M2 Bradley
| M2 Bradley | |
|---|---|
M2 Bradley during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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| Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1981–present |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars | Persian Gulf War, Iraq War |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 27.6 tonnes (30.4 short tons) |
| Length | 21.49 ft (6.55 m) |
| Width | 11.82 ft (3.6 m) |
| Height | 9.78 ft (2.98 m) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Passengers | 6 (7 in M2A2 ODS/M2A3) |
|
|
|
| Armor |
|
|
Main
armament |
|
|
Secondary
armament |
7.62 mm coaxial M240C machine gun (2,200 rounds) |
| Engine |
Cummins VTA-903T 8-cylinder diesel 600 hp (447 kW) |
| Power/weight | 19.74 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
|
Operational
range |
483 km or 300 mi |
| Speed | 56 km/h or 35 mph; 40 km/h off-road; 7.2 km/h in water |
The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense.
The Bradley is designed for reconnaissance and maneuverability. The Bradley is also designed to transport a squad of infantry, providing them protection from small arms fire, while also providing firepower to both suppress and eliminate most threats to friendly infantry. The M2 can hold a crew of three: a commander, a gunner and a driver; as well as six fully equipped soldiers.
The total cost of the program is $5,664,100,000, and the average unit costs $3,166,000.
The Bradley IFV was developed largely in response to the amphibious Soviet BMP family of infantry fighting vehicles, and to serve as both an Armored personnel carrier (APC), and a tank-killer. One specific design requirement was that it should be as fast as the new M1 Abrams main battle tank so that they could maintain formations while moving, something which the older M113 armored personnel carrier could not do, as it had been designed to complement the older M60 Patton.
The M2's primary armament is a 25 mm cannon, which fires up to 200 rounds per minute and is accurate up to 2,500 m depending on the ammunition used. It is also armed with two BGM-71 TOW wire-guided missiles, which are held in a rectangular compartment on the left side of the turret and are capable of destroying most tanks out to a maximum range of 3750 m. However, the missiles can only be fired while the vehicle is stationary. The Bradley also carries a coaxial 7.62 mm medium machine gun, located to the right of the 25 mm chain gun.
The Bradley is equipped with the M242 25 mm as its main weapon. The M242 has a single barrel with an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote feed selection. The gun has 300 ready rounds in two ready boxes (one of 70 rounds, the other of 230 rounds), with another 600 rounds in storage. The two ready boxes allow a selectable mix of rounds, such as the M791 APDS-T (Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (with) Tracer), and M792 HEI-T (High Explosive Incendiary (with) Tracer) rounds. The 25 mm automatic gun is primarily used for clearing bunkers and firing on lightly armored vehicles. While the 25 mm automatic gun is not the weapon of choice for engaging tanks, vehicle commanders, crews, and CALL and Army Infantry Center personnel reported isolated instances in which the 25 mm automatic gun had killed tanks. However, Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity (AMSAA) officials stated that, on the basis of their assessment of combat vehicles in the Persian Gulf war, for the 25 mm automatic gun to kill a tank, the tank would have to be hit at close range in its more vulnerable areas. Subsequent ammunition developments resulted in the M919 APFSDS-T (Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot with Tracer) round, which contains a finned depleted-uranium penetrator similar in concept to armor-piercing munitions used in modern tanks. The M919 was used in combat during the 2003 invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
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