The M2 - M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle

The M2 - M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. 1981 - Present. , Following in the tradition of the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, the Army began testing a more robust infantry carrier vehicle in the 1970s. In October 1981, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) was introduced as the Army’s latest and most modern tracked platform. It was much more than a “battle taxi” which only ferried troops to combat., Named after one the great U.S. Army generals and America’s last five-star general officer, General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, the vehicle was referred to as on of the “the (sic) most dramatic improvements in the infantry combat capability since the introduction of the machine gun.”, Two distinct models of the BFV were implemented at the outset. The M2, the infantry version, had a crew of three and could seat six (and later, seven) infantry dismounts. The M3, the cavalry scout model, was intended for the armor branch and had a crew of three and two scout dismounts. Since its introduction, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s primary armament has been its turret-mounted 25mm Bushmaster automatic chain gun, a dual tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missile system, and a coaxial M240C machine gun. Other design features and changes have come and gone as missions necessitated., Today, the M2/M3 BFV continues to be a platform that offers not only great lethality on the battlefield in its own rite (sic), but it also maintains the transport role to get Soldiers into and out of combat as quickly and safely as possible.