Lighter, hybrid and digital, the replacement for the M2 Bradley paves the way for the new generation of American armored vehicles

The long-awaited replacement for the M2 Bradley, the US Army's infantry fighting vehicle, resulting from the OMFV program will be both lighter, hybrid and digital, far from the paradigms of its predecessor.

Intended to replace the M113 armored personnel carriers, as well as to counter the new Soviet BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles that entered service in 1966, the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was one of the pillars of the BIG 5 super program launched in the early 70s by the US Army to modernize its capabilities and take into account the lessons of the Vietnam War, but also of the two Arab-Israeli wars.

The new armored vehicle from FMC Corporation, already at the origin of the M113 and the amphibious assault vehicle LVPT-7, broke deeply with the armored vehicles in service in Western armies, with in particular a turret armed with a 25 mm M242 cannon. and a dual TOW anti-tank missile launcher, allowing it to engage heavy armor including tanks, at ranges of up to 4 km.

The long career of M2 Bradley in the US Army

With the appearance of the BMP-2 in 1984, the Bradley began a long series of modifications and improvements to increase survivability, with reactive armor plates, new communication and navigation systems, and an additional engine. more powerful to compensate for the weight gain, the tank having gone from 23 tons in its initial version, to almost 35 tons in its latest versions.

The Bradley had its heyday during the Gulf War in 1991, the US Army having deployed 2200 of these armored vehicles against Iraq, or approximately half of the fleet. While 20 Bradleys were destroyed during the ground campaign, and 8 damaged, mostly from friendly fire, these destroyed a large number of Iraqi armor, including T-72 tanks using its TOW missiles, and T-55 tanks with its 25mm cannon armed with depleted uranium penetrator shells.

However, during the second American intervention in Iraq, the M2 showed certain weaknesses, in particular as regards urban engagement and vis-a-vis the IED of the Iraqi insurgents. It became clear that its replacement, envisaged since the beginning of the 2000s, had to be accelerated.

This is how the Ground Combat Vehicle program was born, officially launched in February 2010, but which quickly proved to be an impasse due to the requirements of the US Army which led to the design of an armored vehicle that was both very expensive and excessively heavy, beyond 70 tonnes. The program was finally abandoned in 2014, not without costing American taxpayers nearly $20 billion.

The OMFV program

No sooner had the GCV program been canceled than it was replaced by a new program intended again to replace the M2 Bradley. This one, designated by the acronym OMFV for Optionally Manned Fighting vehicle, was officially launched in August 2014, using the remaining unspent budget of the GCV program, within the Next Generation Combat Vehicle super program.

If the specifications of the US Army had evolved significantly vis-à-vis CGV, in particular with regard to certain imperatives of dimensions and mass to allow the new armored vehicle to be transported by air C-17, that -this very quickly proved to be disconnected from the technological reality of the moment, with certain contradictory requirements from each other, in particular with regard to mass limitations in the face of protection requirements.

75% of this article remains to read,
Subscribe to access it!

The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising,
from 6,90 €.

Newsletter subscription