This 42 tonne mammoth is the Amphibious Floating Bridge and Ferry System (AFFS) developed by the R&DE (Engineers) branch of DRDO, for the ferry of traffic across large and deep water obstacles. The 10m x 3.6m x 4m vehicle can covert to a fully decked bridge configuration of length 28.4 metres, in 9 minutes. Two more vehicles can be joined in tandem to form a floating bridge of length 105m, in 30 minutes. The bridge superstructure is integrated with floats (shown inflated) to provide stability and additional buoyancy. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 55 km/h on road, 40 km/h cross country and an aquatic mobility of 2.7 m/sec with twin pump jets. The vehicle is also capable of retracting it's wheels for use as a grounded bridge/ramp for high banks. This photograph was taken at the 2005 Republic Day Parade.
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