On June 12, 2024 (Wednesday), the Korean Army held a ceremony at the 7th Engineer Brigade's river-crossing training ground in Gyeonggi-do to field the KM3 'Surion' and deployed it for the first time to the 7th Maneuver Corps.
The KM3 'Surion' is domestically produced by Hanwha Aerospace through technical cooperation with Germany's M3 Amphibious Bridging Equipment and was first delivered to the Korean Army.
With the deployment of the 'Surion', the installation time compared to the existing Ribbon Bridge is reduced by 60-70%, and the number of operating personnel is reduced by up to 80%. Additionally, unlike the existing equipment, which requires about 6 hours of separate preparation time for bridge installation, no preparation time is needed.
K2 tanks, K21 armored vehicles, and K808 wheeled armored vehicles crossed the river using bridges and ferries constructed with the KM3 'Surion'.
During the river-crossing demonstration, various drone systems were deployed to reconnoiter enemy areas and protect the combined arms units conducting the crossing operation.