US Army restores BMD Bradley capabilities
The basic version of the BMD M2A3 Bradley of the US Army without a mounted dynamic protection
The recent decision of the US Army to suspend its ambitious ground combat vehicle GCV (Ground Combat Vehicle) program for three or four years means that the Bradley family of machines should remain in operation much longer than expected.
At the same time, the army is exploring several proposals for technical changes in Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) in order to restore the capabilities of some platforms. In January 2014, some ambiguous progress towards this goal is noted in the annual report of the Office of Performance Testing and Evaluation.
BAE Systems, as a manufacturer of original equipment, received an ECP contract in 2011 after the second tranche of financing for upgrading 55 million dollars; The total amount of payments before July 2017 is estimated at potentially 237 million dollars. This proposal includes research, development, testing and evaluation.
A representative of the ground forces headquarters at a conference in Rome at the end of 2013 of the year emphasized that some of the ECPs were already being implemented.
When the Bradley BMP entered service in the 1983 year, it had a combat mass of 24,5 tons, but since then the mass of the machine has increased significantly. The Bradley M2A BMP reached tons of 33, the weight of the M2A2 variant for “Desert Storm” was 34 tons, and the current version of the M2A3 became heavier to 39,5 tons.
Such a gradual increase in the combat mass is the result of the installation of additional subsystems, especially armor, in order to increase the levels of protection against fire of medium-caliber guns, mines, and anti-tank guns. weapons and the modern "scourge" of vehicles - improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This additional armor included active and passive solutions and urban survival kits BUSK (Bradley Urban Survivability Kit) I, II, and III, as well as improvements in crew resilience.
All of these additional protection measures reduced the vehicle's ground clearance and led to a loss of maximum speed, an increase in braking distance and a decrease in the range of travel, while reducing the service life of the suspension and the tracks.
In addition, the installation of additional electronic systems, including new IED silencers, led to a significant increase in power consumption for Bradley’s BMPs. In turn, this reduced the duration of “silent observation” to 15 minutes, after which it was necessary to start the engine. Also, large power consumption often became the cause of permanent blocking of the tower, increasing the temperature inside the machine, machine operators had to introduce additional system control mode when some components were turned off so that others could work.
The installation of new subsystems, for example, mine seats, anti-radio-controlled IEDs (CREW) systems, systems to reduce heat dissipation, additional communication equipment and protection of the ammunition, “ate” all the valuable internal space of the machine.
Reduced Ammo
As a result, all these innovations have reduced the amount of ammunition storage available, so six shell boxes for ATK Armament Systems' M25 242-mm cannon, five boxes with 7,62-mm cartridges and two boxes with 5,56-cartridges were removed.
Even in this case, the limits for mass, power consumption and cooling in the current configuration have already been reached and the ECP 1 proposal is aimed at reducing Bradley's excess mass, while the ECP 2 will include modifications to the power supply and engine.
According to the proposal of the ECP 1, modernization in the field of mobility includes the installation of heavy torsion shafts, upgraded final gearboxes, tracks with an extended service life, upgraded shock absorbers and balancers of the road wheels.
It is assumed that the machines will also receive improved mine bottom protection. The January report on performance testing and evaluation states: “The previous tests of the US Army BUSK I, II and III kits and the supplementary booking kit (currently part of the M2A3 configuration) were unsatisfactory. In addition, tests in 2012 showed great vulnerability of the crew and the machine itself. "
However, the report notes: “The results of the third explosive test of the lower part of the hull in June 2013 of the year showed that significant improvements in the protection of the Bradley BMP systems are quite possible. Additional tests are needed to further refine and evaluate the proposed modifications in the field of survivability. "
In particular, the results of the third explosive test showed that the level of survivability of a promising multi-purpose armored vehicle (AMPV) is achievable for a platform like Bradley, which is one of the contenders for compliance with the requirements of the American army to replace the currently deployed M113A3 FOV.
Perspective multi-purpose armored vehicle (AMPV) on the Bradley platform
In addition, the report states that the approach to testing the lower part of the body needs to be updated in order to meet the realistic types of threats that are most often found in theaters. All test methods must be radically changed compared to the current approach, which can only confirm that the design meets the “outdated” machine requirements.
Further, this should lead to the development of an integrated test and assessment regime “as soon as the design of the improvement package has been determined”.
In the middle of 2013, explosive tests of the version M2A2 ODS, modified in the troop compartment, were carried out with the aim of representing the M2A3 infantry fighting vehicle with components of the 1 ECP. The car also carried out the proposed modifications of the additional booking of the bottom, the floor of the troop compartment and the placement of the combat pack.
The Performance Test and Evaluation Directorate approved a detailed test plan for the third explosive test under the Bradley head, which is part of the mandatory live firing and evaluation stage.
In addition to the elements of direct protection, the development team also seeks to solve mobility problems associated with overweight by increasing the power of the machine.
According to the ECP plan, the output power of the Cummins diesel engine can be increased to 675 hp. (with growth to 800 hp in the long term), an automatic transmission L-3 Combat Propulsion Systems is installed in order to cope with the added power. In order to improve the efficiency of the cooling system also needs to be improved.
Regarding the modernization of power supply systems and power consumption, the machine will receive a generator with enhanced 600 Amp characteristics, a power distribution system, common programmable displays, an improved rotating tower contact device, an improved Ethernet switch, and Victory computer architecture standards.
Bradley communication capabilities will also be upgraded. A new military tactical communications system, Warfighter Information Network (WIN), Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and JBCP (Joint Battle Command-Platform) software, will be installed on the machine. The CREW system will be replaced with a completely new system. However, all this in turn will increase the mass, energy consumption, will require additional power for cooling and data processing for the machine as a whole.
This work on the plan should be carried out on other members of the Bradley family, who already have a high level of uniformity. For example, the reconnaissance combat vehicle M3 CFV has the same main armament as the BMP variant, the hull, the turret, and the chassis; the differences are related only to the tasks performed. As expected, ECP offers will also be implemented on the M2A3 Bradley, M3A3 CFV and the Bradley fire support vehicle.
Other systems that can be installed on the Bradley machine include the newest mounted armor, shot detection system and built-in training systems installed in the crew compartment.
The reconnaissance vehicle M3A3 also received additional armor protection for the hull and turret, which significantly increased its mass.
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