The Bradley Fighting Vehicle is an infantry fighting vehicle armed with a 25mm Bushmaster autocannon that first entered service in 1981. The T-90M is Russia’s most modern fielded main battle tank (we’re not counting the still-in-development T-14 Armata), armed with a 125mm main cannon, and on paper should make mincemeat of a Bradley if it meets one in combat.
That’s not what actually happened in Ukraine. Video shows two Bradleys, each engaging a single Russian T-90M (though serially rather than in parallel), and they absolutely wreck the Russian tank.
If you just want the close-in money shot, here’s closer footage from later in the fight:
For the longer 10 minute engagement, here’s another video, which includes the end where you see the T-90Ms turret go into autorotation and the tank drive uncontrollably into a tree.
“This shows a big failure in Russian tactics here. This T-90M was operating on its own with no support from other vehicles such as BMPs, and no infantry support.” We’ve seen a whole lot of this in the last year or so of the war: atomized encounters that show no real combined-arms use on either side.
Give Ivan his due: The Russian tank took a tremendous pounding, but stayed mobile until the very end. Other videos show three crew members staggering away from the tank after the engagement.
Those 25mm tungsten depleted uranium rounds are no joke, and we have multiple reports as far back as Desert Storm of them penetrating earlier Soviet armor.
(I’ve been having hosting problems, so I’m going to publish this sucker before another problem crops up…)
Tags: Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Military, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, T-90, video
Soviet/Russian tanks are a lot less badass than people think.
There was a platoon of Bradleys that was attached to an armored task force during the early stages of OIF, while there was still organized fighting going on. Some of those guys were men I’d covered down on for a bit during my time as an Observer/Controller at the NTC. Ran into them again while they were redeploying back through Kuwait, and it was an interesting contrast. While at the NTC a year or so earlier (I’d gotten tasked to go back down there after 9/11 as an augmentee…), these guys were not what I’d call “enthusiastic” about training. They did a hell of a lot better than anyone really expected.
In any event, they’d been attached as Infantry to an Armor company task force, and the Armor commander thought he was the second coming of George S. Patton. Didn’t want grunts, had no idea what to do with them… So, on the way north into Iraq, the task force makes a stop to reorganize and resupply. While they’re doing that, the Infantry PL goes to the Armor commander, and asks what he should be doing while they’re fixing the tanks… He gets a hand-wave off to the palm orchard about 500m north, and is told to go secure it. Off he goes.
The platoon of Bradleys gets to the palm orchard and finds a plussed-up company of Iraqi tanks, which are all dug-in and as they get there, the Iraqis are streaming out of their bunker positions and manning their tanks… Cue what seemed to be hours of that platoon of Bradleys running wild in the palms, shooting the crap out of a company of Iraqi tanks before they can get their crap together themselves… Probably only lasted about ten-fifteen minutes in reality, but nobody was watching the clock. They just had time to realize what they’d driven up on, and then recognize what they had to do. Which they did. Due to the way the whole thing worked out, they were firing down onto the dug-in Iraqi tanks, so they had that going for them. End of the engagement, they’d waxed a plussed-up company of Iraqi armor with their chain guns, receiving exactly nothing in return casualties. Probably killed around 100-200 Iraqis all told, between the tankers, the maintenance guys, and their infantry. The poor bastards in the backs of the Bradleys had no idea what was going on; all they knew was that the guys in the turret and drivers stations had all gone nuts, and they were getting mixmastered inside the dismount compartment. If I remember right, one guy broke his arm from that, not enemy action, and that was the only bad thing they had happen. Oh, and they ran out of ammo…
That. Was. Not. Supposed. To. Happen. Ever.
There is no way in hell anyone would ever, in a million damn years, project that a platoon of Brads would take on a reinforced tank company, and win. Yet, they did so.
I am not surprised at all by the effect that those two Bradleys managed to achieve on that tank. At the end of the day, the real issue here is the obvious increasing ineptitude of Russian military forces. There is no goddamn way you send a single tank out like that, without there being the full range of supporting arms and a bunch of other tanks. That they’re doing so? Yet another indicator that they’re going to lose this thing. The sheer incompetence demonstrated by that engagement even happening is mind-numbing.
I was impressed with both tanks—the Bradley making direct hit after direct hit with hardly a pause between shots and the T90M taking almost 30 shots before finally giving it up. If the crew survived, that’s just more to be impressed by.
“Those 25mm tungsten rounds are no joke, and we have multiple reports as far back as Desert Storm of them penetrating earlier Soviet armor.”
This T-90M (“Proryv-3”) tank was struck by 25x137mm M919 APFSDS-T rounds which use a depleted uranium penetrator dart, not a tungsten penetrator. The U.S. military hasn’t purchased any M791 tungsten penetrator rounds since the early 1990’s. The remaining inventory of M791 rounds were all expended early during the Sandbox Wars.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m919.htm
The cover shot in the “Extra Video of Bradly Destroying T-90M….” shows the orange hued sparklers typical of DU combustion after an armor strike. This whole area will be an environmental ‘Superfund’ type site until it undergoes a very expensive cleanup.
The behavior of the T-90M after it was struck (in the second video “Two Bradleys Versus A T-90M At Close Range…”) suggests that its crew was poisoned by uranium combustion fumes. It is doubtful that the 25x137mm M919 dart penetrated the T-90M’s tank armor system. The operators must have had their hatches open and been poisoned.
The driver was no longer controlling the vehicle, which was drifting forward until it struck a tree. And either the commander or the gunner died jamming the turret slew control, which is a joy stick in the T-90M. The turret was spinning out of control.
The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium combustion products has been a major issue since the 1970’s. General Dynamics OTS proposed a partial tungsten penetrator 25x137mm APFSDS-T round in September, but it has not been trialed yet. And it may contain a DU driver behind the tungsten penetrator, but that hasn’t been made clear in the public literature.
Jesus H. Christ, are you fucking stupid or what?
You don’t get “poisoned” by DU that quickly.
To quote WebMD:
“Natural and depleted uranium have the same level of toxicity and typically do not cause health effects. If you take in very large quantities of the material, though, you may be at risk for health issues related to uranium toxicity, such as kidney damage.
There are no indications that either depleted or natural uranium can cause cancer. The major concern from uranium ingestion is damage to the kidneys. Typical uranium consumption has not been shown to lead to kidney damage. Kidneys have even been shown to heal within several weeks of above-average levels of exposure, such as exposure due to occupation.”
Stop spreading disinformation. Or, lies… Which I’m starting to suspect is your actual intent. I have to wonder what you’re getting paid by the FSB for the bullshit you post.
“The operators must have had their hatches open and been poisoned.” My ass… This ain’t how it works. At. All. DU or uranium itself, the “poisoning” does not manifest instantaneously enough for the crew to “have been poisoned”. It’s an environmental health risk, requiring long-term exposure to contaminated surfaces. What that crew was exposed to was being beaten like a drum for the length of time that engagement took; even if there weren’t any penetrations of the armor, a 25mm strike is loud. Getting a full burst into your vehicle is going to sound like being inside a steel drum while a team of guys with baseball bats are beating the crap out of it…
The foregoing WebMD statement pertains to metallic uranium and is a good industrial hygiene assessment of uranium metal. However, it simply does not apply to the products of shock-induced thermal metamorphism which occur during DU projectile impact. The temperatures created by DU projectile impacts are well above the 2070 °F melting point of uranium.
Uranium has at least five oxidative states U(II), U(III), U(IV), U(V), and U(VI) and forms a variety of compounds on impact, only limited by the other chemical species present. It is a very reactive metal. The particularly toxic compounds of concern here are uranyls and halides, which can be immediately disabling in very thin concentrations.
The T-90M tank is protected by Relikt ERA tiles. These tiles incorporate extremely high detonation velocity explosive sheets which are stabilized with fluoropolymer compounds. Those fluoropolymer compounds are probably responsible for the toxicity of the uranium combustion fume.
More bullshit from a consummate bullshitter. I’ve been through the DU training, and your description of the issue is absolutely and completely out of contact with the reality as it was trained by the US Army.
Unless you want to assert that they were lying to all of us…?
As well, your first assertion was that the crew “was poisoned”. That ain’t how it works, and you then reach for “fluoropolymer compounds”, while ignoring the very real effects of loud noises and explosions. Reactive armor detonating, along with the impact and detonation of the 25mm rounds on the tank itself are far more likely explanations for crew disorientation than some fantasy “they wuz poizoned by nasty weapons sent by the evulllllll United States…”
Your FSB handler needs to get his money back. You’re not at all convincing.
We’ve seen a whole lot of this in the last year or so of the war: atomized encounters that show no real combined-arms use on either side.
I was hoping Western training could beat teamwork into Ukrainian troops. Sad to read that’s not so
IMO, teh fundamental problem of Russia is that Communist rule completely destroyed teh concept of “civil society”, and let an atomized people who have no loyalty or connection to anything, with the possible exception of (their mostly very small) families.
Putin wins because no one there has any connection to anything larger, so their response to Putin’s corruption and the destruction he inflicts on Russia is “does it hurt me? no. Couldn’t care less then”
“More bullshit from a consummate bullshitter. I’ve been through the DU training, and your description of the issue is absolutely and completely out of contact with the reality as it was trained by the US Army.
Unless you want to assert that they were lying to all of us…?”
They were and are lying. Just like asbestos, cadmium, fire pits, PFAS and all their other environmental disasters. Why do you think that the UK is the only other military in the world which deploys and uses DU? Even those primitive Russians, whom you abhor, believe that DU penetrator use is a war crime. They developed them, they have inventories of them, but they have never issued them nor used them.
Bonus: “NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards 3rd Printing (2007)”
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-149/default.html
Read and understand page 327 [357 actual], “Uranium (soluble compounds, as U)” These include the uranyls and halides,
“At the end of the day, the real issue here is the obvious increasing ineptitude of Russian military forces.”
“A .22 pistol in the hands of a good man is more deadly than a tank driven by a gorilla.” Jeff Cooper
Since Putin seems determined to defend the territory he has captured, this will not be the last encounter between T-90s and Bradleys. Until then, the question as to how the undermanned Bradley prevailed will have to remain unsettled.
My own suspicion is that the sighting/targeting system was disabled by the high volume of fire and the T-90 became effectively blind. The unholy din of rapid repeat rounds impacting the turret undoubtedly added to the confusion.
The Bradley gunner kept his cool while the T-90 driver did not.
In the end, the better man triumphs over the better equipped man. This encounter makes for a valuable case study. Does the defense of homeland bring a valuable morale edge to the battlefield when the invaders are there reluctantly and are deficient in command oversight?
If Napoleon’s estimate that “Morale is to mass as two is to one” is correct, Ukrainian manpower disadvantages are less significant than they would at first appear.
“ I have to wonder what you’re getting paid by the FSB for the bullshit you post.”
Earlier, I misquoted Cooper. The correct version: “A good man with a .22 pistol is far more deadly than a tank driven by a baboon.”
So what do pistols and Cooper have to do with the FSB?
Jeff Cooper’s collaboration with Norma ammunition resulted in the magnificent pistol cartridge that is designated 10 mm. It proper metric nomenclature is 10×25. Coincidentally, this corresponds to the nom de guerre of a frequent poster here. I am strongly tempted to use “Comrade Cartridge” in future correspondence with said party.
Just like the T-90 tank, 10×25 launches a smoke grenade during Meeting Encounters, and proceeds to maneuver by virtue of obfuscation. Displaying a myriad of pedantic arguments featuring mind-numbing statistics, measurements and voluminous entries from journals and studies, he attempts to gain firepower superiority, much like the Bradley successfully did against the T-90.
Analysis leads to paralysis and the argument leads to an inconclusive end. This is excellent technique if your goal is engender doubt.
Yeah, my own suspicion is that Comrade Cartridge is insufficient remunerated for his high-quality/high volume contribution.
One of the things I noticed is that the T-90 spends a lot of time stationary, while the Brads keep moving. Sitting still when the enemy knows where you are is a good way to get shot.
I’m actually surprised that the T-90 remained mobile up until the point that it back up against the tree and got stuck. I would have thought the tracks, road wheels, etc, would have gotten shot up at some point. But the crew, especially the gunner and TC, almost certainly had their bells rung from the turret getting hammered and what looks like some of the ERA detonating.
“….But the crew, especially the gunner and TC, almost certainly had their bells rung from the turret getting hammered and what looks like some of the ERA detonating.”
The T-90M (“Proryv-3”) tank’s armors – both hull and turret – are spaced armor plate/composite material designs. These modern armor constructions offer excellent attenuation, just as the similar armor designs on NATO tanks do.
“These modern armor constructions offer excellent attenuation, just as the similar armor designs on NATO tanks do.”
How did the turret admit noxious gasses while simultaneously blocking the sound of impacting rounds fired at near-contact distance? Have you ever been in close proximity to down range rifle fire? The muzzle blast alone will disorient you.
“How did the turret admit noxious gasses while simultaneously blocking the sound of impacting rounds fired at near-contact distance? Have you ever been in close proximity to down range rifle fire? The muzzle blast alone will disorient you.”
The magic of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The operating principle of a sound suppressor on a firearm.
A hole of some kind (damaged CBN seal, cracked hatch, etc.) oriented at right angles to the sound pressure wave direction (vector) admits gas molecules readily, but very little sound pressure. Gas is anarchic – its molecules move in all directions. Like water, it finds and breaches any point of admission – regardless of orientation. Sound waves are well behaved and move in a vector. Sound waves mostly bypass points of admission normal to their vectors. They don’t magically change direction in mid flight.
Completely unrelated to the inverse square law which applies to downrange firearms report sound pressure levels.
So the turret’s entry point was at a right angle to the pressure wave from the sound blast and because sound suppressors deflect expanding gasses at the point of origin this is analogous to escaped gasses being captured and deflected at a right angle when they enter the turret alongside the noxious DU gasses.
The tank turret magically sorts one escaping gas from the other because Russian tanks have no analog and they are assembled by stronk vatniks and the. blessed by Russian Orthodox priests who sprinkle them with holy water, making them impervious to the laws of physics.
Got it! Thanks for your illuminating insight.
“So the turret’s entry point was at a right angle to the pressure wave from the sound blast and because sound suppressors deflect expanding gasses at the point of origin this is analogous to escaped gasses being captured and deflected at a right angle when they enter the turret alongside the noxious DU gasses.”
You appear to be having trouble with the basic nature of sound waves. They are longitudinal waves, not the more commonly represented (sinusoidal type) transverse waves. This confers upon them highly directional properties. The conical shock waves at issue here substantially bypass a lot of (perpendicular) openings because they cannot pivot in free space. Why I emphasized vectors.
Gasses expand omnidirectionally. They do pivot in free space. They don’t bypass any opening, regardless of orientation, until they run out of energy (tantamount to pressure in this case). Their behavior could be best described as seeking any opening, in any orientation.
Heavy metal poisoning doesn’t work anywhere near that fast. Takes years – fast-acting inhalation poisons are things like arsine and stibine (where the heavy element bonds to hemoglobin) and even those take time (4 hours at low concentration). U-HexF takes days for an inhalation route, and I couldn’t say if the U or the F is the more dangerous component.
“Heavy metal poisoning doesn’t work anywhere near that fast. Takes years…”
Umpossible! Everyone knows the devious US military industrial complex routinely utilizes sooper seekritt hypersonic/ultrapoisonous DU fragmentation projectiles that vaporize upon contact with the turret of a T-90 tank!
Thanks, everyone. I look forward to these UKR/RUS war posts. I can watch the war being fought in the comments page between commenters. Keep it up, its great entertainment.
[…] an interesting follow-up to that two Bradleys wreck one T-90M post and video a few weeks ago. In this video, Task & Purpose provides more detailed breakdown […]