Editing Bradley Fighting Vehicle (section)

==IRL==
[[File:Maxresdefault (1).jpg|300px|right|thumb|[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnFrwzTDJs| Ba! Ba! BAAAAAAAAA!]]]]

As mentioned before the Bradley was a subject of the Pentagon Wars, two works of fiction presenting itself as a factual documentation of the Bradley's development but being anything but. Both the book created by Colonel James Burton and the movie are completely wrong with the role Burton played in the program and how we has portrayed, and swaths of events are completely bullshit. In reality, Burton's claims of [[What|the trials being rigged were both fueled by his misunderstandings to what the Bradley was capable of as a vehicle in its category,]] [[Fail|And also by his failure to see why using a HEAT-round ballistic test on a IFV that was already known to not have the capability to withstand such rounds is a waste of time]]. Burton believed that the Bradley was going to be an APC much like the M113 and that people just kept adding more cannons and missiles on to it. Not only is this retarded, it seems to undermine that from the very start of the program in 1965, the Bradley was meant to be and IFV in response to the soviets BMP1.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmuVYVREGgE Here's a video from Spookston which also shows some sources of his research on the subject in the description.]

To be entirely fair to the Military-Industrial Complex, the Pentagon changed its mind about the program requirements and aspects of vehicle design over and over for fifteen years.  They wanted it wheeled.  No, tracked.  No, wheeled again.  They wanted a turret with an autocannon.  No, a lightweight recoilless rifle.  No, a missile launcher.  No, we want an autocannon AND a missile launcher.  And on and on.  It is a small miracle that the program ever settled on a design checklist at all so that the manufacturers could finalize designs.  [[derp|Pentagon procurement policy has been like that more or less since Cold War.]] Fortunately, the Bradley would eventually become a reasonably successful vehicle (depending on who you ask). In real life the Bradley was finally adopted in 1981, four years before Team Yankee takes place.
 
Redesigned just in time for the Gulf War after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Bradley is currently armed with a M242 Chaingun, TOW missiles, and a M240 Machine Gun. The TOW missiles, of course, are the vehicle's biggest threat. During Operation Desert Storm Bradleys killed more Iraqi Soviet Tanks and armored vehicles than the M1 Abrams. Most losses came from friendly fire incidents, as IFF systems weren't a thing until the early 2000's. The Bradley remains a flexible vehicle that can back up or substitute for the Abrams in both anti tank and urban warfare. However, due to the changing face of warfare with the proliferation of Anti-Tank missiles and Improvised Explosive Devices, it didn't do so well during the Iraq War of 2003-2011: during that period the US Army lost around 150 vehicles with around 700 damaged. Partially due to this the Army began to use the MRAPS after 2007, while Bradleys expecting to fight in urban conditions are often upgraded with the Urban Survival Kit.

In the 90's a hundred were converted into M6 Linebackers by replacing the TOWs with Stingers for short range anti-helicopter defense.  While an effective system, the lack of air threats in the gulf conflicts meant most of these were converted back to TOWs to make up for losses.  

The Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is a updated version of the Bradley that will replace the [[M113_Armored_Personnel_Carrier|M113]], causing mindless fanboys like Mike Sparks to have autistic rage. The AMPV is a bit larger than a Bradley, though, with at least seventy percent of the vehicle being new, making the vehicle more of a cousin to the Bradley than a sibling. AMPVs can be fitted with a variety of weapons including a 30mm remote turret and Javelin Missiles, so now pretty much anything that can be put on top of a Stryker can also also be used by the AMPV. 

The Bradley itself (not the AMPV) will be replaced with another IFV in the future; potential candidates include the ASCOD GDLS, the Griffin, or any other IFV selection for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program, [[Fail|but any new vehicle probably won't be adopted until at least 2035.]] Due to the Pentagon's concurrency bullshit. At a pace this slow, America may as well start buying weapon systems directly from their European allies (BAE bought out United Defense making the European Union the largest arms supplier to the US). Most Bradleys will be upgraded with a 50mm autocannon before their final retirement. So we are going to assume that the NGCV will use the same weapon as its main gun. Effectively turning them into Light Tanks.

If you're wondering what the IRL difference between the M2 and M3 are, the latter is a ''Cavalry'' Fighting Vehicle, rather than an infantry one. Essentially this means that it carries a small scout section in exchange for better storage of ammunition and other recce related upgrades, allowing it to act as a cavalry style recon unit. And no, sadly Cavalry Fighting Vehicle does not imply it carries horses; what do you expect from a troop transport that can't carry a full squad?

M2s and Marders are part of aid slated to be sent to Ukraine. God help the poor bastard who faces them, because the Ukies sure as hell won't be showing any.

{{US Forces in Team Yankee}}