Pontoon bridges from Arsenal still serve engineers in Serbia

Military equipment that was produced almost half a century ago in Tivat is still in use

25570 views 18 comment(s)
Arsenal's pontoon bridge today in service with the Serbian Armed Forces, Photo: Private archive
Arsenal's pontoon bridge today in service with the Serbian Armed Forces, Photo: Private archive
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The Naval Technical Overhaul Institute "Sava Kovačević" from Tivat is best known to the general public for its core activity - the overhaul of warships and auxiliary ships, which it engaged in from its establishment in 1889 until its closure in the summer of 2007.

However, the popular Arsenal, as MTRZ was colloquially called, was also the largest dedicated industry factory in Montenegro, which produced a wide range of weapons and military equipment. It is fascinating that, although 40 to 50 years have passed since the production of some of these weapons, they are still in use today and are used in the armament of several foreign armies. This refers, first of all, to PČ-16 type lake patrol boats that Arsenal built in the early 18s for the needs of border units of the Yugoslav Navy, or PČ-XNUMX type patrol boats that were built for the Tanzanian armed forces.

303 and 304 during the Yugoslav People's Army
303 and 304 during the Yugoslav People's Armyphoto: Private archive

Out of a total of six built ships of the PČ-16 type, there are four ships today, all four of which during the JRM served as border patrol boats on Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa in Macedonia. In the meantime, two have already been reconstructed into tourist and excursion boats that today ply on Lake Ohrid, while one is still in the process of such reconstruction with the intention of being an excursion boat on the Kozjak reservoir in the youngest Macedonian national park, Jasen. It is interesting, however, that one of these lake patrol boats, built half a century ago in the Arsenal in Tivat, is still in active use as a warship in its original configuration.

Parts of the PM M 71 pontoon bridge set in the Serbian Army
Parts of the PM M 71 pontoon bridge set in the Serbian Armyphoto: Private archive

Namely, the patrol boat PČ-304, which was once part of the JRM Border Detachment Ohrid, is still active today as a combat vessel of the Army of North Macedonia. The 50-year-old ship is now in perfect technical condition and serves as part of the Arnia Water Training Center of North Macedonia, which, in addition to the Army, is used by members of the special police units of that country. Patrol boats of the PČ-16 type are a project of the engineers of the Construction Bureau of the former MTRZ "Sava Kovačevič" Tivat, where these boats were built in series in the early seventies of the last century. Ships with a displacement of 22,96 or 24,07 tons in full load had a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. They are 17,04 meters long and 3,6 meters wide, while their draft is 0,9 meters. At a maximum speed of 15 knots, they were powered by two MWM diesel engines with a power of 230 horses each, and were armed with one M-71 20 mm cannon.

Patrol boat 303 on Lake Ohrid
Patrol boat 303 on Lake Ohridphoto: Private archive

While serving as border patrol boats, these ships were manned by seven crew members each. For their modest size, they had a remarkably long autonomy of 10 days and an action radius of as much as 2.700 kilometers. To this day, two PČ-18 type patrol boats, built by the Tivat Arsenal in the second half of the 16s, are used by the Tanzanian armed forces on Lake Victoria in far Africa. These boats are a two-meter extended version of the Yugoslav lake patrol boats of the PČ-29,5 type, which gives them a larger full displacement of 71 tons. The Tanzanian patrols from Tivat differ from the former Yugoslavian patrols in their stronger armament, consisting of two 20 mm M-50 cannons per ship. The quality of these ships is shown by the fact that a few years ago, during a health crisis on the Tanzanian part of Africa's largest lake, one of them suddenly transported as many as XNUMX civilians on board who needed medical help.

Patrol boat 304 serves in North Macedonia even after half a century
Patrol boat 304 serves in North Macedonia even after half a centuryphoto: Private archive

In the early seventies, the Tivat Arsenal introduced into its production program the production of then very modern collapsible pontoon bridges for the engineering units of the former Yugoslav People's Army. After forty years, some of those bridges are still in operational use today in the engineering and pontoon units of the Serbian Army. Arsenal's floating pontoon bridge M-71 (PM M-71) is actually a complete set of pontoon bridge, which was developed at the end of the sixties of the last century in the construction bureau of the Tivat MTRZ for the needs of the JNA, modeled on the then very current and modern Soviet pontoon bridge PMP .

Patrol boat 306 on Lake Prespa
Patrol boat 306 on Lake Prespaphoto: Private archive

The purpose of this pontoon bridge is to establish improvised bridge and scaffold crossing points for armored-mechanized or infantry units, when overcoming water obstacles. After the completion of the development of what was then codenamed "Project 382" in MTRZ "Sava Kovačevič", serial production of new sets of pontoon bridges for the JNA was started in 1971 in a purpose-built, new production hall in Tivat.

During the 71s and 70s, all JNA pontoon engineering units were equipped with PM M-80 pontoon bridge kits, and military trucks with floating bridge members were shown to the public for the first time parading in a military parade in Belgrade, on the occasion of Victory Day, 1975. years. The PM M-71 pontoon bridge kit manufactured at the Arsenal consists of 32 collapsible bridge sections on FAP transport trucks, four coastal collapsible sections also on FAP transport trucks, two sets of metal road curtains - also on FAP transport trucks, 12 small tugs- pushers RPP M-68 that serve to manipulate and push pontoon sections of the bridge during its installation or use as scaffolding, also transported on transport trucks FAP, and one individual set with auxiliary equipment and tools and accessories.

Floating ankle in folded position
Floating ankle in folded positionphoto: Private archive

At the beginning of production during the seventies, trucks of the type FAP 2220 BDS/A were used for the transport of parts of this set for the transport of floating and coastal articles, and trucks FAP 1314 S/AV for towing and pushing the RPP M-68 tugboat. Later, during the eighties, the set was modernized in such a way that both these types of trucks were replaced by the much more modern vehicles of the type FAP 2026 BDS/A. Each navigable section of the bridge is composed of four segments connected by hinges at intervals along the length, and which themselves, after the truck on the shore unloads them into the water, unfold and in the process form a floating object with a flat deck - a surface for transport.

Each set of PM M-71 can be assembled into a pontoon bridge with a capacity of 20 and 60 tons or scaffolding with a capacity of 20 to 170 tons (the basic types of scaffolding are with a capacity of 40,60,80,110,150, 1999, XNUMX, XNUMX, XNUMX t), which from an engineering point of view makes this a very complex means of military equipment. very flexible and extremely suitable for use, not only during military operations, but also in civilian use during major natural disasters - floods and river overflows, or demolition (for any reason) of permanent, solid bridge crossings over rivers. In this, the Tivat pontoon bridge set has proven itself countless times during decades of use in the JNA and VJ, and among other things, it was also used for civilian purposes when it replaced all the bridges across the Danube destroyed by the NATO bombing in XNUMX with its segments that were used as scaffolding. in Novi Sad.

The Croatian Army with the segmental pontoon bridge PM M 71
The Croatian Army with the segmental pontoon bridge PM M 71photo: Private archive

This means of military equipment occasionally also has an extremely unusual, touristic purpose, because the Serbian Army in the summer period sets up this pontoon bridge in Zemun, to Lido Beach on the Great War Island. This bridge is 342 meters long and has a load capacity of 20 tons. Otherwise, the main features of the PM M-71 pontoon bridge kit are that the bridges and scaffolding structures are continuous waterways; the bridge is constructed from articles (four collapsible pontoons), which represent finished parts of the bridge or scaffolding; constructions of bridge and scaffolding members are the same; no ramps are needed for docking scaffolding when loading and unloading equipment; decks of articles serve as roadways of bridges and scaffolding with four lanes of roadway; for loads up to 20 tons and a width of up to three meters, two road lanes can be used.

The carrying capacity of each pnron member in the scaffolding is 20 tons, and that of the coastal member is 10 tons. For a bridge with a load capacity of 60 tons, the maximum weight of an individual load must not exceed its load capacity, and the weight of a towing train (vehicle with a trailer) that crosses the girder of the bridge is limited to 90 tons. For a bridge with a capacity of 20 tons, the maximum weight of an individual load must not exceed 25 tons at a maximum speed of 20 km/h, and the weight of the towing train (vehicle with trailer) is limited to 30 tons. For a scaffold with a load capacity of 60 tons or more, the maximum weight of an individual continuous load must not exceed its load capacity.

The highest permitted speed of the water flow of the river over which the bridge is being installed, in the surface layer, at a water depth of up to 3 meters, is 2 m/s. Over the 60-ton bridge, the permitted speed of movement of tanks is 30 km/h, while over the 20-ton bridge, the movement of vehicles weighing up to 20 tons is allowed, at a speed of 30 km/h. Today, the sets of the floating pontoon bridge PM M-71, constructed and produced in the Tivat Arsenal, are in use in the River Flotilla of the Serbian Army in two pontoon battalions, as well as in the Army of the Republic of Croatia, while in Montenegro, unfortunately, not a single segment of this and for today's time, a rather impressive means of military technique.

Bonus video: