Pentagon Wars - Bradley Fighting Vehicle Evolution

"If we don't understand our own military doctrine then our enemies sure as hell can't."

"Do you want me to put a sign at it in 50 languages that says 'I'm a troop carrier, don't shoot at me!'?"

“In a few more months we could get this thing to fly” Don’t tell Mike Sparks

Came here as soon as I heard that two Bradleys just defeated a T-90M using only it’s 25mm guns

"El presidente chimichanga" As a south american i approve and pledge to vote for El Presidente chimichangas

“Say! Can this thing go to the moon?” “No sir” “Why not! Sounds like a design flaw!”

I love this movie, but after 2 deployments to Baghdad as an Infantry Bradley driver and dismount I love the Bradley even more. It was almost perfect for our needs in Baghdad. We got that thing with it's track turning capability through some of the tightest streets in the city.

Just watched the Bradley Knock out a T-90. "The General says add more ammo"

As a former Bradley driver...you know what would have been nice....AIR CONDITIONING!!!!

They made a movie about the engineer who designed this, it was called 'Falling Down'

"I've been a Bird Colonel so long I'm growing feathers". This one hits home. My dad was Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant (Army) in 1979. He was promoted to 1st LT after 3 months. He made Captain after 3 years. He made Major after 7 years of service in 1986. He retired in 1999 after 20 years of service as a Major. He was in the Artillery and after Desert Storm he had two options; 1. Go from full time Army, to part-time Army (Reserves), or 2. Go be a jailer at Fort Leavonworth. He took the Leavenworth job, but he wasn't happy about it. He retired and has a nice pension now. He works in Sports Medicine now. He's happy.

Gotta love that reformist PR machine, the Bradley is a superb vehicle and burton was a crackpot with an axe to grind

"Of course steel is much heavier than aluminum. So it won't go as fast." The way he says it is pitch perfect. Like he's pointing at a picture book drawn in crayon.

As an engineer. This is almost exactly how the conversations go with clients who are not engineers or designers minus the tank.

bradley in pentagonwars: bloated wasteful project that will suck as an armored vehicle bradley in reallife : eats soviet armor all day , badass killing machine with extreme survivability

"Do you want me to put a sign on it in fifty languages 'I'm a troop carrier, not a tank please don't shoot at me'"? Has me in stitches.

I just noticed that the colonel keeps losing more and more hair over time

"They're building it??" -Boeing engineers after being forced to redeisgn the B52 for 4 years

This movie and the book it was based on were written by a guy who basically tried to make a career out of taking down Bradley as a project because he was linked to a wider group of Pentagon insiders adjacent to the fighter mafia, who were critical of the kind of new tech-heavy weapons systems being procured by the military during the 60s, 70s and 80s. The makers of the film make its arguments about the Bradley seem very convincing to a civilian audience, but they leave out a lot of key context and details about what kind of vehicle the Bradley was meant to be, what happened during its development and how successful it ended up being.

I'm fascinated by the implication that the enemy WOULDN'T shoot at it if they knew it was 'just a troop carrier' Like, if I knew it had a bunch of troops in it, I would shoot it harder?