Named after World War II General Omar Bradley, The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American Infantry Fighting Vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments. (Formerly United defense) It entered service in 1981 with fielding beginning in 1983. The Bradley is designed for reconnaissance and to transport a nine-man rifle squad, providing them protection from small arms fire while providing firepower to both suppress and eliminate most threats to American and Allied infantry forces.
The Bradley IFV was developed in response to the amphibious Soviet BMP family of infantry fighting vehicles and to serve as both an armored personnel carrier (APC) and tank destroyer. Design on the Bradley began in 1963, it entered production in 1981. A specific design requirement was that it had be as fast as the new M1 Abrams main battle tank so they could maintain formation while moving. This was the drawback between the slower M113 APC and the M60 Patton tank.
The M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle first entered combat with U.S. forces during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It destroyed more armored Iraqi vehicles then the M1 Abrams tank. During the campaign 20 Bradleys were lost. During operation of Iraqi Freedom, the Bradley was vulnerable to improvised explosive devices and rocket propelled grenades attacks. Nearly 150 Bradleys were destroyed during this campaign. Production of the M2 Bradley ended in 1995 with approximately 6,785 vehicles produced. It has been modified into seven variants and remains in service today.
