Ukraine's father-son duos on opposite sides: a tale of M2A2 Bradley's survival amidst tanks

An intriguing interview with the crew of an M2A2 Bradley IFV surfaced online. The crew's commander is the level-headed 19-year-old Oleksandr. A bounty was placed on him and his crew by the Russians, and following a battle where the M2A2 Bradley withstood a tank shell hit - presumably either a high explosive or perhaps a shaped charge shell, as it wouldn't have survived a hit from an APFSDS-T round - Oleksandr received a call from his father.

Having recognised that his son's vehicle was in the line of fire, Oleksandr's father didn't take further shots. However, he continued serving as a tank crew member in the Russian military until his tank was destroyed by Ukrainian FPV drones armed with attached PG-7VL grenades.

The M2A2 Bradley IFV, a design dating to the late 80s, weighs nearly 27 metric tonnes, thus offering 360-degree immunity from heavy machine gun fire from 14.5x114 mm KPVs. The vehicle's front plate can withstand 30 mm automatic cannon fire. Additionally, the Bradleys are equipped with blocks of BRAT reactive armour protecting against individual shaped-charge warheads capable of blasting through hundreds of millimeters of armoured steel.

This means the armour can protect the crew if struck by a high-explosive or shaped-charge shell, yet any kinetic energy penetrator (APFSDS-T) will easily pierce it.

The M2A2 Bradley IFV's arsenal includes a 25-mm automatic M242 Bushmaster cannon, which has a fire rate of 200 rounds per minute and an effective range of roughly 2 kilometres, a 7.62x51 mm NATO machine gun, and a twin-launcher for BGM-71F (TOW 2B) guided anti-tank missiles.

The M242 Bushmaster cannon, adept at tackling enemy infantry, light fortifications, and lightly armoured enemy vehicles, isn't normally deployed for tank combat. The Ukrainians frequently use M792 HEI-T ammunition in it. Functioning like a miniature grenade, it lacks anti-tank properties. Anti-tank ammunition is another option, but it's insufficient against tanks, except for vulnerable points like side or rear armour.

This doesn't mean that, in a crisis, it's unable to disable an enemy tank by damaging its optoelectronics, as exemplified in the notable duel between the Bradley and T-90M tanks. However, this is a hazardous strategy with a high likelihood of failure.

When taking on tanks, the primary weapon of choice is the TOW 2 missile, reaching up to 3.77 kilometres, which strikes either directly or on the tank's top armour, depending on the version. Despite being an older solution, it's still capable of neutralizing any Russian tank. It's important to note though, the missile need guidance until hitting and can only be fired while stationary, making it suitable only for ambushes, and not useful in an open field at close range.

In theory, Russian tanks from the T-72, T-64, or T-80 families are impressive machines, boasting powerful firepower, good mobility, a low profile, and reduced weight. However, they possess a significant flaw where any armour breach potentially results in the crew's instant death in an explosive spectacle.

The flaw lies in the autoloaders located in the hull, which traps, or surrounds the ammunition around two of the three crew members. The ammunition storage isn't isolate as in western tanks. Consequently, with any armour breach, the instant or delayed demise of the entire crew is nearly inevitable.

This is why Russia is short of veterans, they simply don't exist and even tanks like the T-90M were manned by crews made up of newly drafted soldiers. By contrast, a tank crew from a Leopard 2 can continue fighting in another tank even after theirs has been destroyed.