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 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. It is designed to be highly maneuverable and to be fast enough to keep up with heavy armor during an advance. The M2 holds a crew of three: a commander, a gunner and a driver, as well as six fully equipped soldiers.
In the year 2000 the total cost of the program was $5,664,100,000 for 1,602 units, giving an average unit cost of $3,166,000.[2]
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The Bradley is equipped with the M242 25 mm autocannon as its main weapon. The M242 has a single barrel with an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote feed selection.[4][unreliable source?] The gun has 300 ready rounds in two ready boxes (one of 70 rounds – usually AP-type rounds, the other of 230 rounds – usually HE-type 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.[5] 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 of Iraq.
It is also armed with an M240C machine gun mounted coaxially to the M242, with 2,200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. For engaging heavier targets (such as when acting in an anti-tank fashion), the Bradley has a TOW missile system on board, which was changed from the M2A1 model onwards to fire TOW II missiles. M2 infantry Bradleys also have firing ports for a number of M231 Firing Port Weapons or FPWs, providing a button-up firing position to replace the top-side gunners on the old ACAV, though the M231 is rarely employed. Initial variants carried six, but the side ports were plated over with the new armor used on the A2 and A3 variants, leaving only the two rear-facing mounts in the loading ramp.
Mass 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 (commander, gunner, driver)
Passengers 6 (7 in M2A2 ODS/M2A3)
Armor
Spaced laminate armor offering 14.5 mm all around protection. Hull base is 7017 aluminum.[1]
Main
armament
25 mm M242 chain gun (900 rounds)
2 × TOW anti-tank missile launchers (7 missiles)
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 16.18 kW/tonne (21.7 hp/tonne)
Suspension Torsion bar
Operational
range
483 km or 300 mi
Maximum speed 56 km/h or 35 mph; 40 km/h off-road; 7.2 km/h in water
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. Design began in 1963 and entered production in 1981.[3] 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.
Coletti's Combat Aircraft
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