Development One of the early issues that drove the development of the
infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) was the need to have a vehicle that could serve in a high-intensity conflict in Europe, which was feared might include the use of
nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) type weapons. To work in such an environment, an IFV would have to have a life support system that protected from outside contaminants, while allowing the soldiers to fight from inside the vehicle. The earliest specification, from 1958, called for a vehicle of no more than 8 tons, mounting a turret with a 20 mm autocannon and a 7.62 mm machine gun, with sealed
firing ports for five infantry gunners. prototype with a 20 mm autocannon, 1965 In December 1963, the Army Combat Developments Command studied the concept for a "Post 1965 Infantry Combat Vehicle", later the MICV. In the interim, the Army planned upgrades to the
M113 that would bridge the gap to the MICV. One such upgrade was the
XM734 which added firing ports. The .50 caliber machine gun was replaced with a twin machine gun cupola or an
M139 20 mm autocannon. This test bed saw limited service in Vietnam, from 1967 to 1972, where it received positive feedback from troops. In 1963, the U.S. and West German governments began work on the
MBT-70 main battle tank design and an IFV companion project called
MICV-65, Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle. In 1977, the MICV was renamed the XM2. The scout version became the XM3. These comprised the two variants of the Fighting Vehicle System. A third variant, called the General Support Rocket System, which later entered production as the
M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, was added to the portfolio in 1977. Final approval for production came from the Secretary of Defense in February 1980. In October 1981 the vehicle was named the "Bradley" for World War II Army General
Omar Bradley, who had died earlier that year.
Production history The Bradley consists of two types of vehicles, the M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle. The M3 CFV was originally planned to be named after General
Jacob L. Devers, but it was decided the Bradley name would apply to both, since both vehicles are based on the same chassis. They differ in only some details. The M2 carries a crew of three and a six-man
infantry squad. The M3 carries the crew of three and a two-man scout team and additional radios, the
BGM-71 TOW and
M47 Dragon or
FGM-148 Javelin missiles. The first BFVs came off the production line in May 1980. The first combat unit to be equipped with Bradleys (four M2s and six M3s), in March 1983, was the 1st Battalion, 41st (Mechanized) Infantry, 2nd Armored Division. Several years later, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Franklin W. Trapnell, Jr., became the Army's system manager for the Bradley program.
Saudi Arabia stated an interest in acquiring the Bradley in 1989 and began importing the vehicle in 1990. This was despite an unmet requirement by the U.S. Army for 8,709 Bradleys as of 1992. Remanufacture of A0 variants to A2 standard began at the same time. As of 2017, 2,907 Bradleys are slated to be modified to become
Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles for the U.S. Army. 1,600 to 2,000 older Bradleys remain in Army depots as of 2017. Some of these Bradleys will be taken from these stocks. The
Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, is responsible for maintenance and repair of the Bradley system.
Col. James Burton and the joint live fire testing program Even after the troubled development history of the Bradley additional problems occurred after production started. The book was adapted into the black comedy film
The Pentagon Wars in 1998.
Combat history , one of only three Bradleys lost to the Iraqis, February 1991.
Gulf War During the
Gulf War, M2 Bradleys destroyed more Iraqi armored vehicles than the
M1 Abrams. A few kills against Iraqi
T-72 tanks at close range are reported. A total of 20 Bradleys were lost—three by enemy fire and 17 due to friendly fire incidents. Another 12 were damaged. The gunner of one Bradley was killed when his vehicle was hit by Iraqi fire, possibly from an Iraqi
BMP-1, during the
Battle of 73 Easting. To remedy some problems that were identified as contributing factors in the friendly fire incidents, infrared
identification panels and other marking/identification measures were added to the Bradleys.
Iraq War In the Iraq War, the Bradley proved vulnerable to
improvised explosive device and
rocket-propelled grenade attacks, but casualties were light with the crew able to escape. In 2006, total losses included 55 Bradleys destroyed and some 700 others damaged. By the end of the war, about 150 Bradleys had been destroyed.
Russo-Ukrainian War During the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US donated about 190 Bradleys to Ukraine's armed forces. Ukraine's first documented use of Bradleys occurred in the Zaporizhzhia region after Ukraine launched its southern counteroffensive in June 2023. An early
assault near Mala Tokmachka on June 8 was unsuccessful, and imagery showed that Ukraine lost at least 17 Bradleys of M2 variant. On 19 July,
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, claimed on Telegram that a M2 Bradley had killed Russian infantrymen during fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region. She further claimed that using
TOW missiles the M2 Bradley was able to destroy two Russian
T-72 tanks. The Bradley was assigned to the
47th Mechanized Brigade. These claims could not be independently verified. On 12 January 2024, video emerged of a pair of Ukrainian M2A2 Bradleys from the 47th Mechanized Brigade engaging and disabling a Russian
T-90M tank at close range with their autocannons in
Stepove, Ukraine. As of 14 April 2026, 187 of the donated Bradleys had been confirmed destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured (98 destroyed, 76 damaged and/or abandoned and 13 captured) by the
Dutch open-source intelligence website
Oryx.
Replacement U.S. Army began efforts to replace the Bradley in the mid-1980s under the
Armored Systems Modernization program. The Army studied creating several vehicle variants under a common heavy chassis to replace main battle tanks and Bradleys. This effort was canceled in 1992 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The U.S. Army began the
Future Combat Systems (FCS)
Manned Ground Vehicles program in 1999. This family of 18-ton lightweight tracked vehicles centered around a common chassis. It would consist of eight variants, including infantry carriers, scouting vehicles and main battle tanks. FCS was canceled in 2009 due to budget cuts. In 2010, the Army began the
Ground Combat Vehicle program to replace the M2 Bradley. Entries from BAE Systems and
General Dynamics were selected for evaluation. Concerns grew around the vehicle's proposed weight of around 70 tons. The GCV was cancelled in 2014 due to sequestration budget cuts. The Army's Bradley replacement effort was restarted under the Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) program. In May 2015, General Dynamics and BAE Systems, the two prime contractors involved with the GCV, were awarded contracts to develop design concepts for the FFV. In June 2018, the Army established the
Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) program to replace the M2 Bradley. This program placed much of the cost burden of development on contractors, causing many competitors to drop out. In February 2020, the Army restarted the program, promising to take on more responsibility for funding. ==Variants==