Across the wide Euphrates ...

 

"As the Syrian forces readies mass crossing of the Euphrates River, the Russian military has sent new self-propelled ferries to the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor.

Footage filmed a couple of days ago shows PMM-2M ferries unloading at the coastal Khmeimim airbase in Syria and eventually transported to the country’s east.

PMM-2M is a self-propelled ferry vehicle used for transporting wheeled and tracked non-amphibious vehicles with a loaded weight up to 42.5 tons across wide water obstacles."  AMN

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This is a motorized ferry as well as an Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB).

The Russian and Syrian engineers earlier brought forward a pontoon bridge set.  You can make ferries out of the pontons by lashing pierced steel planking (PSP) between the pontons and using outboard motors to move it.

In any event the arrival of equipment like this combined with the pontoon bridging indicates to me a determination on the part of R+6 to deny further movement of the SDF into areas east of the Euphrates that the SAG wishes to re-occupy.

Mike says that the SDF are not going to contest any of the areas that the SAG wants.  I hope that is true but DJT has delegated a great deal of authority to CENTCOM.  Who knows what they want?  pl

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-russia-deploys-new-ferries-syrias-deir-ezzor/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92xAJKyCzC042 42.5t http://bsvt.by/en/pmm-2m-self-propelled-ferry

 

Comments

[turcopolier]

mike

Let us hope that the counter-mortar nailed them. Perhaps they had more than one gun? In the old Iraqi Army they would have had a section of three, and we seem to think that IS learned soldiering from the Iraqi soldiers they recruited. I watched the old guys shoot mortars in the IR/IZ war. They had one FDC and laid the guns as a section to fire a closed sheaf. They built a "measle sheet" with pre-registered targets and either fired those or adjusted from them. pl

[james]

pat - it is hard to see much of any good in the usa's game plan for afgan, iraq, libya or syria at this point... please enlighten me how i might be able to see it differently.. thanks..

[turcopolier]

james

You should know by now that I agree with you. pl

[james]

thanks pat.. i always feel i'm labelled anti-american and that really doesn't do my view on it all justice.

[b]

Here is video of an Euphrates crossing east of Deir Ezzor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_EpT9c0kZE
According to the Russians the Bridge is 210m long and can serve 8000 vehicles per day. It is not a pontoon bridge but some construct on pillars.
The tracked ferry vehicles are also in that video.
It seems that a smoke screen is put up (badly) to prevent too early detection.

[johnklis56@gmail.com]

Perhaps? According to sources in Crimea the shells landed at the same time...3 tubes involved...all with pin-point accuracy on first strike.

[Tigermoth]

ThE Russians have built a bridge across the Euphrates in 2 days that can handle 8000 vehicles / day. Let the games begin!

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-russian-forces-build-huge-tank-carrying-bridge-across-euphrates-just-two-days/

"According to Russian reports, the bridge is 210 meters long, having been built several kilometers from Deir Ezzor city, and can handle the crossing of 8,000 vehicles per day...

The new bridge is strong enough to facilitate the movement of main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery assets to the eastern bank of the Euphrates to maintain Syrian Army operations against ISIS."

[turcopolier]

tigermoth et al

Does this kind of bridging have a name/designator? pl

[The Twisted Genius]

This looks like a TMM-6 heavy mechanized bridge or some variation of that bridge. It's a scissors bridge constructed in sections. Here's a short video of a TMM-6 being emplaced and used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zl0_4qEeUI

[turcopolier]

TTG

Thanks. This yet another great bridge system. I did not realize that the Euphrates is that shallow and with such a slow current that far upstream. pl

[mike]

Colonel -

PMP-2005M? A derivative of the old PMP from 70+years ago. Some say 60 ton capacity which would match it with the German M3 system.

[turcopolier]

mike

This is not a floating bridge. pl

[mike]

Colonel -

I see that now. Although Syrian regime forces had called it a pontoon bridge, it is clearly not from the pics and video.

https://twitter.com/markito0171/status/912593507046641664

Scroll down and on this twitter feed and it shows location. And it looks like they used fog or smoke to protect bridge builders from Daesh snipers and mini-drones.

[The Twisted Genius]

pl,

I was also surprised by the apparent river depth and current. Just looking at Google Maps it does appear to a very shallow river valley and a meandering river course at DeZ. With the upriver dams, I doubt there's much seasonal variation in river flow. It's clearly nothing like the Potomac a few miles from my house or yours for that matter.

[mike]

Reports are that the SDF has crossed the Khabour river at al-Suwar also. No mention of bridging efforts so far. Fighting still going on in al-Suwar, but mostly mop-up of the hardcore.

So the question is will they now head north and clear the river towns between al-Suwar and Shaddadi? Or head south to al-Busayrah?

[turcopolier]

richardstevenhack

Assassination attempt? there is a war on. I guessed you missed that. pl

[Tigermoth]

I found some information on the type of bridge, its nothing fancy:

from the book:Combat Engineering Equipment of the Warsaw Pact:

"MARM

The MARM light sectional bridge was used to cross dry gaps or rivers...
Each span was 6 meters long and included a set of adjustable height folding trestles. The spans were put in place with a lorry mounted crane, and the trestles braced. ... It had a load capacity of 50 tonnes. 118 meter span could be assembled in 8 hours."

I read somewhere that it could go to a 4 meter depth.

This info explains the crane truck on the barge next to the bridge.

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russian-engineers-built-bridge-syrian-army-across-euphrates-under-shelling/ri21053

Also, in this article are some photos of General Asapov at the site helping with it's construction.

With regards to General Asapov and what is expected of Russian Generals, here is article about their attitude towards leadership.

http://russiafeed.com/general-asapov-died-as-russian-officer-led-from-front/

"The death of Lieutenant General Valery Asapov and two Russian colonels who were with him in Syria highlights the fundamentally different military command philosophies of the US and Russian militaries.

Putting aside the question of whether or not General Asapov was deliberately targeted, the key point about his death is that he was a high ranking general (commander at the time of his death of Russia’s 5th Red Banner Army) who was killed whilst carrying out personal reconnaissance on the front line in Deir Ezzor in Syria, where he exposed himself to shelling.

Though his death was big news in Russia, it has been received there calmly, with none of the displays of dismay or panic, or the feverish post-mortems, or the angry cries for vengeance, which would assuredly have happened if a US officer of similar rank had been killed in the same way.

Nor is there the slightest sign of General Asapov’s death having caused any change in the battlefield strategy followed by the Russians in Syria.

Thus offensive military operations by the Syrian army as advised and directed by the Russians in the area where General Asapov was killed continue with undiminished vigour, with – as reported by The Duran – Russian engineers just completing a road bridge across the Euphrates to enable the Syrian army to get across.

All this highlights a key point about the Russian army’s system of command: Russian commanders – including the most senior commanders – are expected to lead from the front, making themselves visible to their men, whilst at the same through direct observation gaining a ‘feel’ for the battle..."