The Danish Army has received the Leguan 2 assault bridges ordered a few years ago, which will replace the previously used designs based on the Leopard 1 tank chassis.
In December 2019, the Danish Defence Procurement and Logistics Agency (FMI) signed a contract with the then KMW concern (now KNDS Detuschland) for the delivery of a total of seven carrier vehicles (based on the Leopard 2 tank) and six sets of Leguan bridge spans (both 14 and 26 metres).
Along with the vehicles, spare parts, specialist tools, computer trainers were obtained and a training and logistics package was provided. Interestingly, each of the assault bridges was acquired with a semi-trailer to transport them (including a reserve copy).
Deliveries were supposed to start at the end of 2022, but there was a significant delay. The information about the receipt of the ordered vehicles was made available on January 30 by the Danish Ministry of Defense. The vehicles were transferred to the engineering regiment, which had previously used the Biber assault bridges, which were already obsolete compared to the existing fleet of Leopard 2A7DK tanks.
There were 10 vehicles in total, but some of them were transferred to Ukraine as part of military aid. It is not known how many vehicles of this type are currently used by the Danes (if any are still in service after they were handed over to Kyiv).
The replacement of the bridges with the more modern Leguan 2 with new carriers will not only increase the operational capabilities of the Danish sappers, but will also facilitate the logistics related to maintaining the efficiency of the vehicles themselves – spare parts for the Leopard 1, which is the carrier of the Biber bridge, are currently very difficult to obtain. Interestingly, the chassis of the delivered Leguan 2 received additional armor in the front part of the hull sides, which increases their survivability.
Iguana (Iguana) is an assault bridge developed by the German arms company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) as a successor to the Biber bridges used so far, based on the Leopard 1 chassis. It is usually placed on the basis of Leopard 2 tanks, but it is possible to integrate it with other platforms such as MAN/Sisu/Tatra trucks, M1 Abrams/PT-91M or Leopard 1 MBTs (and even older M47/48 Patton).
The iguana consists of two spans, so it can be used to prepare two bridges with a length of 14 m, or one with a length of 26 m.
According to the manufacturer’s information, the preparation of the bridge takes no more than five minutes. In the current version, vehicles in the MLC 80 load class, i.e. weighing over 70 tons, can cross the bridge, which in practice means that even the heaviest third-generation tanks, such as Leopard 2A7s with an additional armor package, can be transported.
In exceptional cases, Iguanas allow even heavier vehicles to be moved. Currently, these types of vehicles are used by Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Hungary, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Singapore and Switzerland.