN KAT1 8×8 LEGUAN MLC70 uses a folding bridge model, the Philippines ordered DSB uses a bridge model with a launching system.
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Technically, the Dry Support Bridges ordered by the Philippines have a length of 46 meters and a width of 4.3 meters. Normally, this tactical bridge can carry a load of 100 tons, but it can withstand a maximum load of up to 120 tons.
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