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During the rise of the Cold War, the United States began working on the ultimate
infantry fighting vehicle that could be used under the effects of radiation
and chemical agents to safeguard the troops. As the years passed, the specifications kept
increasing, and the end product significantly changed from its original incarnation.
Still, it unquestionably paid off when the M2 Bradley IFV was finally introduced to the US Army.
The Bradley was completely amphibious and highly capable in cross terrain,
and was able to carry a crew of three plus six heavily armed soldiers. Also, it was armed with
a powerful Bushmaster cannon, a machine gun, and TOW missiles to face hostile armored vehicles.
It would be during Operation Desert Storm in the
early 90s that the Bradley would prove its dominion, exceeding all expectations
and even surpassing one of the most influential tanks in US military history.
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A New Soviet Threat
Following the events of the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and 1949, it became clear for the Allied forces,
and especially for the United States government, that the Soviet Union and
Joseph Stalin were not holding back when it came to taking over all of Europe.
The Soviets were more than willing to start a new continental conflict if the US and its Allies did
not respond to violence with more violence. As part of the ongoing arms race between both
nations, the US began to seriously consider a possible ground conflict in Western Europe.
Consequently, the Army started preliminary studies to develop a vehicle that could be
used in Europe and help the infantry continue fighting under the effects of nuclear,
biological, or chemical agents. One of the earliest specifications for
this new type of infantry fighting vehicle, or IFV, was to have a complete life-support
system that could protect a squad of soldiers from these radioactive and biological agents.
Additionally, the vehicle had to be amphibious in nature to traverse bodies of water such as rivers,
creeks, or other natural formations that other vehicles could not overcome.
The first attempt at developing the new IFV was the M75, which entered service
in 1952. But even though it could carry a squad of 10 men, it was not amphibious.
This vehicle was followed by the M59 in 1954, which was amphibious and cheaper
to produce but lacked several of the specifications required by the Army.
Four years later, the Army issued new requirements for the IFV it wanted,
calling for a vehicle that could carry a squad of at least six men,
offer NBC protection for the crew, be amphibious and air-drop capable, have cross-country mobility,
and be adaptable for multiple roles through kits or modifications to its superstructure.
In addition, it had to be armed with a 20-millimeter autocannon,
a 7.62-millimeter machine gun, and feature firing ports for the infantrymen inside the vehicle.
This ongoing process resulted in the introduction of the M113 fully-tracked armored personnel
carrier or APC. However, it proved insufficient, and the Army kept working on developing an
authentic IFV that was more rugged and capable of fighting the Soviets in continental Europe.
A Troublesome Development
The M113 was the first aluminum combat vehicle to be mass-produced by the military.
Its armor was thick enough to protect troops from rifle and machine-gun fire,
and it was air-transportable thanks to its 12-ton weight.
Over 80,000 models would be produced between 1960 and the early 1990s,
and the Army used a modified version of the M113 to continue developing the perfect IFV.
The prototype comprised a commander's cupola and passenger firing ports
and was dubbed the XM734. It then led to the XM765 Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle,
which was still inspired by the M113 design.
In 1963, the US and West Germany partnered to develop the MBT70 program, a Mechanized Infantry
Combat Vehicle or MICV, whose objective was to produce a companion vehicle for the eventual IFV.
While disagreements and the addition of more specifications stalled the project,
the Soviets introduced their first amphibious IFV in 1967.
The Americans and the Germans were impressed by the BMP1, but their joint venture suddenly
came to an end. After that, the US Army rejected several prototypes that failed to live up to the
expectations of an all-terrain infantry combat vehicle, including the future German Marder.
More controversial decisions stalled the MICV Program
until the Army issued a new request for proposal in 1972.
FMC Corporation won the bid with its XM723 prototype, a 21-ton vehicle that had a
capacity for three crewmen, a commander, a gunner, a driver, and eight infantrymen.
And as the Army had requested, the prototype was bulletproof against 14.5-millimeter fire,
armed with a 20-millimeter cannon, and had firing ports for the soldiers.
After several changes, tiresome reviews, antagonistic critics, and over a dozen redesigns,
FMC’s prototype was finally accepted in 1977. From there on, the prototype was dubbed the
XM2 program. XM2
FMC had to replace the one-man turret with a two-man turret that had a Bushmaster cannon and
TOW missiles to use against armored vehicles. This was done to gain political leverage with the US
Congress, which was getting tired of the excessive funding given to the Army’s MICV program.
During an interview with ARMY magazine in 1987, General Donn Starry would say:
(QUOTE) “We, in Army Training Doctrine and Command, decided to put the TOW on the MICV
because we realized that if we did not put the TOW on the MICV, we would probably never have a MICV.”
Still, the US Congress questioned several points in the development of the program and suggested
that the XM2 vehicle had to be heavier and more resistant against enemy projectiles.
More evaluations of the XM2 program were requested, and they were carried
out by the Department of the Army and the Government Accountability Office.
Also, funding for the program was significantly reduced, and it was not until 1981 that it was
finally approved for production by the Secretary of Defense after an extensive redesign.
The vehicle was then baptized as the M2 Bradley
in honor of World War 2 hero General Omar Bradley, who passed away in 1981.
The first M2 Bradley was delivered to the Army in March of 1983. Based on the Army´s structure,
41 M2s would be part of an infantry battalion after replacing the M113s, which were slowly
reduced to non-front line roles. The M2 Bradley IFV
The total cost of the M2 Bradley program was 5.7 billion dollars,
with each individual unit costing approximately 3.1 million dollars.
The M2 Bradley’s role is to carry infantry squads to the battlefield,
provide covering fire, and suppress enemy tanks and armored vehicles with cannon and TOW missiles.
The vehicle is manned by a crew of three: a commander,
a driver, and a gunner, and can carry six fully armed infantry soldiers.
In some cases, a removable seat can be incorporated to fit an additional element,
while the M3 variant can carry two scouts for reconnaissance operations.
The Bradley has a length of 21.3 feet, a width of 3.28 feet,
and a height of 11 feet. It weighs over 80,000 pounds,
but this can vary according to the variant, the armament used, or the additional layers of armor.
The main armament comprises a 25-millimeter M242 Bushmaster chain gun,
and the single barrel gun has an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote feed selection.
The gun is effective against light-armored targets and fortified positions,
and the Bradley can carry up to 900 rounds. It also has a standard fire rate of 200 rounds per
minute but can be modified to increase it to 500. A 7.62-millimeter M240 machine gun with about
2,000 rounds is mounted coaxially right next to the Bushmaster. And for use against
armored vehicles, the M2 is equipped with Raytheon’s TOW BGM71 anti-tank missile system.
This twin-tube launcher is mounted on the vehicle’s left side of the turret.
In addition, up to seven missiles can be carried aboard, with their range being 2.3 miles.
And a double-wire command link between the gunner and the missile is distributed by two reels at the
back of the missile, allowing the launcher to send correction data to appropriately hit its target.
What’s more, the infantrymen can engage the enemy with their weapons through firing ports
distributed at the sides of the vehicle. And the Bradley carries M257 smoke grenade dischargers
to screen its movements or distract enemy armor. The vehicle also features nuclear, biological,
and chemical protection for the whole crew and is fully amphibious and cross-country capable.
Without any armor upgrades, the Bradley can be deployed with a flotation curtain
that allows it to move through bodies of water at a speed of about five miles per hour.
Also, the vehicle’s armor is made up of an aluminum laminate protection scheme that can
resist the impact of 30-millimeter armor-piercing ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades or RPGs.
Moreover, the Bradley is powered by a Cummins VTA-903T eight-cylinder
diesel-fueled engine that delivers over 600 horsepower and can achieve
a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour with an average operational range of 300 miles.
One of the main requirements from the US Army was to make the vehicle as fast as the M1 Abrams tank
so that both vehicles could keep pace during combat. And the Bradley sure delivered.
Variants Another significant
advantage of the Bradley is its versatility to be deployed and carried by rail, ship, truck, and
cargo aircraft such as the C17 Globemaster III. As a complement to its versatility,
the M2 Bradley can also be fitted with several kits that can upgrade its armor and weaponry
or make it more effective in a specific role. For example, the Bradley Urban Survivability
Kits, or BUSK, bolster the vehicle’s effectiveness in urban threat environments.
The kit includes a powerful spotlight, a mesh protector that safeguards the optics,
arched strips of nylon to push away fallen electrical wires, underside armor,
and a bullet-resistant transparent shield for the commander outside the turret.
The Bradley also has several different variants, the most recognizable of which
is the M3, a cavalry variant used for an armed scout role that carries two
scouts instead of the usual six-man squad and additional communications equipment.
Meanwhile, the M4 Bradley is a command-and-control vehicle,
and the next offspring of the Bradley is the M6 Linebacker, a self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle
that carries four Stinger surface-to-air missiles instead of the standard TOW anti-tank missiles.
Other variants include the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System Carrier Vehicle,
which uses the Bradley’s chassis, and the Black Knight Prototype, an unmanned ground
combat vehicle that significantly resembles the Bradley and uses several of its same components.
Combat Service
The Bradleys were extensively used during the Gulf War,
where they destroyed more hostile Iraqi armored vehicles than the M1 Abrams heavy battle tank.
Twenty Bradleys were lost during the operation, but only three were destroyed by hostile forces.
The rest were lost due to friendly fire accidents.
When the Iraq War was unleashed after 9/11, the Bradleys once again proved
their worth in combat in the Middle East. The vehicles became critical for deploying
infantrymen into hot combat zones and extracting the wounded. However, they proved vulnerable to
improvised explosive devices and projectiles from RPGs employed by the Iraqi forces.
About 700 Bradleys were damaged, and over 150 were destroyed by the time the war ended.
As of 2022, more than 6,800 Bradleys have been built,
and Saudi Arabia is the sole operator of this infantry vehicle besides the American military.
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