This is coolbert: Now, a lot of criticism was rendered about the Bradley fighting vehicle [IFV] when the vehicle was designed and began to be fielded.

And some of the criticism was valid. The vehicle was too high, the TOW missiles could be only manually changed by a crew member exiting the vehicle, the vehicle could not swim across water obstacles [amphibious], the armor could not withstand a hit from a tank round, the metal armor burned when combusted, etc. A whole lot of criticisms. All valid, to some degree.

Now, the Bradley was developed as a response to the Soviet BMP.



An IFV that was considered to be an "outstanding" combat vehicle that gave a distinct advantage to the Soviets.

The Bradley was considered to be inferior to the BMP.

But upon examination, the BMP was also found to possess glaring flaws.

The passenger compartment was exceedingly crowded. A full passenger compartment with seven troops in it could only be accommodated if the troops each weighed about 100 pounds each, this when wearing full combat gear!

Fuel tanks were carried on the rear doors, the only point of egress for the passengers. An incendiary round hitting the rear doors would cause the vehicle to "brew' up, and trap everyone inside [it may be there are hatches on the top of the vehicle that the passengers could exit from, but then again, in a emergency situation this would be impossible if the passengers did not weigh about 100 pounds each].

The 73 mm gun on the turret of the BMP fired a fin stabilized HEAT round that was woefully inaccurate. Said to have an effective range of 1000 meters. Way off. Damn thing was totally inaccurate and could not the proverbial "broadside of the barn door" [this was later demonstrated to be true when the Soviets began to rip the 73 mm gun out of all the turrets and replace them with 23 mm guns, similar to what the Bradley was equipped with].

The turret of the BMP had a stop on it as it revolved to the left. If the gun barrel of the 73 mm gun was not elevated, as the turret swung to the left, it would rip an infra-red scope off the vehicle [evidently the driver had an infra-red scope mounted on the driver front side of the vehicle].

And yes, the one TOW missile mounted on the BMP could only be changed by a crew member exiting the vehicle, just as with the Bradley.

Now, the Bradley has proven, in two wars now, to be adequate. Not that it is perfect in all areas, but it is adequate for the task. Better than what existed before. Even has some features that make it superior to the BMP. Troops inside can see out and shoot out with the special version M-16 firing an incendiary round. 25 mm gun on the turret can take out a tank, and the TOW missile can destroy a tank easily.

Is the Bradley perfect?

NO!

But it did fill a void and has proven to be adequate for the task.

coolbert.