BAE Systems Land & Armaments, based in York, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $121.3 million contract modification by the U.S. Army to produce M2A4 and M7A4 Bradley vehicles.
According to the contract, the production will involve converting legacy variants of the Bradley into the latest versions.
The work locations and specific funding allocations will be determined with each order, and the project is expected to be completed by May 31, 2026.
The contract is being managed by the Army Contracting Command, based in Detroit Arsenal, Michigan.
The M7A4 BFIST (Bradley Fire Support Team) is a modernised artillery fire support vehicle designed to improve the coordination and accuracy of indirect fire missions, such as field artillery and mortars.
Equipped with a specialised mission equipment package, it allows commanders to plan and execute fire support while on the move, a significant improvement over previous models.
The vehicle shares the mobility and battlefield survivability of the M2A2 Bradley but adds a 25 mm cannon for self-defence.
Built on the latest M4 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle platform, the M7A4 features enhanced mobility and power generation capabilities, making it better suited to modern combat environments.
Not going to happen I know,but IF we were in for an IFV would these not be a bad choice? Hundreds of them sitting in a desert so already built,so not waiting in a queue for CV90 and being modified surely is a cheaper option than Boxer!
Detention for you Jacko and a hundred lines: “Sorry for my suggestion, I forgot that DE&S know best, I must not assume otherwise”
Ooops 😂
Mark, Do you really think DE&S decided to axe WCSP and replace Warrior with Boxers? Political decision for sure.
I believe the USA is trialing a replacement for Bradley even though it’s one of the best out there and any potential enemy’s vehicles are worse I am of the view if we are to buy off the shelf we should avoid Europe they are not as reliable as the USA and Europe puts a lot of strings in contracts, I would rather we built our own but for some strange reason the 5/6th most powerful country in the world that’s responsible for pretty much inventing the entire modern world seems to struggle building and maintaining heavy vehicles
Very well said, it’s like we need the Politicians of old to come from there graves to show the idiots of today how it was done 🙄 👻 🇬🇧
Bradley can be built under license in the UK, BAE already owns the rights to it.
It is an older design though, and defense firms make a lot of profit off the design portion of a contract, which can be padded financially. The production side is much lower margin.
Original Bradley was fielded 6 years before Warrrior, but the Americans of course constantly upgraded it…and in a substantial way.
In the same vein, wish Uncle Sugar’s minions would commit to a faster pace of conversion of warehoused M1A1 MBTs to the M1A2 SEPv3 standard. Yes, realize that the Army has decided on a developmental replacement program, but in the interim, upgrading to current standard at least cost and associated time delay should be intuitively obvious. Latest generation equipment for a fraction of the cost of new build should be considered low hanging fruit. “Quantity has a quality all its own.” Believe the political appointees from either party should be able to comprehend at least some basic concepts. 🤔😳🙄
Mass, logistics and training – the main factors that generate tempo (how quickly you can cycle through your operations relative to your enemy.)
Tempo wins battles. Tempo wins wars.
If you can’t generate mass, your force has to work harder, have even better logistics and be exceptionally well trained (and hopefully not take too many casualties).
So I’m with you, we need to convert as many older vehicles to a good standard as we can, sooner rather than later so if we need them, we have them. Both US and UK.
I wish we had a company like Bae. The things they produce for the American forces are excellent and we could have bought all kinds of equipment from them…😇
Great comment Geoff!
👍🙂
I am so envious that the US has the budget and political engagement to continually upgrade their IFVs!
It’s hard not to imagine of what might have been. If WSCP wasn’t canned. Would it have been as good as Bradley and CV90 have demonstrated in Ukraine? Would the CTAS40 be a game changer in fire support and on the offense. How would it have performed when targeted by FPV drones?
I am surprised that the previous and current Governments hasn’t offered up our Warriors to Ukraine? There can’t be much more left in reserve to give them?
You could only really tell whether ‘a is better than b or c’ by running demanding practical assessments at say, ATDU…or by comparing performance in combat. WCSP had a fantastic spec, so I don’t see why it would not have been at least as good as Bradley or CV90 in Ukrainian service. CTAS40 for Warrior was a very strong card. It has higher MV than the Bushmaster 25 on Bradley (1500m/s vs 1100 m/s), longer range (effective range of 2,500m rather than 2000m; max range of 8500m rather than 6800m), good penetration (140mm RHA at 1500m for the ‘fin’ round;… Read more »
I can only imagine that the CTAS40 would be a step change in capability to the Bradley’s Bushmaster. I can’t remember if the CV90s given to Ukraine have the 30mm or the Bofors 40mm autocannons. Either way, the CTAS should offer more flexibility against a more varied target set. From memory I believe the magazine for CTAS uses codified ammo. Where the gunner selects the round they need and the feeder/magazine sorts the required round. Unlike the Bushmaster/Bofors that uses a twin feed chute system. This does make the feed slightly slower. But does mean you can have more than… Read more »
There’s loads of old Bulldogs, which they are gradually sending there.
Agreed. Whilst we are pootling round in Grandad’s APCs.
I expect CIA PENTAGON and SIS SECURITY SERVICES to get urgently to engage PUTIN AND MEDVEDEV in peace negotiable agreement under the aegis of the World Parliament of Peace International inter-governmental corporate and Intelligence Organization under the presidency of VITALI ALEXANDROVICH DRUZHININ and his wife Kate Grace Druzhinin GOLIK ZAGURSKY THOMAS GARCIA. Tanks and personnel carriers will not resolve the situation ( like those 158 flying drones or incursions into Russia). Sense of duty calls upon us with my Nigerian American wife Kate Grace to solicit respectfully our Royal Majesty the King Charles III to take the decision making process… Read more »