To enable their own troops to cross rivers and canals with heavy equipment, engineering units often rely on so-called pontoon bridges, which can be constructed with various systems within a very short time.
One of these systems is the M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system, which is used by the Bundeswehr, amongst other militaries around the world. The Ukrainian army has now also confirmed the use of the system through published images and video footage.
As well as being used to construct pontoon bridges, the M3 can also be used as a ferry, which is particularly useful when crossing very wide bodies of water.
For example, crossing a body of water 100 metres wide would require as many as eight systems, which, once all deliveries have been completed, would correspond to almost the entire publicly known Ukrainian capacity. According to the Bundeswehr, around 250 vehicles could cross such a bridge within a single hour.
The first six amphibious vehicles were pledged as part of a military aid package announced by the Netherlands in March 2023. A further four vehicles were promised around a year later, in March 2024, by Germany’s Minister of Defence, Boris Pistorius, during a UDCG meeting.
Whilst it is known that the Netherlands intended to finance vehicles via the industry, it is not yet known whether it was planned to deliver the “German M3s” from Bundeswehr stocks, or whether the German government also planned to finance systems via the industry.
The images and videos of the Ukrainian M3 systems, which are in service with the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade, that have been published to date do not allow any conclusion to be drawn as to whether they originate from Bundeswehr stocks, given the lack of camouflage.
It is also not known when exactly the first M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system was put into service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The oldest published image and video material that GAU was able to identify during its research dates back to December 2025, but, judging by the vegetation, appears to show a time prior to December of last year.
At least in theory, it is entirely possible that Ukraine has been using the M3 since the end of 2023. For example, in October 2023, the Bundeswehr published a video highlighting the six-week training programme for Ukrainian soldiers on the system in Germany, which was also supported by British soldiers.
A Ukrainian soldier who spoke in the training video said at the time that the current priority was to cross the Dnieper and move heavy equipment and vehicles across the river. It is therefore entirely possible that the M3 was deployed, for example, during the Battle of Krynky, which took place between October 2023 and July 2024 and ended in a Russian victory.
Ukraine appears to have received at least three of the ten systems pledged to date. For instance, one of the photos published over the past few months shows three vehicles side by side at the edge of a body of water.
Finally, it should be noted that all images and videos of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade published to date appear to show purely training exercises in Ukraine and not actual operations near the frontline. Furthermore, none of the images or videos show any vehicles being transported from one bank to the other via a bridge or ferry.
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