The Bradley fighting vehicle is going through an upgrade. This includes belly armor to protect it from mines, in-vehicle simulation training for gunners and an 800-horse power engine to better bear the vehicle’s increased weight.
But that’s just the start. A whole new generation of the Bradley is now in the design phase. It could include everything from a new thermal imaging system to a 40 mm cannon that is controlled from a screen below deck.
Roy Perkins, the director of Army Business Development at BAE Systems, said the upgrade package, known as the V1, standardizes all the tweaks and add-ons that have been made on the battlefield.
“What we are doing now in theater is ad-hoc Band Aid fixes as they come along, but the V1 solves all that and puts it all into one vehicle,” Perkins said.
Part of the package includes the Bradley Urban Survival Kit II, which further enhances the BUSK I, both of which are meant to improve survivability in urban terrain, said Rick Burtnett, director of combat systems technology development programs at BAE Systems and the program director for the V1.
One feature is a ballistic glass shield to protect the commander and gunner sitting in the turret basket, Perkins said. Although a Bradley can be driven without a pair of eyes on top, it is risky in urban neighborhoods that are packed with markets, cars and people. “In an urban environment, since you can’t see all the way around the vehicle, if you’re in a closed-up Bradley, you could accidentally run over somebody,” Perkins said.
Low hanging power lines in Iraq have proved to be a nuisance, so a new device has been added to push the power line out of the way.
The upgrade also includes belly armor to help protect against mine blasts, as well as more mine-resistant seating in the back. Still in development is armor that can protect from an explosively formed penetrator — a shaped charge designed to penetrate armor at standoff distances.
Screens will cover the optics outside the vehicle to protect against hazards on poorly constructed roads. Heat abatement systems will cool exhaust so it doesn’t burn bystanders. A spotlight will allow the commander to pull out a handheld device to light up dark alleyways where insurgents may be hiding.
The upgrade also comprises a series of monitors that can help diagnose mechanical problems and then tell the supply chain what parts to order.
The vehicle will contain a training simulator for gunnery tasks. Previously troops were packed off to a separate training facility.
Over time, the Bradley has had to add on armor as the need came up, which means the vehicle has had to sacrifice speed, power and weight requirements. One of the Army’s primary goals is to get those back, said Army Lt. Col. William Sheehy, product manager for the Bradley fighting vehicle.
“We are at the space, weight and power threshold of the entire vehicle,” Sheehy said. “We can’t put any more on there without physically turning things off or taking things out of the vehicle.”
Indeed, the vehicle has packed on 6,000 pounds.
“The Bradley you will typically see rolling around in Iraq today probably weighs anywhere from 75,000 to 78,000 pounds,” Sheehy said. The Army’s original specifications were 72,500 pounds, he added.
Instead of a crash diet, the Bradley has muscled-up to better deal with its increased heft. This comes in the form of an 800-horse power engine, up from a 660-horse power engine. The suspension and power pack have also been beefed up.
More than 600 Bradleys have received the BUSK II upgrade, Burtnett said. BAE is working on the design reviews and will start releasing them in 2012. But at this point none is equipped with the full V1 upgrades. The potential number for the V1 upgrade is around 2,100, Burtnett said.
Piggybacking on the V1 upgrades will be an entirely new generation of Bradleys, known as the V2.
“The V2 will be a whole new vehicle,” said Sheehy.
Little is certain as to the new vehicle’s features. No one is sure what weapons system it will have, or whether it will have a hybrid or diesel engine. The Army is looking out for any new available armor types. “All of that is up for grabs on the V2,” Sheehy said.
Sheehy expects a contract to be awarded around 2010 to start prototype production in 2011 and testing in 2012. He expects it to be fielded by 2017, although that could depend on such factors as funding approval and requirements validation.
The V2 will be in concert with the Future Combat Systems. “We want to tie the V2 fielding in when FCS fields so we have that entire modern Army coming off the line at the same time,” Sheehy said.
Opting for a hybrid engine could help it shed some pounds, Sheehy said. But nothing is concrete and the Army is still weighing its options.
As for protection, one possibility is a system that launches projectiles to intercept incoming rounds — from rockets or RPGs, for example — that is not unlike the Israeli Trophy system, Sheehy said.
Perkins emphasized that the Army has not yet approved a design. But BAE Systems has made several suggestions.
Perhaps the most esthetically profound of these would be BAE Systems’ proposal to scrap the gun turret basket so gunners can shoot targets using a monitor below deck. Currently the commander and the gunner sit in a basket on top of the vehicle.
“What we’ve said is get rid of that basket because the current generation of soldiers out there, the young kids who are coming into the army, don’t have to necessarily be facing the same way they’re shooting,” Perkins said. “That’s the Nintendo in them.”
Ditching the basket will enable the Bradley to hold nine troops, up from six that the V1 can hold, Perkins said.
BAE Systems has also proposed a third generation forward looking infrared radar system, or FLIR, an upgrade from the previous system installed in the current Bradley. The FLIR creates images based on heat and enables the user to detect and engage targets several thousand meters away. The new generation would introduce color coded images, an upgrade from the former black background with white indicating heat, Perkins said.
For the next generation, BAE Systems is proposing a 30 mm cannon but also has shown designs for a 40 mm cannon, a significant increase from the vehicle’s current 25 mm cannon, Perkins said.
BAE Systems has also proposed an external tank. Right now the fuel tank is underneath the vehicle and vulnerable to roadside bombs, Perkins said.
The Bradley being the gas guzzler that it is, BAE Systems has proposed a system that would allow it to adjust power levels. If it needs additional power, it can get it. For example, if the vehicle is engaging an enemy while racing up a hill and is using all of its electrical systems, the engine is running faster to power the generator, so less power is available to actually move the vehicle. But a power management system would either shut down or reduce the power draw from something non-essential, such as an air conditioner.
It also could have a new system to extinguish fires in the vehicle.
While Bradley crews can see out the front and back, they are somewhat blind around its sides. So BAE Systems wants to install a monitor with a 360-degree panoramic view that would allow the viewer to see out a couple of hundred meters.
“If you are in a city, you can see people walking around the vehicle,” Perkins said.
The user could adjust the monitor to see everything at once or any one side independently. There would be four screens: one for the gunner, one for the troops in back, one for the commander and one for the driver.
Sheehy said that BAE Systems does not yet have exclusive rights to the V2 contract, although it is currently the only company that manufactures the Bradley.
A consultancy is looking into whether it should open the contract up for bidding. But so far BAE Systems is the only firm that has made suggestions as to what features the V2 should have, Sheehy said.
The Army will at some point have an industry day. “We’re going to lay out all the requirements to everybody in industry and say ‘come in and tell me what you can do,’” Sheehy said.
The total costs of the V1 are presently unavailable and the total V2 costs are still unknown, as the vehicle is still being developed. The current version of the Bradley costs $4.2 million (the A3 model) per vehicle.
A certain portion of funding for the V1 and V2 is available now, although not all of it.
“The funding will carry us from now through the end of development but not production of the V1 and the milestone B for the V2,” which is expected to be around the end of 2011, Sheehy said.
At that point, the Army will have to wait until the 2012-2017 funding plan is complete.