GDR 99 - Land Systems

The Grizzly
& the Wolverine


Section Articles
• Land Warriors • The Grizzly & the Wolverine • Expanding Engineering Paradigms • Wagons on a Roll: Freightliner • A Clear View: Helio Periscopes • Power Savings: Plustech • Building Bridges: EWK • Science & Survival: DERA • Feeding the Force: Have-a-Pack • Swedish Workhorse: Volvo
Above & Below: Grizzly is designed to breach simple and complex obstacles

Major Harry Greene, chief of the US Army's Combat Mobility Division, assesses the alternatives to "an orchestrated ballet of farm implements"

The activities of engineers in the breach have been described as "an orchestrated ballet of farm implements" (1). The Engineer Regiment's top two material development priorities, the Grizzly and the Wolverine, are designed to alleviate these concerns. The following scenario contrasts the situation today with a future Grizzly/Wolverine-equipped regiment. The 1st Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanised), supported by the 21st Engineer Battalion, is conducting a deliberate attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Castle, commander of the 21st Engineers, watches the plan unfold on the digital display in his command vehicle. Casting his mind back he compares this plan with one he executed 10 years before as a captain.

The brigade was conducting a deliberate attack followed by a pursuit. The initial penetration had gone well and the brigade was on the march. A Company, commanded by Captain Castle, was supporting one of the lead task forces. Two bridges were ahead, but one was only military load class (MLC) 50 and the other spanned a 20m gap. Bypasses were not available. The plan called for an armoured-vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) to replace the MLC 50 bridge and a medium-girder bridge (MGB) to replace the other if it were damaged.

The enemy fell back to the far side of the first gap. The assault and obstacle platoon leader led the AVLB launcher forward, but could not keep up, so the task force had to wait for them at the gap. Then they emplaced the bridge. Because the M1 tanks exceeded the rated capacity, caution crossings meant the lieutenant became a bridge inspector. Meanwhile, the enemy was developing a complex obstacle in the path of the brigade's advance.

Scouts quickly found the minefield, the wire and the tank ditch. The lead task force organised to conduct an in-stride breach. After the security was set an M1 with a mine roller began the breach by moving forward. When the roller encountered a mine, the M1 backed out. A combat engineer vehicle (CEV) pulled a mine-clearing line charge (MICLIC) forward and fired it. Another M1 with a track-width mine plough proofed the lane and then moved aside. A squad of sappers in an M113 armoured personnel carrier came forward to breach the wire. The M113 moved aside and an armoured combat earthmover (ACE) attacked the tank ditch. Then the assault force began to pour through the obstacle.


The Wolverine is designed to replace the AVLB on a one-to-one basis

The lead team radioed back that the 20m bridge was out. Castle had planned for this, but the MGB company was still hours away. When they arrived the soldiers did their best, but the enemy rained artillery fire on the combat engineers building the bridge.

Castle's thoughts returned to the present. Although the mission was nearly identical, the ease and speed of execution were very different. The MLC 50 bridge was not a problem. The Wolverines could easily maintain the pace of the armoured task force and were fully digitised. Not only did the crew get the same directional data as the Bradley and Abrams crews, but the engineer and manoeuvre force leaders could track their progress on digital maps. The Wolverine made it to the site, received a digital command to emplace the bridge, laid it, and sent a digital report that caused the bridge to show up on the task force's digital maps.

The obstacle was much easier to breach, too. The Grizzlies were already task-organised with the breach force. The support force set the conditions for the breach and then digitally tasked the A Company commander to send the Grizzlies into action. They moved forward, ploughed through the minefield and breached the wire with their blades. Meanwhile, the task force commander was receiving real-time feedback on his screen on the location and progress of the breach. After a Grizzly attacked the tank ditch with its arm, the breach site was shown on digital maps throughout the task force. Quickly, the task force was through the complex obstacle and on the move again. The 20m gap was not a problem because the Wolverines travelling with the lead task force were easily able to bridge the gap and pass the task force. Using the under-armour launch capability and the short five-minute launch time, the crew and task force had minimal exposure at the gap.

This scenario may sound like a pipedream, but both the Grizzly and the Wolverine are in development with operational prototypes undergoing testing. The first Wolverine will be fielded in 2000 and the first Grizzly in 2003. Both will be fielded to heavy division and corps mechanised battalions with a basic issue of four Grizzlies and four Wolverines per company.

Grizzly: a heavy force obstacle breacher

The Grizzly is designed to breach simple and complex obstacles. Mounted on a modified M1 chassis, it features a mine-clearing blade equipped with an automatic depth control. It can clear mines at up to 3mph. The blade also cuts wire obstacles. It is complemented by an excavating arm that can attack anti-tank ditches, log cribs and rubble. The system is required to clear a standard anti-tank ditch in five minutes or less. The Grizzly promises to provide the manoeuvre task force with a robust, survivable, and mobile breaching platform to use against wire, mines, tank ditches and log cribs. The Grizzly also will have a dramatic impact on engineer doctrine, training, leader development, organisation, material, and soldiers (DTLOMS). Finally, soldier survivability for both the supported task force and the engineer force will increase because of the Grizzly's faster breach times.

Wolverine: a heavy force assault bridge


Link: www.pmcms.org

The Wolverine was designed to replace the AVLB on a one-for-one basis and offers a substantial upgrade in capabilities. The Wolverine provides for a normal crossing of an MLC 70 vehicle over a 24m gap, that will allow the manoeuvre force to conduct assault breaches over gaps that require bridging to support lines of communications.

The Wolverine features a horizontally launched bridge that offers a much lower profile than the vertically launched AVLB. Survivability of the force is enhanced and their momentum is maintained by the five-minute launch time and 10-minute retrieval time. The Wolverine also provides the capability for launch from under armour, further increasing survivability. By using the same production line as the newest tank, the Wolverine will have the same embedded digitisation package as the tank and infantry fighting vehicle fleet, and armour protection and mobility similar to that of the tank fleet.