M47M VLB

The M47M VLB is an Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) based on the M47 Patton tank chassis, designed to rapidly deploy a 60-foot (18.29m) scissors bridge over gaps and obstacles. It serves as a crucial combat engineering vehicle, enabling the rapid crossing of rivers, ditches, and other terrain features for military convoys.

Developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the M47M variant emerged as an export-focused modernization of the aging M47 Patton tank, utilizing M60 components to extend its operational utility. The bridge-laying configuration entered service in the mid-1970s, primarily supplied to the Iranian military to provide mobile bridging capabilities to armored divisions. These vehicles saw extensive combat deployment during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), where they were vital for crossing the numerous canals, marshes, and anti-tank ditches of the southern front. Today, the M47M VLB is largely obsolete, though a small number remain in the active inventory or reserve of the Iranian ground forces.