The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - M2/M3 Bradley - Aug. 31st, 2004

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[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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M2 and M3
Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems
(BFVS)

The M2/M3 BFVS family consists of the M2/M2A1/M2A2/M2A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the M3/M3A1/M3A2/M3A3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle and derivatives of these vehicles including: manpads under armor - the integration of the STINGER Missile System into the M2A2/M3A3 vehicles; Bradley fire support team vehicles and the command group vehicle variants.


M2 "Bradley" Prototype

The mission of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle [BFV] is to provide mobile protected transport of an infantry squad to critical points on the battlefield and to perform cavalry scout missions. The BFVS will also provide overwatching fires to support dismounted infantry and to suppress or defeat enemy tanks and other fighting vehicles. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle is a fully armored, fully tracked vehicle designed to carry Mechanized Infantry into close contact with the enemy. It possesses sufficient cross-country mobility to keep up with the Abrams Main Battle Tank, medium and long-range firepower capable of defeating any vehicle on the battlefield, and is adequately armored to protect the crew from artillery and small arms threats. During World War II, the vehicle's namesake, General Omar Bradley, was known as the "GI General".


M2 Bradley

The Bradley is able to close with and destroy enemy forces in support of mounted and dismounted Infantry and Cavalry combat operations. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle family currently consists of two vehicles: the M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle. Just as with its predecessor, the M113 family, the Bradley will eventually be the platform for a wide range of support vehicles.


M2A2 Bradley

Unlike the M113 family of vehicles the Bradley replaces, this is not simply a "battle taxi". The Bradley is a sophisticated weapons platform capable of providing tremendous firepower in direct support of the Infantry it carries. The role of the Bradley is to :

• Safely transport Infantry to critical locations on the battlefield;
• Provide fire support to cover their dismounted operations,
• Destroy enemy tanks and other vehicles that may threaten the Infantry it carries

The Bradley’s main armament is the M242 25mm "Bushmaster" Chain Gun, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The M242 has a single barrel with an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote ammunition selection. Either armor piercing (AP) or high explosive (HE) ammunition may be selected with the flick of a switch. The Gunner may select from single or multiple shot modes. The standard rate of fire is 200 rounds per minute, and has a range of 2,000 meters (depending on the ammunition used). A wide range of ammunition has been developed for this weapon, making it capable of defeating the majority of armored vehicles it is likely to encounter, up to and including some main battle tanks. The M240C machine gun, mounted to right of the Bushmaster, fires 7.62mm rounds.



When facing heavier enemy armor the Bradley relies on the TOW Anti-Tank Missile, manufactured by the Hughes Aircraft. Launched from a smooth tube launcher, the missile’s wings and tail fins are folded inside its body until launch. Two of these missiles are carried ready to fire in a collapsible, armored launch rack on the left of the turret. The Bradley must stop in order to fire these missiles, which are them reloaded by the Infantrymen in the back of the vehicle, using a special hatch which provides armor protection during the reload operation. The missile is equipped with a massive shaped charge, high explosive warhead and is propelled by a two-stage solid propellant motor. The range of the TOW missile is nearly 4 kilometers and the missile will reach a speed of almost Mach 1 on its way to the target. This weapon is capable of destroying any armored vehicle in existence today and is deadly accurate.


Maximum ground speed is 66km/h.

The wide tracks and 600 horsepower turbo-diesel power plant give the vehicle the mobility it needs to keep up with the Abrams, and keep the soldiers it carries out of harms way. In order to fulfil the requirement for rapid worldwide deployability, the Bradley can be transported by truck, rail, ship and transporter aircraft. In addition, all Bradleys are amphibious. Early models were equipped with a water barrier, which is erected by the crew before entering the water – a procedure that takes about 30 minutes. Later models have an inflatable pontoon, which fits on the front and sides of the vehicle. This pontoon is inflated in about 15 minutes, and is continuously pressurized during operation. The pontoon is compartmentalized to provide protection against sinking in the event of rupture of the pontoon. Water propulsion is provided by tracks which propel the vehicle at about 4 MPH.

[SAMWolf]

Evening Phil Dragoo

I betrayed this country as a young man and my defeat in November will be proof of a benevolent God, and relegate me to one of five couches in the mansions of the Queen of Diamonds.

AMEN!

Thanks for the links to the BushMaster. Only the GAU-8 Avenger impresses me more.

[snippy_about_it]

Yoonited Nations, LOL.

I betrayed this country as a young man and my defeat in November will be proof of a benevolent God, and relegate me to one of five couches in the mansions of the Queen of Diamonds.

Oh please be true!

[snippy_about_it]

We are partners after all. :-)

[Iris7]

In the early days of the Bradley I did some numerical analysis on the armor. In those days they used to publish unloaded and loaded weight. I did some measurements off of the photos, worked up an estimated armor weight (I used 60% of empty weight as I recall) and figured the armor mass per square foot, using 1 for the top, 2 for the back and sides, and 4 for the frontal arc, 6 for the glacis and turret front. Takes a couple hours. Answer came out bad, a death trap. A .50 SLAP round at 500 yards penetrated most places. No better than an M113.

There was some spaced armor, but not much. Looked like the glacis and outboard of the front track return. Those areas looked vulnerable to Russian 14.5 mm APBC maybe, 23 mm Shilka fire certainly. More Federal insanity, I figured.

What I am saying provides no "aid and comfort" because even bin Laden wannabes can do the arithmetic. More importantly, the A3 has interesting modern armor, can't really see into it much, just a bit. And now I won't talk, and if forced I would point out that the alien spacecraft kept in Area 51 has provided many insights, and some are now in production.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Iris7]

Nice looking rig. Be a gas to shoot. Maybe some armor, though. The deck apes must be half insane with the sand bags!

[GATOR NAVY]

Interesting that in your link, it says the 25mm was a replacement for the WWII 20mm Oerlikon, which it says was difficult to maintain. Then if you follow the link to the 20mm page, it says the gun was a favorite due to its ease of maintinance.

[GATOR NAVY]

Yeah, I never thought about the sandbags. We never had them, I think it depends on how close to the waterline the mounts are. Ours were pretty high.

[Iris7]

I watched Solidarity since before Walesa climbed the shipyard wall. I could see that the gangsters running the USSR would have to crush this business or be destroyed themselves. I gave you Poles not one chance in hell.

Well, God moves in mysterious ways, his will to perform.

In hindsight I could piece it all together. I had not realized how tired of mass murder the nomenclatura had become. Also, Jarulzelski had a pivotal role in making it work. He kept the Russians from sending in the tanks for real. Gierik would have begged the Russians to do it. Further, the Czech - especially Prague - suppression caused serious damage to Red Army morale, it seems, and the Politburo was having problems with the Army on a number of levels and feared that making the Army do a real job on Poland would make it worse. The international media attention had some effect, probably not much. Of course the fellow in the West who deserves the most credit is His Holiness John Paul II, followed by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Very serious sanctions were promised if Poland were crushed, beginning with deporting all Eastern Bloc personnel. There were carrots too. (A lot of this stuff is not public knowledge.)

[SAMWolf]

Sometimes I think "Lightweight armor" is a real oxymoron.

[SAMWolf]

The one thing taht struck me the first time I heard of Zbigniew Brzezinski was "Here's a public figure that has the same first name as my dad" I had never seen "Zbigniew" on TV and 99% of the broadcasters mispronounded it. :-)

[PhilDragoo]

55,000 guns in service beginning in 1939. Perhaps the ease of maintenance is pro rata.