I filled every position on a Bradley. The reason they are not tanks is if they were, the crew would be “tankers”. Tankers are there to support their vehicle. If a tank is disabled a tanker is useless on the battlefield. Bradley crewmen are still infantry and the Bradley is there to support their mission. If the Bradley is disabled, the crew grab their rifles and gear and continue on. If you call a Bradley a “tank” you are calling the crew POG’s, which makes them grumpy.
Negative Ghostrider, EVERY Soldier is FIRST a Fighter "Infantry" We all train to the same basic standard and expectation. The difference is there are 7 guys in the back that will defend your "not a tank". Ask Russia, what happens when you don't have those guys.
I was a Bradley driver with 2nd ACR in Desert Storm and was in the 73-Easting battle. It is true that the Bradley is a true "gunslinger" as that battle was a bar-fight and everyone had sawed-off shotguns. All up and down the line the Bradley's were making close quarter kills on tanks. Toujours Pret.
Spent 3 years with 2nd ACR in Bindlach, FRG. Most of my time I was permanent party at Camp Gates located on the Tri-Zonal Border point. I was part of the Military Intelligence Detachment. Basically we spied on the Czechs and East Germans. Once we got some great pictures of two Soviet Soldiers playing hide the salami. It created quite a stir. LOL
I was a 19d cav scout and spent from Sept 85 to Mar 88 in 1st platoon E Trp 2/2 ACR. We got our Bradley's in Feb 87. Still got my AAM from shooting Distinguished on Bradley table VIII at Graf. Also still have around 200 pics of Border Patrols, Graf. Arteps and of course my buddies. We pulled our Border Mission out of Camp Hof We rotated out our Cav Troops every several weeks so that you spent roughly 1/3 of the year up at the Border. Hated being on Reaction Force and having to live in the MOPP suits. So glad I took so many pics since none of that exists any more. We 2nd squadron were garrisoned back in Bamberg. Toujours Pret!
As a former bradley gunner, this all assumes the bradley didnt break one of umpteen different things while it sat overnight. Literally the only vehicle I’ve ever seen that breaks from not being used.
That sounds like the perfect definition of "military-grade." I wonder the contract for Bradley IFVs demanded they be improved since you worked on them. There comes a point where even the bureaucrats are going to notice how many labor-hours and parts are required to keep the Bradley operational (I grant that it probably took them a couple decades to realize the issue).
Having spent time in the gunner seat of both the zero model and the A3, I can say that as long as you did the maintenance, and paid the tolls for the track trolls, the vehicle would last longer than you. Yes, I paid the track trolls. If you 'lost' something, you just replaced it If you found when cleaning the hull, or when the turret got pulled, the trolls didn't want it. Keep the track trolls happy, and they wouldn't break stuff.
As a 19K and a 19D I know both of these vehicles well. Being in a M1 gives you a sense of invincibility. Being in a M3 makes you obsess to find the enemy first. Both have plenty of punch to get the job done especially with a well trained crew. Also as Fat Electrician already said, "It's still heavy enough to make you a crunchy."
Funniest part of 73 easting was that they were given orders to, and I quote, “not become decisively engaged with the enemy.” Then the tanks and Bradley’s kinda just happened upon the Iraqi armor and decided “we can’t become decisively engaged with the enemy if they are all dead.” And from there just cue “the only thing they fear is you” because it’s an accurate summation of what happens next.
The one guy that that clip is talking about practically atopped his track on a T-72. His gunner is yelling at him that there is a "F******* iraqi tank right next to us" dude doesn't see it until he looks down and see that its in hull cover. They also had to pull off a tactical TOW reload on one of the 2 bradleys to bag those 5 tanks.
I read "The only thing they fear is you" and for some reason my mind immediately decided it must have been a song from Shadow The Hedgehog. I'm counting myself half right.
My favorite story from that tank battle was when one of the Bradleys unknowingly just parked itself mere feet from one of the T72's, then it proceeded to pump a few 25mm's into the engine deck.
That's another thing the Bradley had over tanks. Better situational awareness than most tanks. Because of the infantry that can pile out of it and then raidio them saying "hey idiot, there's a tank that has NV sights older than my on your left"
Well, the only reason that went as well as it did was: 1. The tank was in a dugout, and couldn't traverse its gun up to the Brad 2. All of 73 Easting took place during a sandstorm, not animated in the 2004 History Channel documentary because 2004. The Brad had thermals, the T-72 had human eyes. Its not an advantage we're likely to see again, unless a certain country mobilizes even more T-62's.
@@ethanmcgowan6926 they have 'em. So far they're only appearing in DDR and Artillery units, but since they claimed to have none left, it's still an amusing development.
So, if we were to compare vehicles to spiders, an M1 Abrams is a tarantula and the Bradley is a wolf spider. The Abrams is big, heavy and bites hard, and the Bradley is fast, can also bite hard and, if you manage to hit it, it releases a million little meanies with a vengeance.
doesnt that come with replacing infantry with a turbine/more nuclear stuff though. idk a lot about the abrams engine and i have 0 idea whats in a bradley @@ardantop132na6
Like some others who commented here, i was Bradley gunner in Operation Desert Storm.. We were a six Bradley scout platoon for 4/37 AR battalion, 1st ID.. We engaged in two major armor battles of 73 Easting and Norfolk.. among several smaller engagements along our route.. Nothing but respect to my brothers, whether cav or infantry who've rode into combat in one of these beasts.. Scouts out..
Yes but I always felt that as scouts we got saddled with the Bradley, because I wouldn't call it a scout vehicle, it's a big target and slower than the M1. I've had the thought that the British had a better idea of what a scout vehicle is supposed to be, as far as filling out the scout mission.
My brother was a 19D and was with HHC 1/7 INF, Scout Platoon during the Gulf War. He was a driver of an M3A2 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) at that point. First, he would be offended by anyone calling it a tank. Second, it proved to be completely reliable throughout their entire deployment from October 1990 - May 1991 (They had the improved 600HP engines). He said the drivers compartment was like a sauna on steroids so his crew kept him supplied with water so he didn't end up useless when the SHTF. He was not in 73 Easting, but was in several others, to include the Battle for Medina Ridge. He said that the action was too intense and fast to really be scared. The scariest things he recalls was an Apache fired on another Scout Platoon and took out a Bradley and an M113, and in the Battle of Phase Line Bullet a guy he knew in OSUT was killed driving his Bradley by an M1 Abrams that shot them through the rear, severely wounding the TC and killing the driver. There was a Time Magazine cover photo of one of the other 19D crew members bursting into tears on the evac chopper when he realized the body next to him was his friend. Friendly fire was his biggest fear. He also told about several incidents of enemy wire-guided missile attacks that were spotted by the puff of smoke that were thwarted by quickly engaging the smoke puff area with the 25mm. You didn't have to kill them to stop it, just get them to put their head down and stop the missile. So, no, the Bradley was not, and is not, a tank, but it is an extremely powerful and effective weapons platform in its own right. I believe the most deadly, powerful, and effective land warfare fighting force ever assembled was the armored cavalry regiment (ACR). The combination of OH-58 Kiowa's and Bradley's (Scouting), M1's (Heavy Armor), Cobra's and Apache's (air attack), Paladins and M270 MLRS (Artillery)...... This was the ultimate combined forces combat unit, imho. Tanks and Bradley's worked together to find and destroy the enemy. With the additional support of the Airforce with A-10's and AC-130's, as well as air superiority with F16's and F-15's, this was an unstoppable force. If you really want to know ho effective a Bradley is, all you have to do is look at the stupid decision to take Scouts out of Bradley's and put them in Humvees in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Scout's did not have the protection and firepower they had just 12 years earlier. This was a very costly mistake made by pencil pushing bureaucrat's in the pentagon. The people who paid that cost were the Soldiers in the Scout Platoons.
The Bradley will always have a place in my heart. One of the least comfortable places to sleep and a pain in the ass to lay out for Lt and a million other not great things about it, but overall fond memories.
i slept on the back door. lowered it on our stump we carried so it would lay flat blamo room for 3, 2 inside floor who had the whole crew easy. we had rubber bottoms in mine
Yeah? Technically before MBTs tanks were classified as Light, Medium, and Heavy tanks, each with their own specific design roles of tankery. MBTs kinda just combined them all to do them all well enough while still being a tank.
@@ugs192 yes and no - the concept of an 'MBT' hit the scene in the '50's with the British Chieftain - other, lighter tanks were still out and about on the field. MBT's of today are, by weight, the mediums of yesteryear - with a tank destroyer's gun on them. Nominally, there are still 'light tanks' out there, and to the layman self-propelled armored gun carriers are also going to fall into this. But actual, honest to goodness Main Battle Tank is, at least in the US, a term that could be straight out dropped.
The one thing you forgot, the location of the TOW launcher and the sights being above turret level allows the TOW to be fired from defilade. I’d also add that the variants in use by the Army have kinematic lead. So, gunners just aim center mass at a moving target or when the Bradley is moving. The ballistic computer calculates the lead necessary and offsets the 25mm to compensate automatically for a first burst kill.
Dude, I love your descriptions... "A missile hurtling toward you at Mach-Fuck..." and "We need to start saying tanks aren't Bradley's". I owe you many frosty beverages if we ever meet.
The only thing worse than seeing two Bradleys coming at you on the battlefield, is seeing they are not concerned about you because the A10 has you in their sights
Actually, it would be seeing two Bradleys off in the distance, and while they aren't coming towards you, they've both got their turrets pointed towards you. Why is this terrifying? Because it means one of them is likely using its built-in targeting laser to paint you for the aforementioned A-10 to bomb the piss out of you.
@@johngleich1379 Or even worse, the Ginsu missile has your name on it, everything on the battlefield is ignoring you...and you die thinking that this incredible luck has to run out some time.
I was 19 Delta from 1986 to 1990. Trained on the M3 Bradley in Fort Knox in 1986 as an 18 year old went to the “high speed” 1st AD in Germany and worked as driver/crewman on M113s. In 1988 I went to Fort Hood 1st Cav division and I was back on the Bradley. Was great to drive ,and as a 21 year old I had a blast! for two years.
I grew up in a town of three thousand in South Mississippi and the National Guard unit there is a Bradley Unit. In 94 I was a freshman in high school, the Guard brought their Bradley over and asked for one student to drive it and I got picked to drive the Bradley and it's fast!
@@twotailedavenger nah, the BMP vs Bradley is like the Mig 25 vs the F-15: The soviets overclaimed their IFV and US went "aight, bet" and did something better in all regards
M113 slower than a tank and louder than a tank bigger than a tank. Yah I'm going to sneak up on the enemy in that or we would scout in a jeep and if you think a hummer hasn't have armor, well I've often thought about a machine gun burst is all it would take to wipe us out.
Absolutely Hilarious as always...TFE always shines through with his Miltary Humor and well-prepared presentations. This is one of the best Military Enthusiast Channels on RUclips, and I dare anyone to "float around and find out" why.
I use to build the tow missle launch platform and the motors that rotate the turret. Loved that job. Seen a motor that took a 30mm round and kept operating. Made me feel so proud.
If I'm remembering correctly it kinda sucks at the troop transport role and the whole mechanized infantry concept has proven to be more of a logistics nightmare than it has an effective combat doctrine.
As a previous Bradley gunner during Desert Shield/Storm, I can say my two Bradley’s in my 4 year enlistment NEVER had a problem and worked flawlessly during the war! Bradley’s are bad a$$
My dad had the honor of building the very first of these beasts. He worked RnD at FMC from the 70s to the early 90s. He built the first of a LOT of these vehicles. He was most proud of the Bradley and Abrams. He still tells me stories of how he'd have to cut the whole thing in half over and over again for the initial design, then had to rebuild everything for Operation Desert Storm so it'd work in the sand. My dad is the Einstein of engineering
Well, in War Thunder, you will find the Bradley in the Tanks category of the US research tree, so According to them, it's a Tank. And they probably have the classified documents to prove it.
REPLYING TO ADD CONTEXT: For those who are not in the know, War Thunder players often get into fights how realistic a given vehicle is and some of those players being soldiers, with access to classified documents on a given vehicles capabilities, tend to leak them
The wire on the TOW is legit the scariest non-intentional unalivement potential in the armory. Lost a good pair of boots and almost half my pinkie toes to that thing.
If I am recalling correctly I as talking to a guy who said some enemy in the sandbox jumped up from his cover after one of their Bradley's launched a TOW thinking he was safe and could fire upon them. TOW wire meet neck.
@@CrysResan I'm pretty sure that was just a ol' Sarge's tale to drive home some point about how dangerous literally everything is in a fight. Totally believable though. That wire ain't playin' around.
One major benefit it has over tanks is speed. It's like trying to shoot a running squirrel through a scope. It's also why they got so many kills in storm. It was a blitz, and they got there first, even when they weren't sure where there was.
Not really, it's a failed APC. It was supposed to replace the M113 but they added so much unnecessary crap to it that it couldn't fulfill it's role and got rebranded as a IFV. This is the V-22 Osprey of land.
@@eleSDSU You're sort of right. It was meant to replace the M113 after the US saw the first deployments of the BMP-1 which was the first IFV fielded by a military. The US, only having lightly-armoured M113s, decided to make their own IFVs, birthing the Bradley. Of course, the US has replaced their M113s with proper APCs like MRAPs, Strykers and Humvees since it served since the Vietnam war
Bradley is just an IFV thats. Its not a tank killer and will not live up to a tank. Pretty sure ukrainians would take tanks anyday even t64s over bradley. They are much better armed and better armored and if anything their overrated name was shattered based on how they performed.
@@Stockfish1511 People taking a joke seriously....anyway with only two TOW missiles the Bradley does need an ambush to destroy a modern tank reliability. It's a grunt carrier first a foremost anyway, any IVF is going to get mauled if it becomes the center of the enemy's attention in a fight.
I don't know what's more impressive, the Bradley itself or the joystick jockey who is able to accurately steer a mach 1 missile on a line! That can't be easy, can it?
The missile steers itself. All the operator does is keep a little red-dot crosshair on the screen centered on whatever they're about to blow the [QUACK] UP...
A joystick would have been nice try doing it with two knobs. Or in my own worst case scenario a broken azimuth lock, so a knob and a Humvee turret lock handle.
I was a scout platoon leader in DESERT STORM and loved my Bradley! 1/A/4-7CAV was probably the most lethal organization I ever served with. Lots of old fashioned reliable firepower with those M3' and M3A1's! Thanks for the video!
Having been an armorer in an armored battalion, I’ve seen the one weapon most Brad crews have not used extensively. We didn’t issue them during any training, I don’t know if an other AR’s did. The M-231. An M-16 variant that is a submachine gun. It’s a port firing weapon that also has an ammo catch bag. It’s designed to use to sweep the area behind and around the Brad in order to make it safer for the ramp drop to unass the Grunts in the back. The catch bags for the brass are so they don’t fall on their asses while doing it.
Shooting a TOW is one of the greatest feelings ever. Also having to keep your tracking gates on your target constantly (for as long as 26 seconds) makes it feel like an eternity.
As a former 11M (Old MOS for Mechanized Infantry) I whole heartedly agree with The Chubby Electron Pusher, the Bradley is bad ass. It has a bad reputation because of the book and movie "The Pentagon Wars" but when we deployed for Desert Storm it proved how bad ass it was. I and other 11M's I know love the Brad.
And think that A.F. man did a tantrum against the Bradly because he wanted his ww2 styled attack airplane model be accepted although it was the stupidest thing thinked until military-fans(not experts but claims to be)-wehraboos-furries forums became a thing in the internet
The 73 Easting battle story is on of my favorites. The two Ghost troop Bradleys were trying to link up with Eagle Troop when they walked right in to the 8 tank assembly area and began missile drills, killing tanks like Lisa in Team America, pausing to ask for Garry.
Ok, This episode made me REALLY love watching your show. My dad told me to check you out, I've watched a couple and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far, but this one was the cherry on top for me. I was a 94A for 12 years, which was basically called a 'missile guy' from the Bradley crews and the heavy weapon guys in the light infantry world, as my job was to make sure your tow system as a whole went ''mach fuck' and 'revoked birth certificates' as intended :) I loved working with the Bradley crews, and def enjoyed hearing the different opinions of the track in general, but overall I always felt it was a solid piece of equipment or we would have been trying to replace it a lot sooner then we have been. Granted the Abram is the powerhouse on the battlefield as far as the world is concerned, but I think for that reason the bradley gets to quietly be an assassin and just knock targets out without other countries putting together wtf is going on. My favorite moment I got to see a TOW missile used was in iraq in 2007. A sniper shot one of our convey dismounts(was one of the engineer pukes checking something on the buffalo truck they were in) and the escort we had that day happened to be 4 bradleys from 4th ID with our 4 guntrucks we were riding in. All you hear over the radio is a call to approve use of the tow, about 10 seconds you hear the confirmation, and then you hear the pop of the launcher and look out the right to see a distant 'poof'(probably about 500-600 meters) of a tow missile obliterating the firing position of said sniper, and of course in typical fashion, a second delay to hear the 'boom' and feel the small rumble.
This brings back memories of playing the "Desert Combat" mod for Battlefield 1942 in LAN games and me using the Bradley to to straight up own the battlefield. I even had a few helicopter kills.
OIF II 04-05, we had a guy with a wireless router, and we’d have half the platoon all playing. Platoon daddy would come around, shake his head, ask why we spent so much time playing video games. One guy says, we don’t have a COFT to maintain skills against tanks and light armor. This is valuable training! Loved that game!!!
As an 11 Mike, I was finding myself cadently reciting, "tube-launched, optically-tracked..." 11 Mike was when the Bradley was all sexy and the wave of the future. We had 25mikemike armor-piercing and high-explosive, and if I recall, they could not be mixed. You wouldn't want to try the 25mm on the frontal armor of a T-72, but the ap might get it done if the Lord smiled at you. The top armor, oh yeah. Back in 1st Gulf, it was the Dragon, not Javelin, but we still had the TOW. The M-2/M-3 (Cavalry version (same thing, different letter)) CFV were to replace the old M-113 APCs, which were intended solely as a battle taxi, and had no armament beyond Mama Deuce. Soldiers being soldiers and battles being battles, they were, of course, not used the way they were intended. So, to accompany the M-1, the M-2 was born. It was designed to fight Soviet armor and infantry divisions and would not be matched by Soviet export quality tanks and training. The 11 Mike MOS was finally reabsorbed back into 11 Bravo about year 100 o' the Twentieth-Century.
I would love to see a video on Robert Olds, the only WW2 pilot to get an air to air kill while gliding, he forgot to switch to inboard fuel when he detached his droptanks only realizing afterwards
His operation Bolo is a much better idea. He decided to deceive the NVA by dressing up the Phantoms as bombers to surprise the fighters. It turned the Hanoi ATC traffic into pure chaos, destroyed around 50% of their fighting force, and stopped interceptions for months.
The technical classification is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) which is, for all intents and purposes, a light tank that can transport troops. It doesn’t really matter that it can get one shot by a tank when it’s more maneuverable and is effectively immune to small arms fire which makes sense since it’s primary job is to drop troops off in a combat zone and then stick around to provide heavy fire support.
Besides, allegedly there is no tank that should be able to survive direct hits from other tanks... except the Challenger 2 That thing is thick as fuuuuuuuuuuu
I've had "The Pentagon Wars" on my HBO watchlist for a bit, but haven't seen it yet. It's a comedy film about all of the crazy decisions made to turn what was supposed to be a transport into a tank in all but name. You've inspired me to go watch it now. Great video!
Definitely do it now! The Pentagon Wars is amazing! The Bradley eventually matured into a great vehicle, but it had to go through a lot of birthing pains and would have remained a POS if it wasn't for some dedicated people in procurement that made sure the issues were addressed.
I would actually recommend against watching it. It is full of inaccuracies and it comes from the point of view of an Air Force officer who had oversight of an army program, and didn’t know how the army does things. For a slightly more historically accurate look, search up Lazerpig’s video on the Bradley/Pentagon Wars.
@@sethmorrison1403 Like looking at survivability against tank main gun rounds while missing the point its not supposed to survive tank main gun rounds! Also didn't the guy cook up highly biased 'experiments' to 'prove' his statements? I agree though, Lazerpigs rant against that film is both extremely amusing, and far, far closer to the actual reality than Pentagon Wars is.....
The Pentagon Wars is a great comedy, and I'd recommend watching it for that. Just take the events in it with a pinch of salt because many of them were played up for the sake of the movie, and while the main character is a real person, in real life he was a pencil pushing beaurecrat who did more harm than good to the project he was assigned to.
This video aged well. Fat Electrician my Bradley office thinks your video rocked. We showed it our annual program management review and everyone liked it. Huge moral boost to have our platform be recognized before they proved themselves in Ukraine.
Besides the mechanical ratings of the vehicle, I think it's a big mistake to not count the dismount team as part of the Bradley's advantage. Tanks are very vulnerable to infantry, if they don't have infantry of their own.
Another dude in the comments compsred it to a wolf spider: bites hard and if you crush it, hundreds of little angry spiders comes out with vengeful intentions
🫡. Veteran Bradley infantry fighting vehicle dismount here. It's sad when most think Bradley is old and useless. Bradley will always be a beast for infantry, if you know the tactics & how to use Bradley effectively WITHOUT losing any.
When I was a pup in a military school one of my cadre was previously a Brandly gunner who served in DS. Absolutely the most diabolical, insane(not crazy, INSANE!) servicemen I've ever met......still.
I was an Infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division, and when we were training tank vs Bradley, it was either as close to even as it possibly could be, or us Grunts would come out on top by way of having better tactics, including range, and a few Grunts out there throwing tank killing Javelins into the mix.
We don't engage head on with tanks. At least not in doctrine. But the ERA designed for it does help a lot with taking hits from most rounds. Also this video left out a few things, like it also fires HE rounds for things like unarmored vehicles, helicopters that were dumb enough to get close, and the 7.62 M240C for troops in the open. And for even more defense against enemy tanks, if it's not in wide open desert of course, the dismounts have things like the M136 AT-4 and between the 4 in the platoon carrying the three squads (same MTOE as light, just add the brads) there will be a couple of Javelins to rain down some unhealthcare.
I knew bradleys were capable of knocking out tanks after hearing stories of what my dad went through during Desert Storm. I had no idea how many tanks they had actually knocked out though.
Ya, but the whole “Bradley’s killed more enemies during 73 easting” thing was due to numbers. The unit sent into that battle was mostly Bradley’s. The tanks were the spearhead.
The older variants that are direct attack are out of the inventory at this point. Though, the bunker buster variant is direct attack, but it won’t kill a tank. We exclusively use variants of the TOW-2B which is a FOSD (Fly Over Shoot Down) missile. That being said, should the need arise, the Bradley can change a TOW-2B into a Direct Attack impact by pushing a few buttons. It’s less effective on tanks, but if you want to fly one into a cave, bunker, or window of a building, it does the trick if don’t have Bunker Busters.
@@mathewcarson364out of inventory, as if we don’t still deploy with them. Lmfao, we had bunker busters and bravo arrows overseas bud, they aren’t “out of inventory”
1:26 - Well, there's now footage of a pair of Ukrainian Bradleys disabling a Russian T-90M with their 25mm Bushmasters. It was seen with the turret spinning clearly out of control from a malfunction before running into a tree and the crew abandoning it. I mean it didn't send the turret to space but being it was so damaged it was abandoned...I'm pretty sure that's a 20 year old 'not a tank' taking out a new main battle tank...so in conclusion: The Bradley is a tank.
I love the Bradley. One pf my favs. Also... Dont watch "The Bradley Wars" if you want an insight on the development. Because the book its based on was madewriten by a guy who was more concened about making the bradley look bad, than making it both safe and practical. Lazerpig did a vid on it, worth a watch
It's a Tank Destroyer. The TOW allows it to engage enemy tanks beyond their own effective range. The Bradley's optics are better than the Abrams...so they are better than anything on the ground. And the Bradley can spill out crunchies with stabby, shooty, and Javelin thingies. The 25mm and 7.62 coax are icing on the cake.
I remember being at NTC as RTU and having to assist the infantry (I was a tanker) in spooling up the TOW-2B wire...You gotta wear wire gloves because those lines can and will cut you as they are sharp. not fun cleaning that stuff up. Keep in mind that the Bradley can come on one of two configurations: IFV which sacrifices extra TOW missiles for Dismounts or the CFV which will have 3 dismounts and extra TOW Missiles in the back. Once that wire is cut, that TOW missile becomes a dud and falls to the ground...
I've always thought of the Bradley as an Ultra-Light tank. Or the worlds most American APC. (You know, because it's so fighty an Ork would approve... once you paint it red.)
The reason the Bradley can’t take a hit from the main gun round of a tank or any other large caliber weapon is because it wasn’t designed to IFV’s are only designed to drop off their infantry of and stick around to provide fire support as opposed to an APC or armored personnel carrier which drops off their infantry then runs away
It's just that the Bradleys have such good sights,weapons stabilization and weapons control that while innocently trying to protect themselves with their puny cannons they incidently kill most that are a threat. It's an active protection thing.
I drove the scout version for over a year at 3rd ACR and it was so fun, but maintenance sux forever. And getting concertina wire out the tracks and baking in MOPP 4 while buttoned up. … never mind.
Due to new upgrades in technology, Raytheon developed a wireless missile that the Bradley can now use and does not require certain conditions when firing through smoke/fires, near electrical lines, or over water.
I love the production of these videos! You should also go to Oshkosh Airventure. There most likely be B1s B2s and B52s there considering the theme is the Vietnam war.
That's right friend. I'm Finnish army recon/antitank platoon trained to shoot and/or reload the TOW and we use six man teams because we can put it anywhere! It's about 20-23.5 kg's or 50 lbs per soldier and in winter time we also ski with those f*cking things on our back! Not even counting the personal gear weapons and such... But where we arrive.. We OWN the place
Awesome video. I saw the missile toe/ tow missile joke coming, and it was still great. Any chance you'd do historical figures like sorta what you did with Lucky Flucky? I'd love to see a video on John Paul Jones. Who does not get enough credit for being an absolute menace.
I absolutely love this video. Would like to see your take on the French AMX 10RC. Which is their everything fighting scout vehicle as it has a 105mm main gun. Which is also being shipped to Ukraine.
Bro if I had a dollar for every time I've had to tell somebody the Bradly isn't a tank I could pay for college tuition already. Then again, as you said, if it looks like a tank, walks like a tank, and parties like a tank, it could be a tank.
Definitely, even in the PS2 days, the missiles fucked but the main gun was like firing nerf footballs full of herbs and spices. Only game I know of that gave Bradleys a fair amount of love were the Operation Flashpoint games, if you kept the armor far enough away without getting flanked, anyway
various navies had cats(one of the British ones, Simon on HMS Amethyst was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, that medal has it's own story, and one ended up surviving 3 ships one being Bismarck and the other 2 being British before the Brits assigned him shore duties) US and British at least had dogs with ranks(besides the modern working dogs) US had a donkey get medals the Polish had a BEAR and Norway has a Penguin with both military and royal rank
Two guys in high school senior to me graduated joined the army and got put on a Bradley team together and sent to Iraq. They made one the driver and the other the main gunner. Went for humvees too. And I gotta tell you. Knowing who they are the army absolutely made the best decision possible making the responsible one the driver and the crazy one the gunner. Made sense.
Camera got ever heated and blurred the last 20sec. I apologize I'll be upgrading cameras soon! thanks for watching!
i hope the new camera fund isn't coming out of the beer money fund.
@@justinbriley2531 nah I'm using the money from sponsors! so thank you for watching um!
@@justinbriley2531 The Beer Fund is protected. Never get between an Iowan resident and his beer.
@@the_fat_electrician is the beer fund still active?
@Darkour ya I just don't ask for it anymore I prefer people buy merch so they get something in return
I filled every position on a Bradley. The reason they are not tanks is if they were, the crew would be “tankers”. Tankers are there to support their vehicle. If a tank is disabled a tanker is useless on the battlefield. Bradley crewmen are still infantry and the Bradley is there to support their mission. If the Bradley is disabled, the crew grab their rifles and gear and continue on. If you call a Bradley a “tank” you are calling the crew POG’s, which makes them grumpy.
this is the best explanation I've heard yet. thank you
describing them as grumpy is funny and accurate
This is closer to the truth than I think a lot of people like to admit.
As a former 11b that once signed two Bradleys out of a Kuwait depot before driving north for a few days, I can confirm this.
Negative Ghostrider, EVERY Soldier is FIRST a Fighter "Infantry" We all train to the same basic standard and expectation. The difference is there are 7 guys in the back that will defend your "not a tank". Ask Russia, what happens when you don't have those guys.
just imagine how crazy it would be to see 2 bradleys go tow-to-tow
I laughed a little too hard at that lol thanks for that
LOL 😆 🤣
Barrrrump tsh.......🙄
Mutually assured destruction
@@Lucas_AW beat me to it
The best defense is having weaponry with a greater maximum range than your enemy.
best armory is the ability to not get hit
Yep. In boxing having greater reach is a huge advantage.
Right
Basically just have a bigger stick than your enemy
I don't need to fix my guys when I can just ventilate your torso from 2 miles away. - Officer Sniper Doc
I was a Bradley driver with 2nd ACR in Desert Storm and was in the 73-Easting battle. It is true that the Bradley is a true "gunslinger" as that battle was a bar-fight and everyone had sawed-off shotguns. All up and down the line the Bradley's were making close quarter kills on tanks. Toujours Pret.
Spent 3 years with 2nd ACR in Bindlach, FRG. Most of my time I was permanent party at Camp Gates located on the Tri-Zonal Border point. I was part of the Military Intelligence Detachment. Basically we spied on the Czechs and East Germans. Once we got some great pictures of two Soviet Soldiers playing hide the salami. It created quite a stir. LOL
@@RespectMyAuthoritaah "playing hide the salami"
what????
I was a 19d cav scout and spent from Sept 85 to Mar 88 in 1st platoon E Trp 2/2 ACR. We got our Bradley's in Feb 87. Still got my AAM from shooting Distinguished on Bradley table VIII at Graf. Also still have around 200 pics of Border Patrols, Graf. Arteps and of course my buddies. We pulled our Border Mission out of Camp Hof
We rotated out our Cav Troops every several weeks so that you spent roughly 1/3 of the year up at the Border. Hated being on Reaction Force and having to live in the MOPP suits. So glad I took so many pics since none of that exists any more. We 2nd squadron were garrisoned back in Bamberg. Toujours Pret!
@@Juzevs don't ask, don't tell...aka they were butt pirates, rump Rangers...
Rewatching this video because The Bradley now has a T 90 as one of its kills.
Ivan got lit up like a christmas tree.
Bro new where to aim because of games lol
With HE rounds, bc the crew rand out of AP…lol
And this is badass.
Ditto 🔥
As a former bradley gunner, this all assumes the bradley didnt break one of umpteen different things while it sat overnight. Literally the only vehicle I’ve ever seen that breaks from not being used.
That sounds like the perfect definition of "military-grade."
I wonder the contract for Bradley IFVs demanded they be improved since you worked on them.
There comes a point where even the bureaucrats are going to notice how many labor-hours and parts are required to keep the Bradley operational (I grant that it probably took them a couple decades to realize the issue).
Don’t forget the humvee. Those damn things break if you look at them wrong
oh u have not seen the MAGACH 7c. that fucker is an improved m60 with extra 5 tons of armor. the torsion bars snap if u parked on a big stone.🤦🤦♂
Having spent time in the gunner seat of both the zero model and the A3, I can say that as long as you did the maintenance, and paid the tolls for the track trolls, the vehicle would last longer than you.
Yes, I paid the track trolls.
If you 'lost' something, you just replaced it If you found when cleaning the hull, or when the turret got pulled, the trolls didn't want it. Keep the track trolls happy, and they wouldn't break stuff.
Oh don’t worry, tanks do that too 😂
As a 19K and a 19D I know both of these vehicles well. Being in a M1 gives you a sense of invincibility. Being in a M3 makes you obsess to find the enemy first. Both have plenty of punch to get the job done especially with a well trained crew. Also as Fat Electrician already said, "It's still heavy enough to make you a crunchy."
Is this supposed to say invincibility?
@@thetalesofdaneandco yeah auto correct. What else can I say? I'll fix it later
@@thetalesofdaneandco fixed
As a Cavalry Bradley Gunner... we called 'em Crunchies too. :-P
Well said. As a 12B we just knew that the M1's run directly into STUPID, but the Brads were toe smart fucks to follow... if you had a choice.
They've also got records for dunking T-90's with that bushmaster now.
Funniest part of 73 easting was that they were given orders to, and I quote, “not become decisively engaged with the enemy.” Then the tanks and Bradley’s kinda just happened upon the Iraqi armor and decided “we can’t become decisively engaged with the enemy if they are all dead.” And from there just cue “the only thing they fear is you” because it’s an accurate summation of what happens next.
The one guy that that clip is talking about practically atopped his track on a T-72. His gunner is yelling at him that there is a "F******* iraqi tank right next to us" dude doesn't see it until he looks down and see that its in hull cover. They also had to pull off a tactical TOW reload on one of the 2 bradleys to bag those 5 tanks.
This must be the ground forces version of being "proportional".
I read "The only thing they fear is you" and for some reason my mind immediately decided it must have been a song from Shadow The Hedgehog. I'm counting myself half right.
Looks like a tank
Man youtube is a grind. I'm over here thinking you've made it yet here we are, a month in with 12 likes
Big fan by the way 🤙
Ya need to get your eyes checked.
And walks like a tank, and talks like a tank lol
@@jacksongrantham4848 and dances like a tank.
Walks like a tank...
My favorite story from that tank battle was when one of the Bradleys unknowingly just parked itself mere feet from one of the T72's, then it proceeded to pump a few 25mm's into the engine deck.
That's another thing the Bradley had over tanks. Better situational awareness than most tanks. Because of the infantry that can pile out of it and then raidio them saying "hey idiot, there's a tank that has NV sights older than my on your left"
Well, the only reason that went as well as it did was:
1. The tank was in a dugout, and couldn't traverse its gun up to the Brad
2. All of 73 Easting took place during a sandstorm, not animated in the 2004 History Channel documentary because 2004. The Brad had thermals, the T-72 had human eyes.
Its not an advantage we're likely to see again, unless a certain country mobilizes even more T-62's.
@nealonmiller1112 that would require said country to have anymore t-62s in the first place
@@ethanmcgowan6926 they have 'em. So far they're only appearing in DDR and Artillery units, but since they claimed to have none left, it's still an amusing development.
@@Nmille98 unless you mention the battle of phased line.
So, if we were to compare vehicles to spiders, an M1 Abrams is a tarantula and the Bradley is a wolf spider. The Abrams is big, heavy and bites hard, and the Bradley is fast, can also bite hard and, if you manage to hit it, it releases a million little meanies with a vengeance.
To be fair, the Abrams is still faster lol
@@SideWays8ProductionsKinda ironic that a block of depleted uranium is still faster than a block of aluminium.
Can i pay you to not have typed this? Jesusfuckingchrist
doesnt that come with replacing infantry with a turbine/more nuclear stuff though. idk a lot about the abrams engine and i have 0 idea whats in a bradley @@ardantop132na6
Holy shit this is exceptionally accurate.
Like some others who commented here, i was Bradley gunner in Operation Desert Storm.. We were a six Bradley scout platoon for 4/37 AR battalion, 1st ID..
We engaged in two major armor battles of 73 Easting and Norfolk.. among several smaller engagements along our route..
Nothing but respect to my brothers, whether cav or infantry who've rode into combat in one of these beasts..
Scouts out..
Yes but I always felt that as scouts we got saddled with the Bradley, because I wouldn't call it a scout vehicle, it's a big target and slower than the M1. I've had the thought that the British had a better idea of what a scout vehicle is supposed to be, as far as filling out the scout mission.
My brother was a 19D and was with HHC 1/7 INF, Scout Platoon during the Gulf War. He was a driver of an M3A2 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) at that point. First, he would be offended by anyone calling it a tank. Second, it proved to be completely reliable throughout their entire deployment from October 1990 - May 1991 (They had the improved 600HP engines). He said the drivers compartment was like a sauna on steroids so his crew kept him supplied with water so he didn't end up useless when the SHTF.
He was not in 73 Easting, but was in several others, to include the Battle for Medina Ridge. He said that the action was too intense and fast to really be scared. The scariest things he recalls was an Apache fired on another Scout Platoon and took out a Bradley and an M113, and in the Battle of Phase Line Bullet a guy he knew in OSUT was killed driving his Bradley by an M1 Abrams that shot them through the rear, severely wounding the TC and killing the driver. There was a Time Magazine cover photo of one of the other 19D crew members bursting into tears on the evac chopper when he realized the body next to him was his friend. Friendly fire was his biggest fear.
He also told about several incidents of enemy wire-guided missile attacks that were spotted by the puff of smoke that were thwarted by quickly engaging the smoke puff area with the 25mm. You didn't have to kill them to stop it, just get them to put their head down and stop the missile.
So, no, the Bradley was not, and is not, a tank, but it is an extremely powerful and effective weapons platform in its own right. I believe the most deadly, powerful, and effective land warfare fighting force ever assembled was the armored cavalry regiment (ACR). The combination of OH-58 Kiowa's and Bradley's (Scouting), M1's (Heavy Armor), Cobra's and Apache's (air attack), Paladins and M270 MLRS (Artillery)...... This was the ultimate combined forces combat unit, imho. Tanks and Bradley's worked together to find and destroy the enemy. With the additional support of the Airforce with A-10's and AC-130's, as well as air superiority with F16's and F-15's, this was an unstoppable force.
If you really want to know ho effective a Bradley is, all you have to do is look at the stupid decision to take Scouts out of Bradley's and put them in Humvees in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Scout's did not have the protection and firepower they had just 12 years earlier. This was a very costly mistake made by pencil pushing bureaucrat's in the pentagon. The people who paid that cost were the Soldiers in the Scout Platoons.
You know you've made it when you have Scheels sponsoring you. That place is amazing.
legit my fav store!
Agreed! Just bought my dad's birthday gift from them.
Not sure if it's the same everywhere but the one in Colorado Springs had a fucking ferris wheel in the lobby
@@politicallyinsensitive4200 So does the one in Edina (MN,) and a big fish and water feature thing.
@@politicallyinsensitive4200 as does the one in Reno Nevada, we take trips across state lines specifically to go there
The Bradley will always have a place in my heart. One of the least comfortable places to sleep and a pain in the ass to lay out for Lt and a million other not great things about it, but overall fond memories.
i slept on the back door. lowered it on our stump we carried so it would lay flat blamo room for 3, 2 inside floor who had the whole crew easy. we had rubber bottoms in mine
A lot better than the bmps,thats for sure,you'd be stuffed in there like sardines.
The Abrams is classified as a main battle tank. That implies the existence of a secondary tank.
Yeah? Technically before MBTs tanks were classified as Light, Medium, and Heavy tanks, each with their own specific design roles of tankery. MBTs kinda just combined them all to do them all well enough while still being a tank.
@@krullachief669still means secondary exists somewhere
no that means an entreé and a dessert tank exist, get your facts straight@@ugs192
Or an Alt Tank, maybe it's an Alt Tank.
@@ugs192 yes and no - the concept of an 'MBT' hit the scene in the '50's with the British Chieftain - other, lighter tanks were still out and about on the field.
MBT's of today are, by weight, the mediums of yesteryear - with a tank destroyer's gun on them.
Nominally, there are still 'light tanks' out there, and to the layman self-propelled armored gun carriers are also going to fall into this.
But actual, honest to goodness Main Battle Tank is, at least in the US, a term that could be straight out dropped.
The one thing you forgot, the location of the TOW launcher and the sights being above turret level allows the TOW to be fired from defilade. I’d also add that the variants in use by the Army have kinematic lead. So, gunners just aim center mass at a moving target or when the Bradley is moving. The ballistic computer calculates the lead necessary and offsets the 25mm to compensate automatically for a first burst kill.
That’s new, we used to have to lead movers.
A friend use to sing "Riding around the Bradley, with a pocket full of shells" and i could never unhear that when the song comes on.
I nearly spat out my coffee - “revokes birth certificates like a tank”. Incredible content as always. I always look forward to TFE Sundays!
Dude, I love your descriptions... "A missile hurtling toward you at Mach-Fuck..." and "We need to start saying tanks aren't Bradley's". I owe you many frosty beverages if we ever meet.
Don't let that stop you. The dude has a beer fund. 🍺
@@Xbox_HonorGuard_Ra Buying him one would be nowhere near as much fun as sharing several with him.
@@RAWms Yep, wont do something unless you see the benefit for yourself. Just be like the other suckers and get parasocial satisfaction off of it.
@@thomgizzizwhat's it like to be the guy who needs to suck the joy out of every room you enter?
The only thing worse than seeing two Bradleys coming at you on the battlefield, is seeing they are not concerned about you because the A10 has you in their sights
Yeah, that's five kinds of fucked right there.
BRRRRRRRRT!
Actually, it would be seeing two Bradleys off in the distance, and while they aren't coming towards you, they've both got their turrets pointed towards you.
Why is this terrifying?
Because it means one of them is likely using its built-in targeting laser to paint you for the aforementioned A-10 to bomb the piss out of you.
I'd be more worried if I were British, the A-10 kills British IFVs like it's V1 and blood is fuel.
@@johngleich1379 Or even worse, the Ginsu missile has your name on it, everything on the battlefield is ignoring you...and you die thinking that this incredible luck has to run out some time.
I was 19 Delta from 1986 to 1990. Trained on the M3 Bradley in Fort Knox in 1986 as an 18 year old went to the “high speed” 1st AD in Germany and worked as driver/crewman on M113s. In 1988 I went to Fort Hood 1st Cav division and I was back on the Bradley. Was great to drive ,and as a 21 year old I had a blast!
for two years.
I grew up in a town of three thousand in South Mississippi and the National Guard unit there is a Bradley Unit. In 94 I was a freshman in high school, the Guard brought their Bradley over and asked for one student to drive it and I got picked to drive the Bradley and it's fast!
Found your channel a while back and there’s been nothing but consistently good content. Thank you for entertaining us and keep up the jokes.
thank you I'm glad you like it
As a 11B in a mech unit in 1st cav. There is a reason why they call Bradley's "hunter, killers". They hunt and destory the killers of the battlefield.
"hunter, killers" would suggest they kill the hunters rather than the other way around btw
When the M113 got tired of being made fun of and it hit the gym for a few years, the Bradley was what became of that transformation.
I always thought of the Bradley as DARPA looking at the BMP and going "Holy fuck, why don't we have one of those?!"
Def got on a TRT regimen haha
@@twotailedavenger nah, the BMP vs Bradley is like the Mig 25 vs the F-15:
The soviets overclaimed their IFV and US went "aight, bet" and did something better in all regards
M113 slower than a tank and louder than a tank bigger than a tank. Yah I'm going to sneak up on the enemy in that or we would scout in a jeep and if you think a hummer hasn't have armor, well I've often thought about a machine gun burst is all it would take to wipe us out.
The Bradley’s have once again proven to be one of the greatest military vehicles ever created. If you know what I’m referring to of course.
everyone knows now
Absolutely Hilarious as always...TFE always shines through with his Miltary Humor and well-prepared presentations.
This is one of the best Military Enthusiast Channels on RUclips, and I dare anyone to "float around and find out" why.
I use to build the tow missle launch platform and the motors that rotate the turret. Loved that job. Seen a motor that took a 30mm round and kept operating. Made me feel so proud.
That .otor be like "AINT NOTHIN FUCKIN STOPPING ME WOOOOOOOO"
It is a light tank ... that dips in to the Anti-tank role, and the Troop carrier role.
agreed
I was going to say, a Light Tank with a boarding party of Marines.
If I'm remembering correctly it kinda sucks at the troop transport role and the whole mechanized infantry concept has proven to be more of a logistics nightmare than it has an effective combat doctrine.
We call that multiclassing.
You literally described an IFV
As a previous Bradley gunner during Desert Shield/Storm, I can say my two Bradley’s in my 4 year enlistment NEVER had a problem and worked flawlessly during the war! Bradley’s are bad a$$
I drove a Bradley while stationed at Ft. Hood from 05 to 08, and I loved just about every minute of it. Still miss it to this day.
My dad had the honor of building the very first of these beasts. He worked RnD at FMC from the 70s to the early 90s. He built the first of a LOT of these vehicles. He was most proud of the Bradley and Abrams. He still tells me stories of how he'd have to cut the whole thing in half over and over again for the initial design, then had to rebuild everything for Operation Desert Storm so it'd work in the sand. My dad is the Einstein of engineering
Well, in War Thunder, you will find the Bradley in the Tanks category of the US research tree, so According to them, it's a Tank. And they probably have the classified documents to prove it.
I wanted to make this joke but didn't wanna have to explain for ppl that wouldn't get it lol
REPLYING TO ADD CONTEXT: For those who are not in the know, War Thunder players often get into fights how realistic a given vehicle is and some of those players being soldiers, with access to classified documents on a given vehicles capabilities, tend to leak them
@@lantzryker8051Damn that's cool!
It's also landed the game in a bad spot, it is the first game to be considered a security risk
Well this comment aged beautifully
The wire on the TOW is legit the scariest non-intentional unalivement potential in the armory. Lost a good pair of boots and almost half my pinkie toes to that thing.
How u do that
@@zaksmith3163 Same way 11B's do everything. I walked right into it.
If I am recalling correctly I as talking to a guy who said some enemy in the sandbox jumped up from his cover after one of their Bradley's launched a TOW thinking he was safe and could fire upon them. TOW wire meet neck.
@@CrysResan I'm pretty sure that was just a ol' Sarge's tale to drive home some point about how dangerous literally everything is in a fight. Totally believable though. That wire ain't playin' around.
We called the Tow death on a leash.
One major benefit it has over tanks is speed. It's like trying to shoot a running squirrel through a scope. It's also why they got so many kills in storm. It was a blitz, and they got there first, even when they weren't sure where there was.
Nathan Bedford Forrest: "Get there firstest with the mostest."
I love the referencing of "Greatest Tank Battles - Battle of 73 Easting" towards the end there, absolutely perfected documentary.
the bradley is so underrated, it deserves more respect and it will get it one way or the other, and no one would like the other
The Bradley, it's just a modern version of a tank destroyer that can also bring it's own grunts to the party.
Not really, it's a failed APC. It was supposed to replace the M113 but they added so much unnecessary crap to it that it couldn't fulfill it's role and got rebranded as a IFV. This is the V-22 Osprey of land.
@@eleSDSU I ment that as a joke based on The Fat Electrician's jokes
@@eleSDSU
You're sort of right.
It was meant to replace the M113 after the US saw the first deployments of the BMP-1 which was the first IFV fielded by a military. The US, only having lightly-armoured M113s, decided to make their own IFVs, birthing the Bradley.
Of course, the US has replaced their M113s with proper APCs like MRAPs, Strykers and Humvees since it served since the Vietnam war
Bradley is just an IFV thats. Its not a tank killer and will not live up to a tank. Pretty sure ukrainians would take tanks anyday even t64s over bradley. They are much better armed and better armored and if anything their overrated name was shattered based on how they performed.
@@Stockfish1511 People taking a joke seriously....anyway with only two TOW missiles the Bradley does need an ambush to destroy a modern tank reliability. It's a grunt carrier first a foremost anyway, any IVF is going to get mauled if it becomes the center of the enemy's attention in a fight.
I don't know what's more impressive, the Bradley itself or the joystick jockey who is able to accurately steer a mach 1 missile on a line!
That can't be easy, can it?
The missile steers itself. All the operator does is keep a little red-dot crosshair on the screen centered on whatever they're about to blow the [QUACK] UP...
It’s pretty easy and fun as long as you don’t let go of the trigger or you lose control and you better hope it hits the ground first
Its also strangely comical watching a tow travel toward a target from behind. It looks like a Tinker Bell of death.
A joystick would have been nice try doing it with two knobs. Or in my own worst case scenario a broken azimuth lock, so a knob and a Humvee turret lock handle.
@@jasontanner4042 So you steered it with an etch a sketch?!
I was a scout platoon leader in DESERT STORM and loved my Bradley! 1/A/4-7CAV was probably the most lethal organization I ever served with. Lots of old fashioned reliable firepower with those M3' and M3A1's! Thanks for the video!
Having been an armorer in an armored battalion, I’ve seen the one weapon most Brad crews have not used extensively. We didn’t issue them during any training, I don’t know if an other AR’s did. The M-231. An M-16 variant that is a submachine gun. It’s a port firing weapon that also has an ammo catch bag. It’s designed to use to sweep the area behind and around the Brad in order to make it safer for the ramp drop to unass the Grunts in the back. The catch bags for the brass are so they don’t fall on their asses while doing it.
Shooting a TOW is one of the greatest feelings ever. Also having to keep your tracking gates on your target constantly (for as long as 26 seconds) makes it feel like an eternity.
Yet it's never been in a movie.
As a former 11M (Old MOS for Mechanized Infantry) I whole heartedly agree with The Chubby Electron Pusher, the Bradley is bad ass. It has a bad reputation because of the book and movie "The Pentagon Wars" but when we deployed for Desert Storm it proved how bad ass it was. I and other 11M's I know love the Brad.
Former 11M here, and I can confirm.
@@dustingarner6483 Old 11M here. Same. I loved it!!!
And think that A.F. man did a tantrum against the Bradly because he wanted his ww2 styled attack airplane model be accepted although it was the stupidest thing thinked until military-fans(not experts but claims to be)-wehraboos-furries forums became a thing in the internet
The Bradley really TOWs the line when it comes to combined armor-infantry combat.
The 73 Easting battle story is on of my favorites. The two Ghost troop Bradleys were trying to link up with Eagle Troop when they walked right in to the 8 tank assembly area and began missile drills, killing tanks like Lisa in Team America, pausing to ask for Garry.
Ok, This episode made me REALLY love watching your show. My dad told me to check you out, I've watched a couple and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far, but this one was the cherry on top for me. I was a 94A for 12 years, which was basically called a 'missile guy' from the Bradley crews and the heavy weapon guys in the light infantry world, as my job was to make sure your tow system as a whole went ''mach fuck' and 'revoked birth certificates' as intended :) I loved working with the Bradley crews, and def enjoyed hearing the different opinions of the track in general, but overall I always felt it was a solid piece of equipment or we would have been trying to replace it a lot sooner then we have been. Granted the Abram is the powerhouse on the battlefield as far as the world is concerned, but I think for that reason the bradley gets to quietly be an assassin and just knock targets out without other countries putting together wtf is going on. My favorite moment I got to see a TOW missile used was in iraq in 2007. A sniper shot one of our convey dismounts(was one of the engineer pukes checking something on the buffalo truck they were in) and the escort we had that day happened to be 4 bradleys from 4th ID with our 4 guntrucks we were riding in. All you hear over the radio is a call to approve use of the tow, about 10 seconds you hear the confirmation, and then you hear the pop of the launcher and look out the right to see a distant 'poof'(probably about 500-600 meters) of a tow missile obliterating the firing position of said sniper, and of course in typical fashion, a second delay to hear the 'boom' and feel the small rumble.
Hilarious as expected. Kinda want to see a batch review of over the shoulder missile launcher systems (Javelin, AT4, MANPADS, etc.).
For a second I saw over the shoulder "boulder holders" but that could be a video to itself as well 🤣🤣🤣
This brings back memories of playing the "Desert Combat" mod for Battlefield 1942 in LAN games and me using the Bradley to to straight up own the battlefield. I even had a few helicopter kills.
The helicopters in that were great. I LOVED controlling them with my flight stick.
Best battlefield game ever. Literally played it via LAN during both of my Iraq deployments.
OIF II 04-05, we had a guy with a wireless router, and we’d have half the platoon all playing. Platoon daddy would come around, shake his head, ask why we spent so much time playing video games. One guy says, we don’t have a COFT to maintain skills against tanks and light armor. This is valuable training! Loved that game!!!
@@mathewcarson364 gotta ask where you were. I was on Speicher, the airfield up near Tikrit in 05.
Please do one on the challenger 1 or 2 MBT dying to hear what you got to say about the world record tank kill 👌🏻❤️
Thank you for mentioning 73 Easting, one of the most underrated, forgotten battles of all time. Guess you had to be there....
As an 11 Mike, I was finding myself cadently reciting, "tube-launched, optically-tracked..."
11 Mike was when the Bradley was all sexy and the wave of the future. We had 25mikemike armor-piercing and high-explosive, and if I recall, they could not be mixed. You wouldn't want to try the 25mm on the frontal armor of a T-72, but the ap might get it done if the Lord smiled at you. The top armor, oh yeah. Back in 1st Gulf, it was the Dragon, not Javelin, but we still had the TOW. The M-2/M-3 (Cavalry version (same thing, different letter)) CFV were to replace the old M-113 APCs, which were intended solely as a battle taxi, and had no armament beyond Mama Deuce. Soldiers being soldiers and battles being battles, they were, of course, not used the way they were intended. So, to accompany the M-1, the M-2 was born. It was designed to fight Soviet armor and infantry divisions and would not be matched by Soviet export quality tanks and training. The 11 Mike MOS was finally reabsorbed back into 11 Bravo about year 100 o' the Twentieth-Century.
“Tanks aren’t Bradleys” is just plain perfect!
Thank you for uploading, your a life saver. You make the depression go away
I would love to see a video on Robert Olds, the only WW2 pilot to get an air to air kill while gliding, he forgot to switch to inboard fuel when he detached his droptanks only realizing afterwards
His operation Bolo is a much better idea. He decided to deceive the NVA by dressing up the Phantoms as bombers to surprise the fighters. It turned the Hanoi ATC traffic into pure chaos, destroyed around 50% of their fighting force, and stopped interceptions for months.
Actually, a ukrainian operator took down a t-90. Fun fact - he knew where soft spots are, ‘cause he played “world of tanks”.
Dont think he ever said the game and pretty sure you wont learn how to do that in world of tanks so its likley war thunder
The technical classification is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) which is, for all intents and purposes, a light tank that can transport troops. It doesn’t really matter that it can get one shot by a tank when it’s more maneuverable and is effectively immune to small arms fire which makes sense since it’s primary job is to drop troops off in a combat zone and then stick around to provide heavy fire support.
Besides, allegedly there is no tank that should be able to survive direct hits from other tanks... except the Challenger 2
That thing is thick as fuuuuuuuuuuu
I've had "The Pentagon Wars" on my HBO watchlist for a bit, but haven't seen it yet. It's a comedy film about all of the crazy decisions made to turn what was supposed to be a transport into a tank in all but name. You've inspired me to go watch it now. Great video!
Definitely do it now! The Pentagon Wars is amazing! The Bradley eventually matured into a great vehicle, but it had to go through a lot of birthing pains and would have remained a POS if it wasn't for some dedicated people in procurement that made sure the issues were addressed.
I would actually recommend against watching it. It is full of inaccuracies and it comes from the point of view of an Air Force officer who had oversight of an army program, and didn’t know how the army does things. For a slightly more historically accurate look, search up Lazerpig’s video on the Bradley/Pentagon Wars.
@@sethmorrison1403 Like looking at survivability against tank main gun rounds while missing the point its not supposed to survive tank main gun rounds! Also didn't the guy cook up highly biased 'experiments' to 'prove' his statements?
I agree though, Lazerpigs rant against that film is both extremely amusing, and far, far closer to the actual reality than Pentagon Wars is.....
The Pentagon Wars is a great comedy, and I'd recommend watching it for that. Just take the events in it with a pinch of salt because many of them were played up for the sake of the movie, and while the main character is a real person, in real life he was a pencil pushing beaurecrat who did more harm than good to the project he was assigned to.
Literally scrolled thru the comments JUST to make sure this movie was referenced! Cart Elwes was the perfect casting for this!
Excellent as always.
Thank you! Cheers!
“Revokes birth certificates like a tank” 😂😂 love it
This video aged well. Fat Electrician my Bradley office thinks your video rocked. We showed it our annual program management review and everyone liked it. Huge moral boost to have our platform be recognized before they proved themselves in Ukraine.
3:41 YOOOOO GREATEST TANK BATTLES I LOVE THAT SHOW
Besides the mechanical ratings of the vehicle, I think it's a big mistake to not count the dismount team as part of the Bradley's advantage. Tanks are very vulnerable to infantry, if they don't have infantry of their own.
Another dude in the comments compsred it to a wolf spider: bites hard and if you crush it, hundreds of little angry spiders comes out with vengeful intentions
Damn outstanding yet again, thanks. I learn more and more from your channel every time I watch.
Bradley = CQB Tank
Paladin = Sniper Tank
Stryker= wheel tank
🫡.
Veteran Bradley infantry fighting vehicle dismount here.
It's sad when most think Bradley is old and useless. Bradley will always be a beast for infantry, if you know the tactics & how to use Bradley effectively WITHOUT losing any.
When I was a pup in a military school one of my cadre was previously a Brandly gunner who served in DS. Absolutely the most diabolical, insane(not crazy, INSANE!) servicemen I've ever met......still.
I worked on Bradleys. We teased them about being baby tanks but they were amazing multitask vehicles.
I was an Infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division, and when we were training tank vs Bradley, it was either as close to even as it possibly could be, or us Grunts would come out on top by way of having better tactics, including range, and a few Grunts out there throwing tank killing Javelins into the mix.
the javelin is under rated.
We don't engage head on with tanks. At least not in doctrine. But the ERA designed for it does help a lot with taking hits from most rounds. Also this video left out a few things, like it also fires HE rounds for things like unarmored vehicles, helicopters that were dumb enough to get close, and the 7.62 M240C for troops in the open. And for even more defense against enemy tanks, if it's not in wide open desert of course, the dismounts have things like the M136 AT-4 and between the 4 in the platoon carrying the three squads (same MTOE as light, just add the brads) there will be a couple of Javelins to rain down some unhealthcare.
Explain that first bit to the Ukrainians.
I knew bradleys were capable of knocking out tanks after hearing stories of what my dad went through during Desert Storm. I had no idea how many tanks they had actually knocked out though.
Ya, but the whole “Bradley’s killed more enemies during 73 easting” thing was due to numbers. The unit sent into that battle was mostly Bradley’s. The tanks were the spearhead.
The US military has basically said that in Desert Storm, the Bradleys had way more engagements than what they were ever expecting.
Skinny electrician here. Spent alot of time in these at Ft. Hood. Wow brings back memories playing war games. 3 tours NTC and one reforger
Russia: "we have the most advanced, best MBTs on the field"
Ukraine: "we have a 40 year old APC from America lol"
Fun fact, the TOW doesn’t even hit the tank since it’s a top down attack missile.
Most modern TOWs are at least, I know that some have impact warheads
@@Yuki_Ika7 They make both! Top down attack TOWs for anti-armor uses and they also have bunker buster TOWs that do impact and explode.
The older variants that are direct attack are out of the inventory at this point. Though, the bunker buster variant is direct attack, but it won’t kill a tank. We exclusively use variants of the TOW-2B which is a FOSD (Fly Over Shoot Down) missile. That being said, should the need arise, the Bradley can change a TOW-2B into a Direct Attack impact by pushing a few buttons. It’s less effective on tanks, but if you want to fly one into a cave, bunker, or window of a building, it does the trick if don’t have Bunker Busters.
@@mathewcarson364out of inventory, as if we don’t still deploy with them. Lmfao, we had bunker busters and bravo arrows overseas bud, they aren’t “out of inventory”
Tow2Bravos are....
1:26 - Well, there's now footage of a pair of Ukrainian Bradleys disabling a Russian T-90M with their 25mm Bushmasters. It was seen with the turret spinning clearly out of control from a malfunction before running into a tree and the crew abandoning it. I mean it didn't send the turret to space but being it was so damaged it was abandoned...I'm pretty sure that's a 20 year old 'not a tank' taking out a new main battle tank...so in conclusion:
The Bradley is a tank.
Don't you mean, The T-90M is not a Bradley.
I love the Bradley. One pf my favs.
Also... Dont watch "The Bradley Wars" if you want an insight on the development.
Because the book its based on was madewriten by a guy who was more concened about making the bradley look bad, than making it both safe and practical.
Lazerpig did a vid on it, worth a watch
It's a Tank Destroyer. The TOW allows it to engage enemy tanks beyond their own effective range. The Bradley's optics are better than the Abrams...so they are better than anything on the ground. And the Bradley can spill out crunchies with stabby, shooty, and Javelin thingies. The 25mm and 7.62 coax are icing on the cake.
I remember being at NTC as RTU and having to assist the infantry (I was a tanker) in spooling up the TOW-2B wire...You gotta wear wire gloves because those lines can and will cut you as they are sharp. not fun cleaning that stuff up. Keep in mind that the Bradley can come on one of two configurations: IFV which sacrifices extra TOW missiles for Dismounts or the CFV which will have 3 dismounts and extra TOW Missiles in the back. Once that wire is cut, that TOW missile becomes a dud and falls to the ground...
3:12 And that's ignoring the fact that Bradley's aren't intended to fight tanks. It's not their job. They can do it, but only when they have to.
I've always thought of the Bradley as an Ultra-Light tank. Or the worlds most American APC. (You know, because it's so fighty an Ork would approve... once you paint it red.)
The reason the Bradley can’t take a hit from the main gun round of a tank or any other large caliber weapon is because it wasn’t designed to IFV’s are only designed to drop off their infantry of and stick around to provide fire support as opposed to an APC or armored personnel carrier which drops off their infantry then runs away
It's just that the Bradleys have such good sights,weapons stabilization and weapons control that while innocently trying to protect themselves with their puny cannons they incidently kill most that are a threat. It's an active protection thing.
I drove the scout version for over a year at 3rd ACR and it was so fun, but maintenance sux forever. And getting concertina wire out the tracks and baking in MOPP 4 while buttoned up. … never mind.
Brought back memories for me. Former 11M. Desert Storm vet. Thanks for the video!
It’s still heavy enough to make you a crunchy
Technically, so are HUMVEES, MRAPs, and pretty much ANY vehicle.
@@Rotorhead1651 Although with tracks you'll get a more of a crunchie feeling instead of a single Crunch
Due to new upgrades in technology, Raytheon developed a wireless missile that the Bradley can now use and does not require certain conditions when firing through smoke/fires, near electrical lines, or over water.
It was cancelled years ago. Unless the idea was brought back.
It's the US Military, nothing ever gets 'cancelled' or thrown away.@@Unicorn161
Oh really?
I love the production of these videos! You should also go to Oshkosh Airventure. There most likely be B1s B2s and B52s there considering the theme is the Vietnam war.
That's right friend.
I'm Finnish army recon/antitank platoon trained to shoot and/or reload the TOW and we use six man teams because we can put it anywhere!
It's about 20-23.5 kg's or 50 lbs per soldier and in winter time we also ski with those f*cking things on our back! Not even counting the personal gear weapons and such...
But where we arrive..
We OWN the place
that harlem shake clip just unearthed a massive nostalgia trip for me
Awesome video. I saw the missile toe/ tow missile joke coming, and it was still great. Any chance you'd do historical figures like sorta what you did with Lucky Flucky? I'd love to see a video on John Paul Jones. Who does not get enough credit for being an absolute menace.
The best use of this joke is from Futurama. Santa literally says "your mistletoe is no match for my tow missile".
@00:40 man i really should have joined the millitary....
I absolutely love this video. Would like to see your take on the French AMX 10RC. Which is their everything fighting scout vehicle as it has a 105mm main gun. Which is also being shipped to Ukraine.
I drove it in OIF 1 and gunned it in OIF 3. Love the vehicle. It got us back safe every night. No EFPs though.
Scouts in CSC 1/77 Armor lost our straight M-113s for ITVs in 1982. Working heaters! Best feature.
Bro if I had a dollar for every time I've had to tell somebody the Bradly isn't a tank I could pay for college tuition already. Then again, as you said, if it looks like a tank, walks like a tank, and parties like a tank, it could be a tank.
It's great when it's not in a call of duty campaign
videos games do the bradley dirty
Definitely, even in the PS2 days, the missiles fucked but the main gun was like firing nerf footballs full of herbs and spices. Only game I know of that gave Bradleys a fair amount of love were the Operation Flashpoint games, if you kept the armor far enough away without getting flanked, anyway
@@grimreminder5038 The RTS series wargame does bradleys and lots of smaller vehicles well imo. Operation Flashpoint games ... oh the memories
Still hoping for a carrier pigeon video. Loved the PGS pigeon guided system video. Has there ever been a cat with a rank in a military?
There are a surprising number of animals with rank if you go looking so short answer? Yes. Also look up the name Nils Olav III.
various navies had cats(one of the British ones, Simon on HMS Amethyst was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, that medal has it's own story, and one ended up surviving 3 ships one being Bismarck and the other 2 being British before the Brits assigned him shore duties)
US and British at least had dogs with ranks(besides the modern working dogs)
US had a donkey get medals
the Polish had a BEAR
and Norway has a Penguin with both military and royal rank
I've been a Bradley gunner for almost 4 years first at Fort Hood and now at Fort Stewart I love this video
Two guys in high school senior to me graduated joined the army and got put on a Bradley team together and sent to Iraq. They made one the driver and the other the main gunner. Went for humvees too. And I gotta tell you. Knowing who they are the army absolutely made the best decision possible making the responsible one the driver and the crazy one the gunner. Made sense.