America's M2A2 Bradley: Russian critiques and battlefield respect
A Russian military blogger posted a detailed analysis on VKontakte, comparing the BMP family's infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to the American M2A2 Bradley. Here's his perspective on them.
The Russian harshly criticizes the BMP family IFVs, especially the models from storage, describing them as useless scraps serving as disposable taxis.
In contrast, he appreciates the American M2A2 Bradley ODS, which can effectively serve as an infantry fighting vehicle in practice, not just in theory. According to him, the American IFV has a much more accurate cannon than the 2A42 on the BMP-2, providing significantly better protection for the crew and transported troops. Thanks to this, one can expect that the M2A2 Bradley actively supports its troops, for instance, by "suppressing" enemy positions with fire from its main weapon.
M2A2 Bradley — a U.S. vehicle feared by Russians
The M2A2 Bradley ODS, a veteran of the Gulf War, was initially not highly regarded by commentators, especially compared to the better-armoured CV90. However, actions by the 47th Mechanized Brigade significantly changed this perception, and the American IFV exceeded expectations by providing effectiveness and a high degree of protection despite its relatively low weight of about 27,000 kg. By contrast, other modern IFVs, like the KF41 Lynx, weigh around 39,900 kg or more.
The M2A2 Bradley's basic armour protects against fire from heavy machine guns KPVT with a calibre of 14.5×114 mm, and its frontal armour can withstand 30 mm shells fired from 2A42 automatic cannons. However, this is not the end of its capabilities, as reactive armour bricks BRAT can be added.
These offer protection against older-generation guided anti-tank missiles and PG-7VL grenades or anti-tank bomblets widely used on FPV drones. Online, you can find footage showing the Bradley surviving several hits.
Moreover, the M2A2 Bradley protects the crew in mine encounters. Because of this, the three-person crew and seven-person troop contingent often emerge unscathed from challenging situations.
In terms of armament, it mainly consists of a 25 mm Bushmaster automatic cannon, a 7.62x51 mm NATO machine gun, and a dual launcher for BGM-71F (TOW 2B) guided anti-tank missiles. The main cannon has a range of 3.2 km and can fire either armour-piercing or high-explosive incendiary M792 HEI-T rounds, which are very effective for clearing enemy soldiers from areas with dense vegetation.
However, it is not very effective against tanks, and here, the main anti-tank weapon is the TOW-2B missiles, with a range of up to 3.7 km. This is an older system that requires guiding the missile until impact, but it attacks the tank's weakest upper armor. This is not a top-attack flight like the Javelins; rather, the missile flies towards the tank in a straight line and detonates directly above it.
