Innovative Wet Gap Crossing Technologies for the Future Force/Future Combat System(1000-519)

Triton Systems, Inc. has developed system level concepts for a Modular Floating Bridge / Raft (MFB/R) to address Wet Gap Crossing (WGC) missions for the Future Force/Future Combat System (FF/FCS). The structures being developed are lightweight, mobile, and rapidly deployable/recoverable. The MFB/R will provide the threshold load-carrying capacity of Military Load Class (MLC) 30 for normal crossing and MLC 40 for caution crossing, as well as the desirable load carrying capacity of MLC 65. The MFB/R system concept addresses both bridge and raft assemblies as required WGC options. The MFB/R will be transportable in C-130 aircraft, by CH47 helicopter, and by the new family of FCS vehicles. The proposed Phase II program will engineer, fabricate, and test key elements of the concepts at a sub-scale level, and provide the engineering foundation for prototype fabrication in Phase III. Advanced structural materials and processes are applied for both structural components: low-cost polymer matrix composites for deck sections, and inflatable pontoons utilizing high-strength fiber-reinforced braided covers to minimize structure weight and package dimensions and to provide a great level of structural optimization and efficiency.