Two modernised main battle tanks (One with desert camouflage and another with standard Turkish Army camouflage) were equipped with snorkels for underwater passes. Later on, one of the tanks was transported by FNSS’s OTTER Rapid Deployable Amphibious Wet Gap Crossing System (Known as SAMUR in Turkiye). FNSS’s OTTER also carried other vehicles, such as ACV-15 armoured fighting vehicles.
OTTER’s wide 8x8 layout on land gives it high mobility and low ground pressure. It can also operate in soft riverbank soils to enter and exit the water.
Thanks to pump jets, it can move independently when deployed in water; when combined, multiple OTTERs can form bridges. With OTTER being able to support main battle tanks weighing 60-70 tons, most combat vehicles can be transferred quickly through rivers and other calm waters once the bridge is set up.
A single OTTER system can ferry MLC 21 tracked vehicles in the ferry role. Two OTTER systems can be coupled to form a pontoon capable of transporting an MLC 85 T vehicle. Up to MLC 120 W vehicles can be transported over wet gaps by connecting three systems ramp to ramp. In addition to serving as a ferry, eight OTTER systems can be combined ramp to ramp to form a 100-meter-long bridge capable of carrying MLC 85 T and MLC 120 W vehicles. Multiple OTTERs can be linked to specific missions to cover greater distances.
Similar exercises are known to be conducted in the past. However, the potential of calm waters for transporting vehicles and other equipment, like the rivers in Eastern Europe, has gained attention since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
