Originally developed by the German firm Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern[1] (EWK, since 2002 acquired by General Dynamics European Land Systems), it succeeded the conceptually similar M2 made by the same company.

Like its predecessor, the M3 traverses roads on its four wheels, deploying two large aluminium pontoons for buoyancy on water.

[3] Multiple rigs can be joined together using long ramps, four of which are carried on each vehicle, to form a bridge or a ferry that can be used to cross a water obstacle.

Eight M3 Rigs can be used to create a 100-metre-long (330 ft) bridge which can be traversed by vehicles up to and including the heaviest 60-tonne (130,000 lb) main battle tank like the Leopard 2A6 and Challenger 2.

[4] Alternatively, just two M3 Rigs may be joined to create a ferry capable of carrying a similar load across much wider water gaps.