Designed with a combination of outstanding survivability, mobility, and lethality,
meet one of the lightly armored fighting vehicle platforms in the United States, Bradley Fighting
Vehicle. Although this vehicle is lightly armored, it is known as a battle proven platform and has
become a vital part of the U.S. Army brigade combat squad. So, how excellent is this vehicle
and how does it work? If you’re curious about the answer, don’t go anywhere and stay tuned.
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Military TV.
In today’s episode, we will discuss about the Bradley Fighting Vehicle,
an armored combat vehicle that transports infantry into battle and provides direct fire support.
bradley fighting vehicle or BFV was named after the U.S. General Omar Bradley and was
manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments and in response to the Soviet BMP family
of infantry fighting vehicles. It has been in frontline service since 1981 with the U.S. Army.
However, currently Saudi Arabia as well as Lebanon have also become the operators of this vehicle.
There are 6,724 units of the vehicle in total that have been fielded since its first deployment.
The Bradley was developed as a fully tracked transport vehicle
that offers cross-country mobility, mounted weaponry, and protection against artillery
and small-arms fire. It is used to transport troops into hostile territory
with armor protection before and during combat while suppressing enemy positions with firepower.
Hence, this armored vehicle is beneficial as both a tank-killer and personnel carrier.
There are two main variants of the Bradley, the M2 infantry fighting vehicle and the M3 cavalry
combat vehicle. More specifically, the M2 has a role in carrying a three-person crew, which
includes commander, gunner, and driver as well as six fully outfitted infantry men. Meanwhile, the
M3 is mostly used for scout missions and carrying crew of three with two additional scout troopers.
Above all, both variants are employed to fight mechanized infantry and armored cavalry.
In general, the Bradley vehicle is amphibious and is powered by VTA-903T diesel engine from Cummins
Engine Company of Colombus, Indiana. This engine produces 600 horsepower with range of up to 483km
and provides a maximum speed of 66km/h on road and 7.2km/h in water. In addition, with the length of
6.55 meters, the width of 3.61 meters, the height of 2.98 meters, and the total mass of 30.4 tones,
this vehicle is also equipped with hydromechanical transmission of 500 hydromechanical power train
from Combat Propulsion Systems. Thus, the Bradley, which was developed to replace the
M113 series of armored personnel carriers, is more powerful and faster than its predecessor.
In terms of weaponry, the Bradley fighting vehicle is mainly armed with 25 mm
M242 Bushmaster chain gun in a two-man turret. This cannon features a single barrel with an
incorporated into dual feed mechanism as well as remote feed selection, enabling it to fire up to
200 rounds per minute with accuracy of up to 2500 meters depending on the ammunition used either
with single or multiple shot. Further to this, the Bradley also carries the Raytheon BGM-71 TOW
anti-tank missiles, providing about twice the effective range at a maximum of 3,750 meters,
a more potent warhead, and a vastly enhanced semi-automatic guidance system that could
also include infrared cameras for night-time use. The twin-tube TOW launcher is mounted to
the left side of the turret and can track target using an infrared signal detection
from the back of the missile in flight through an optical sight. Beside those main armaments,
this fighting vehicle is also equipped with the 7.62 mm M240C machine gun attached coaxially to
the right of the Bushmaster with 2,200 rounds. Along with this, the modified M-16 rifles
is also mounted in shooting ports, which infantry can use to attack from inside of the Bradley,
or they even can dismount from the M2 Bradley variant to fight on foot.
On the other hand, as an armored vehicle, the Bradley is also capable of protecting against
14.5 mm to 30 mm armor-piercing, thanks to its spaced laminate armor as well as
explosive reactive armor (ERA). The ERA is made up of 96 tiles mounted to the vehicle’s sides,
turret, and front, making the Bradley effective in protecting the vehicle itself
and the crew inside from a variety of anti-armor weapons and even rocket propelled grenades.
It is also important to note that, this vehicle is fitted with an engine smoke generating system
and two M257 smoke grenade dischargers as a “self-protection” device, of which
is loaded with four smoke grenades each. With such enormous power and great survivability,
therefore, this amphibious vehicle is effective against most armored targets,
including the hostile tanks. Even in the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the Bradley has proven to be
effective in destroying more enemy tanks than the M1 and M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank systems did.
Although the M2 and M3 variants of Bradley have successfully
fulfilled the concept required of an excellent armored fighting vehicle,
the improvements are still made to keep them as a very dependable and critical combat vehicle
for the armies of the U.S. and the Saudi Arabia. One of the Bradley improvements is its armament.
In October 2019, Northrop Grumman at the AUSA defense exhibition and conference in Washington
D.C., United States, revealed a new XM913 50 mm Bushmaster, a weapon designed to modernize the
Bradley existing M242 25mm cannon. This weapon was developed based on the proven Bushmaster III
35/50 design to provide greater capability against newer infantry fighting vehicle designs as well as
counter-unmanned aerial systems. It is essentially a more advanced version of the standard chain gun
by combining Bushmaster chain gun durability with next-generation effective range, giving the
soldiers an increased stand-off against enemies at a close distance. As a result, with this advance
capability, the XM913 has twice the range of the Bradley former cannon and is able to attack target
up to four kilometers away. Furthermore, the 50mm cannon can integrate a number of new,
high-tech armored vehicle attack technologies into a single weapon, including enhanced fire-control,
automated targeting sensors, next-generation ammunition, and faster computer processing.
Another interesting thing to note is that according to Northrop Grumman spokesman Jarrod
Krull, the development of XM913 50 mm was initially undertaken to support the
U.S. Army’s Next-Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) replacing the Bradley vehicle family.
Yet, the Bradley variants remain in service in the meantime.
So, do you think the Bradley fighting vehicle is that
excellent and cannot be messed around with? Drop your comment below and let us know.
That’s all for today. Thank you for watching and see you on the next episode.