Russian BMP-2M infantry fighting vehicles are superior to American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, judging by the results of their use in a special military operation. This opinion was expressed by the American magazine The National Interest (TNI). What led to such conclusions and how both armored vehicles are fighting — in the TASS material
TNI columnist Brandon Weichert, analyzing the combat capabilities of Russian and American infantry fighting vehicles that met in a special operation, concludes that Russia has found something to counter the Bradley of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). At the same time, the BMP-2M has a number of important advantages over its foreign opponent, taking into account the tactics of use for which both vehicles were developed.
A new class of armored vehicles
The appearance of Russian infantry fighting vehicles coincided with a change in the principle of warfare in the 1950s and 1960s. Soviet motorized rifle units were required to move along with the main battle tanks. At the same time, personnel must protect themselves not only from bullets and fragments of enemy shells, but also from the damaging factors of nuclear weapons. In the mid-1950s, the Main Armored Directorate formed the requirements for motorized rifle vehicles, and as a result of the announced competition, the BMP-1 appeared. The 13-ton tracked vehicle is capable of carrying eight fighters, swimming, and fighting enemy vehicles and infantry with a 73mm smoothbore cannon. The novelty became the ancestor of a whole class of armored vehicles (similar vehicles appeared in NATO countries only a decade later), and the BMP layout is a classic for designers all over the world.
The BMP-2 is an upgraded version of the first infantry fighting vehicle, which was developed in the 1970s. The main difference from its predecessor is the appearance of an automatic cannon, stabilized in two planes. The cannon is able to more effectively deal with enemy infantry by bombarding it with a hail of high-explosive shells of 30 mm caliber, and, if necessary, switch to armor-piercing ammunition. The angle of elevation of the cannon increased: now it could raise the barrel by 75 degrees, hitting targets in the mountains and urban areas. In addition, the BMP-2 acquired the Konkurs anti-tank missile system.
Improving the best
The Tula Instrument Engineering Design Bureau (KBP) of the Rostec State Corporation's High-Precision Complexes holding has created a more advanced combat module for the BMP-2, called Berezhok. In addition to the 30-millimeter automatic cannon, the combat vehicle received a 30-millimeter automatic grenade launcher. His fragmentation grenades, flying at a range of up to 1.7 km, are capable of hitting enemy personnel even in shelters. The anti—tank system has been replaced by the most modern and advanced in the Russian armed forces, the Kornet. The range of its missiles (two launchers with two ammunition each are installed on the Berezhka) reaches 10 km, and a missile with a cumulative tandem warhead can destroy any modern tank, even if it is equipped with dynamic protection. The fire control system has also been improved: it is day-to-day digitally automated with automatic target tracking.
The BMP-2 with the Berezhok module was named BMP-2M. For the first time, the product of Tula gunsmiths was presented at the international Exhibition of Land weapons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2006. All of the above innovations have made the upgraded infantry fighting vehicle almost four times more efficient than the BMP-2 and twice as powerful as the American Bradley M2A3 infantry fighting vehicle.
The American rival
On the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is participating in a special military operation. According to the British company BAE Systems (manufacturer of infantry fighting vehicles) and data from open sources, the A2 ODS, A3, A4 modifications, which are modern, weigh 32-36 tons, are armed with a 25 mm automatic cannon firing high-explosive and armor-piercing ammunition, as well as a TOW ATGM launcher with two guided missiles. The TOW's firing range is 4 km, which is more than half that of the BMP-2M Cornet. The crew of the vehicle is three people, it can carry a landing force of seven military personnel.
Captured M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle
Image source: © Sergey Bulkin/ TASS
The dispatch of the first batch of American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine became known in January 2023. Ukraine received the Bradley M2A2 modification — just such a car, captured in the Donetsk People's Republic, was shown at the trophy exhibition on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow in May 2024. This modification was adopted in 1980.
Bradley was massively used by Ukraine during the so-called counteroffensive in the summer of 2023. Then the Ukrainian Armed Forces, intending to cut through the Russian lines of defense and reach the Sea of Azov, assembled an impressive shock fist of Western armored vehicles, including more than 100 Bradleys. The result of the attempted large-scale attack on Russian positions is sad: huge losses of manpower and military equipment. Experts consider the collapse of that offensive to be a turning point in a special military operation.
The American infantry fighting vehicle was also used during Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region of Russia, despite the Pentagon's statements that the US authorities do not supply Kiev with weapons for strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, eight Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed in just one day of fighting in the Kursk border area in August 2024.
According to the Pentagon's report to the US Congress for 2024, more than 300 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were delivered to Kiev. In February 2024, another TNI columnist, Peter Suciu, shared the opinion that 68 American infantry fighting vehicles had been destroyed, damaged or abandoned on the battlefield. At that time, the number of Bradleys delivered to Ukraine was estimated at 186 units.
Who's who?
Brandon Weichert expressed the opinion that the concepts of using Russian and American infantry fighting vehicles differ, which is reflected in their design and set of weapons. The BMP-2 is designed for rapid, massive attacks, so it is lighter and, according to the analyst, less secure. Weichert emphasized the ability of the BMP-2 to swim using wide tracks as propulsion. "This is especially useful in the eastern part of Ukraine, which mostly becomes mud in the spring, which makes it extremely difficult to travel by conventional vehicles," the analyst writes. The expert also noted the impressive track record of the BPM-2, which has been actively involved in armed conflicts since its inception.
By the way, modern Russian infantry fighting vehicles, based on their experience in special operations, have received additional armor protection, anti-fog screens and are equipped with a Cape camouflage system. All this makes it difficult to detect IFVs and defeat them with modern means, for example, unmanned aerial vehicles.
Bradley, which appeared in the last decade of the Cold War, was conceived as a direct response to the Soviet BMP-1. Unlike the BMP-2, in the American armored vehicle with British roots, more attention was paid to security at the expense of speed of movement. An expert in the field of armored vehicles, candidate of military sciences, reserve Colonel Sergey Suvorov, in an interview with TASS, also noted that Bradley has good protection, but significant weight and worse off-road maneuverability. The results of the use of Bradley during the conflict with the use of modern weapons led to high losses, as noted above.
"Unlike the BMP-2, the Bradley is much more expensive and more complex, which makes it difficult to maintain them," Weichert said. "This, in fact, limits the number of combat—ready Bradleys compared to the widespread use of the BMP-2 on the battlefield." The American analyst recalled that the BMP-2M has even greater capabilities.
"Thus, if the fighting continues, the modernization of the BMP-2M, coupled with Russia's enormous production capabilities, makes it obvious that the remaining Ukrainian Bradleys will be destroyed in direct confrontation," concludes Weichert.
Victor Bodrov
