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Australia buys Birdon-built bridge boats
The Australian Army is fielding three next-generation bridge erection boats built by Birdon to support combat engineers during wet-gap crossings. The craft position and recover floating bridge sections, helping heavy vehicles and troops cross rivers where fixed infrastructure is absent or damaged. Modern boats improve control, safety, and responsiveness during bridging operations while leveraging Australian maritime manufacturing. The purchase strengthens a specialized mobility function, but effective deployment also depends on compatible bridge equipment, transport, trained crews, maintenance, and coordination with manoeuvre units under operational conditions.