France awards €697M Syfrall contract to build new heavy floating bridges for tanks.

On February 2, 2026, the French Armament General Directorate confirmed the award of the Syfrall heavy light crossing system framework contract to a consortium formed by CNIM Systèmes Industriels, CEFA, and Soframe.

On February 2, 2026, the French Armament General Directorate confirmed the award of the Syfrall heavy light crossing system framework contract to a consortium formed by CNIM Systèmes Industriels, CEFA, and Soframe. The decision follows a notification issued on December 30, 2025, and activates a contract with a maximum value of €697,254,995 excluding tax over a duration of 120 months. The program falls under the 2024–2030 French military programming law and allows acquisitions for partner nations.
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The Pont Flottant Motorisé (PFM), composed of powered floating modules that can be assembled into ferries or continuous bridges, remains the primary floating bridge system in the French Army, notably in the PFM F2 configuration. (Picture source: CNIM Systèmes Industriels)

The Syfrall program, for Système de Franchissement Lourd-Léger, is designed as a modular system enabling both discontinuous crossings using ferries, referred to as portières in French, and continuous crossings through the assembly of floating bridge sections. The system is transported by trucks and relies on floating modules and loading ramps that can be combined according to the width of the obstacle, current conditions, and vehicle loads to be supported. The Syfrall is specified to support Military Load Classification (MLC) thresholds up to MLC 85C and MLC 100R, allowing the crossing of all current French Army wheeled and tracked vehicles, including the modernized Leclerc XLR main battle tank and allied heavy armored vehicles. This load capacity reflects the increased mass of French vehicles introduced under the Scorpion program and aligns the crossing capability with NATO standards used for planning and interoperability. The modular approach is intended to standardize engineering crossing assets across units rather than relying on multiple specialized systems.

In quantitative terms, the initial target for the French Army is eight Syfrall systems representing roughly 300 linear meters of crossing capability, with deliveries planned before the end of 2030. These eight systems are defined as providing a first operational crossing capability for a combined-arms tactical group equipped with Scorpion vehicles and Leclerc tanks, establishing a reference level for brigade-level maneuver operations. The program is therefore structured to restore autonomous wet-gap crossing capacity at brigade level while also contributing to divisional-level logistical crossings when systems are combined. The framework nature of the contract allows for additional systems to be ordered later, depending on operational requirements and available funding. This structure also supports long-term sustainment and incremental expansion rather than a single fixed delivery batch. The contract is structured to allow acquisitions on behalf of other nations, notably through the European SAFE (Security for Action For Europe) initiative, and is intended to address long-standing constraints affecting the French Army’s wet-gap crossing capacity for maneuver and logistics.

From an industrial standpoint, the program assigns development and production responsibilities to the consortium members in a defined manner, with CNIM Systèmes Industriels and CEFA responsible for manufacturing the floating bridge components and Soframe providing the tractor trucks and semi-trailers required for transport and deployment. The consortium is tasked with both development and production of the system, covering engineering activities, manufacturing, and preparation for operational use by engineering units. The partnership between the three companies was formalized publicly in 2024 and is presented as a fully French industrial arrangement, with all major components produced domestically. This organization links the floating bridge elements and the road mobility chain into a single program, which is relevant because the availability of crossing capability depends directly on transport, deployment speed, and sustainment of both elements.

The current wet-gap crossing assets available to the French Army are limited in number and consist of several different systems that entered service over a long period, creating constraints in capacity and standardization. Core assets include the Pont Flottant Motorisé (PFM), the Engin de Franchissement de l’Avant (EFA), and lighter crossing means used at brigade level, but the total available crossing length is restricted relative to the requirements of high-intensity operations involving heavy armored units. Past operational experience and exercises in Europe highlighted that available crossing assets were insufficient in density to support rapid maneuver across river-rich terrain, especially when multiple crossing points are required simultaneously. As vehicle mass increased with the introduction of Scorpion vehicles and Leclerc upgrades, these limitations became more pronounced, reinforcing the need for a new generation of crossing systems.

The Engin de Franchissement de l’Avant (EFA) remains one of the existing heavy crossing assets in service within the French Army, providing amphibious ferry capability and, when several vehicles are combined, the ability to form temporary bridges. The EFA allows vehicles to embark directly onto floating sections without requiring extensive bank preparation, and its amphibious design enables rapid transition between land and water. However, the EFA fleet is limited in size and was developed for the weight and dimensions of earlier armored vehicle generations, which influences how it is employed by modern heavy forces across multiple axes. As a result, EFAs are often concentrated within specific engineer units rather than distributed across all units, reducing flexibility at the brigade level.

On the other hand, the Pont Flottant Motorisé (PFM) remains the primary floating bridge system in French Army service and has been modernized in recent years, notably through the PFM F2 standard. The PFM consists of powered floating modules that can be assembled into ferries or bridges and is rated to support vehicles up to roughly MLC 90T and MLC 100W, depending on configuration and conditions. Modernization introduced more powerful propulsion, remote control features, and integrated ramps to reduce manpower and deployment time, but the overall number of available modules limits total crossing length. While the PFM provides a flexible and proven solution for wet-gap crossing, its limited availability within the French Army and the growing weight of modern armored vehicles mean it cannot alone meet the full crossing requirements envisaged for future brigade and divisional operations, which is why the Syfrall will progressively complement and eventually succeed theses two assets by extending load classes, modularity, and overall crossing capacity.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.