M2 Bradley
The M2 Bradley is the U.S. Army's tracked IFV — a 25 mm chain gun, TOW missiles, and a six-man infantry squad on a single armored chassis, proven from Desert Storm to the close-range tank kills of the Ukraine war.
The U.S. Army’s primary tracked infantry fighting vehicle — a 25 mm Bushmaster cannon, TOW anti-tank missiles, and a six-man dismounted squad all on one platform, most famously the vehicle that enabled a two-man crew to disable a Russian T-90M with sustained chain-gun fire in Ukraine.
Overview
The M2 Bradley, nicknamed “Brad,” is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle designed to carry a rifle squad into combat while providing direct-fire support and anti-armor overwatch. First fielded in 1981, it has evolved through M2A3 and M2A4 blocks, with the latest M2A4E1 adding an Iron Fist active protection system. The vehicle combines a stabilized 25 mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun, a twin-tube TOW missile launcher, and space for three crew plus six dismounted infantry. More than 6,700 Bradleys of all types have been built, serving with the United States, several allied nations, and Ukraine, which received around 190 M2A2 ODS-SA vehicles from 2023.
Development
The Bradley entered service in 1981 after a protracted acquisition program that replaced the M113 armored personnel carrier in the mechanized infantry role. BAE Systems (then United Defense) delivered the first production vehicles, and the type saw its first major upgrade with the digital M2A3 variant fielded in 2000. BAE Systems describes the A3 as integrating a full digital fire-control system and a hull redesigned to accept add-on armor. The M2A4, which began fielding in 2022, brings a stronger suspension and a 675-hp engine to restore mobility to the up-armored hull. Army Technology notes that the A4 was specifically engineered to handle the weight growth of survivability upgrades, while Armada International reported the first unit’s receipt of the A4. The latest variant, M2A4E1, unveiled in 2024, integrates the Iron Fist active protection system to defeat incoming anti-tank threats.
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