From: t.telenko@genie.geis.com Subject: Worlds Best IFV Date: 1995/05/23 Message-ID: approved: military@ranger.daytonoh.ncr.com sender: military@ranger.daytonoh.attgis.com (Sci.military Login) organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway newsgroups: sci.military.moderated From t.telenko@genie.geis.com I'm afraid I am going to disagree with the CV-9040 fans here regards which IFV is the better fighting vehicle. Using the American Army measures of survivability -- firepower, mobility, and armor protection -- the latest mark of Bradley matches up against any other IFV in the Arms Bazaar. The soon to be deployed M2/3ODS (Operation Desert Storm) variant and the M2A3 are even better. First things first, technical specs for the M2A2 Crew: 3+6 Combat weight: 66,000 lbs (30,000 kg) P-W Ratio: 18.2 hp/ton (20 hp/ton metric) Engine: 600hp Cummins, with HMPT-500-3 G.E. transmission Max Speed: 41-45mph (66-72km/h) Water speed: 4.5mph (7.2km/h) Range: 265-300miles (427-483km) Fuel Load: 175 U.S. Gallons (662 liters) Hull length: 21.5 ft (6.55m) Hull Width: 10.5 ft (3.2m) Overall Height: 9.75 ft (2.97m) Armament: Main -- M242 25mm Autocannon 360-Degree electric traverse +60,-10 degree elevation Coaxial -- 7.62mm MG same as above Secondary -- 2 X TOW launcher +30,-20 degrees elevation Ammo -- 300 25mm, split 75/225 AP/HE ready; 600 25mm stowed 800 7.62mm ready; 1200 stowed (plus 2200 for the squad) Two TOW ATGM ready; 5 TOW/Dragon/Javalin stowed Armor: Overall sides and engine two spaced plates of 1 & 1/4 inch steel (32mm) over a 1 inch aluminium hull. Additional thickness over the driver and turret front. This proofs the Bradley from Sov. 30mm AP Fitted for, but not with, reactive armor. Small numbers of R.A. kits have been purchased and stored in Kuwaiti and floating preposition equipment depots. (Small #'s means several 100) R.A. proofs the M2A2 from RPG-7's. Vehicle Design Philosophy: The CV90 was created with the defense of northern Sweden in mind. It's low ground weight is meant to allow mobility on soggy tundra and northern bogs so that they could hunt down Soviet MTLB-V's used by the Red Army and Naval infantry plus the BMD's of the VDV. This required a longer wheel base (seven wheel vs six wheel) for the same combat weight. Also, the bogs restricted Soviet tanks to roads, so there was not as much need for vehicle mounted ATGM firepower. The Bradley, OTOH, was designed with primarily with the Central European NATO battlefields, and secondaraly with U.S. Army airlift deployability in mind. It's primary mission was to provide suplimentary anti-tank firepower to the infantry so that the M1 Abrams could be concentrated in reserve for counter attacks. Additionally, when used in combined task forces, the 25mm would deal with light armored and soft targets that would be a waste of 105mm or 120mm tank shells. Firepower: It should be noted that while the 40mm cannon of the CV9040 is far more powerful than 25mm of the Bradley (INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE REVIEW credits the 40mm tungsten APFSDS with the ability to punch through 150mm of RHA at more than 1000m), the tugsten M791 APDS-T used in the Gulf War on a number of occasions killed T-55 tanks point blank from the front and up to 1000m from the flanks. The depleted uranium M919 APFSDS-T introduced after the Gulf War will be able to defeat 75mm RHA at 2000m -- more than sufficient to deal with the 20-23 ton BMP-3. This brings up the question of how many "stowed kills" there are in the ready ammunition supply. This "Stowed Kill" concept is part of the reason early marks of the early versions of the M1 kept the 105mm. It was the performance of the DU APFSDS rounds. If you could kill the same targets as a 120mm with a 105mm, and carry 15 more rounds (40 vs 55), better to keep the smaller gun because you could go longer between reloading. In the Gulf War, the 25mm of the Bradley was averaging one Iraqi personnel carrier killed for every 6 M791 APDS-T rounds fired. Assuming you are in a CV9040 facing a "target rich environment," and your fire control will give you the performance equivalent of the M1 Abrams in Desert Storm -- that is 1.2 APFSDS rounds per tank killed -- against enemy PC's, you are going to, have at best, 48/1.2 = 40 stowed kills. Realistically, like the Bradley, you are likely to have 75% of your load HE shells so 0.25X40 = 10 kills is more likely. The Bradley, OTOH, will, "realistically," have 75/6 = 12.5 kills stowed PC kills. Production History: The U.S. Army produced the Bradley in two main configurations -- the M2 IFV anf M3 Cavalry Scout -- and three different versions for a total of 6,724 vehicles. There were 2,300 basic or "-A0" versions produced, the first being fielded in 1982. These had a 1/4, 1/4, 1 inch steel/steel/aluminium spaced laminate armor -- meant to stop 14.5mm & 12.7mm HMG and 152mm shell fragments -- the basic TOW launcher and six through the hull firing ports. Following that, 1,371 of the "-A1" version were produced. These vehicles incorporated the larger warhead diameter TOW-2 missile launcher to deal with improved T-64's and T-72's, plated over infantry fire ports, and a different ammunition storage bustle. While production of the -A0 and -A1 Bradley's was going on, a major media scandle -- driven by the "Military Reform" lobby in Congress -- broke out about how "under-armored" the Bradley was with `flamable' aluminium armor. This resulted in the high survivability "-A2" configuration which was protected against Soviet 30mm AP and had brackets for reactive armor to deal with RPG's. A total of 3,053 of these will be produced for the U.S. Army before the production line closes in FY1995 (which ends 30 Sept 1995). Upgrades: Based on the Post Cold War, and Post Gulf War, threat evaluations, the U.S. Army has set out upon a complicated four part upgrade program for the Bradley Fleet to be completed by 2010. This will involve eliminating one version and introducing two more versions of the Bradley to the U.S Army fleet. First, some 2,005 -A0 will not be upgraded. These will be allocated to the "training base," and to late reinforcing and round out units -- e.g. mainly reservists. If more funds become available, or no successor is in production by 2010, these to may be modernized. It should be noted that the U.S. Army no longer has any combat worthy "basic TOW's" in stock. They are now well past there shelf life. So these vehicles are essentially carrying dead weight instead of missile launchers. This is somewhat offset by the fact that the -A0 Bradley's are the vehicles being converted for other uses - - See "Other Missions." Second, an on-going effort to convert all 1,371 -A1 and 313 -A0 Bradley's to -A2's at the Red River Army Depot. Third, 1,433 Bradley's are to be converted by contractors in there unit motor pools to a new "Operation Desert Storm" or "-A2ODS" version starting in FY1996. This mark will include: o Bradley Eyesafe Laser Range Finder -- A rangefinder capable of giving range information from 200 to 9,990 m. It will be integrated into the Bradley integrated sight unit (ISU) and will apply automatic super-elevation to the weapons system. o Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver System/Digital Compass System (PLGR/DPS) -- Essentially an add on electronic compass/navigation system that electronically interfaces with existing PLGR GPS recievers. It provides digital coordinates om screens to both driver and commander as well as providing turret azimuth, direction, distance, and way points with "steer to" information. o Battlefield Combat Identification System (BCIS) -- A millimeter wave frequency identification friend or foe (IFF) system. It will give a series of visual and audible signals symbolizing "friend," "unknown," and "friend-in-sector." (Since the *purchase* of this black box system is funded separatly from it's installation. There is a high possibility, due to lack of money in IFF program accounts, that all this will do is leave an open space to slide the unit in at a later date.) o Missile Counter Measures Device (MCD) -- The AN/VLQ-6 MCD was built for, but just missed, the Gulf War. It emits an IR signal that mimics the flare on the back of missiles using SACLOS guidance -- such as the TOW, HOT, AT-4, AT-5, Sagger. This unit can be a stand-alone jammer or used as a part of a comprehensive warning and threat responce ECM system. o Improved Vehicle Restowage -- The Bradley would get bench seats, a mounted water ration heater, and moving outside of personal gear and three 50 round boxes of linked 25mm ammo. o Driver Thermal Viewer (DTV) -- A 40 degree field of view thermal viewer able to see out to 1,200 m. It will replace the light intensifyer sights now used and give drivers the ability to see and navigate through the same weather conditions as the gunner can shoot through. Additionally, the U.S. Army has contracted for 1,150 digital data modem command and control terminals for vehicles that do not have built in datalinks like the M1A2 Abrams and M109A6 Paladin . It is likely that select Scouts/Cavalry in HMMWV, Bradleys, XM8 AGS, and line units with Bradley IFV and M1A1HA Abrams in the "quick reaction" 18th Corps will get them. The "-A3" Brdley would begin being remanufactured in FY2000. Between 1,601 and 1,800 would be brought up to this standard by 2010. The improvements include: o Improved Bradley Acquisition System (IBAS) -- A complete overhaul of the sighting and missile system that replaces the current system with a 4X480 detector 2nd generation forward looking infrared (FLIR) thermal sight, charged coupled device (CCD) TV, and direct view optics. IBAS allows automatic command-to-line of sight (ACLOS) guidance of the TOW missile such that two could be flying at the same time to different targets. It also incorporates a full resolution digital fire control that provided dual target tracking, automatic super-elevation and target lead, auto gun adjustment, and automatic boresight. The launcher will also be updated to allow he launch of the TOW replacement missile. It would also be able to deal with new autocannon types should the need to upgun from the 25mm become necessary. o Commander's Thermal Viewer (CTV) -- A CCD TV/2nd Generation FLIR viewer similar to the commander's sight on the M1A2. It is a "Hunter- Killer"sight that allows the commander to hunt new targets while the gunner is engaging the current ones. o Mil-STD-1553 Data Bus -- A military standard electronic databus configuration that eliminates point-to-point connections for many vehicle electronic systems. Think of it as a military LAN. As a comparison, the RAH-66 Commanche has two Mil-STD-1553 busses connected together to deal with all it's electronic systems. o Vehicular Command and control Operating System (VCOS) -- A system of graphical displays that allow the vehicle commander and the squad leader in back to provide maps, battlefield situation reports, and selected scenes from the CIV and IBAS. Bottom Line: The CV9040 is good. The Bradley, in it's M2A2 form, is better. *AND* the future varients are going to widen that gap. Trent J. Telenko aka "MilTech Bard" at T.Telenko@Genie.Geis.Com