Armies of the US and Romania will purchase the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) systems - tracked armored engineering vehicles based on the chassis of the Abrams tank . This was reported by the Romanian agency Rador with reference to the website armytechnology.com.
The JAB systems will be developed and delivered to the US and Romanian armies by Leonardo DRS. The value of the contract, according to the company, is $49 million Leonardo DRS is an American division of the Italian parent company of the same name.
The JAB is a tracked armored engineering vehicle mounted on the chassis of a modified M1A1 Abrams tank. The vehicle provides a bridge deployment capability for units engaged in combat operations.
The new generation JAB will replace the M104 Wolverine model and the M48/M60 armored personnel carrier in the engineer battalions of armored brigades. Full production of the system starts in 2021.
Previously, during tests conducted from November 2017 to March 2018, some flaws were found in previous models, the announcement stated. As a result, several subsystems were redesigned and armor packages were added or upgraded to reduce the JAB's vulnerability to direct and indirect fire.
„This is critical given the forward presence of armored brigade combat teams in Europe, where the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the need for mobile armored firepower,” the report notes.
Source: tass.ru