With the BMP-2’s upgrades and Russia’s capacity for mass production, the dominance the Bradleys have enjoyed over the battlefield in Ukraine is coming to an end.
Russian defense manufacturer Rostec has made repeated claims throughout Russian media that their BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), first developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, is better than the ubiquitous M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, developed for the United States Army, and used extensively by Ukrainian Armed Forces in the ongoing Ukraine War.
The reason that Rostec is making the claims about their BMP-2 redounds to the fact that Rostec has just completed extensive overhauls on their fleet of BMP-2 vehicles. These upgrades, in Rostec’s assessment, give the BMP-2 capabilities that “the American Bradley can only dream of.”
Is this really accurate, though?
After all, the Bradley has clearly been useful for the Ukrainians in key battles. Of course, the Bradley will not win the war for Ukraine—no system can do that. Yet the Ukrainians have used the Bradleys to much greater effect than most people believed they would.
Let’s compare the two systems.
The Challenger: Russia’s BMP-2 Armored Vehicle
First, let’s look at the BMP-2—both as it was first developed, and then with the significant upgrades that Rostec has given it. The BMP-2 evolved from the old Soviet BMP-1, which was the world’s first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle.
The BMP-2 is meant for rapid deployment and amphibious operations, weighing around 14.3 tons and carrying a crew of three (commander, gunner, and driver) along with seven additional infantry passengers. It possesses a lightweight aluminum armor that prizes speed and maneuverability over heavy protection. The BMP-2’s biggest drawback is its weaker armor which does leave it vulnerable to modern anti-tank weapons and heavy autocannons.
The design of the BMP-2 comes down to doctrine. The Soviets, and to some degree the Russian Federation today, prized speed and massed assaults. They needed IFVs that reflected this priority; consequently, the BMP-2 sacrifices armor for speed.
The BMP-2 is traditionally equipped with a 30mm 2A42 autocannon that is capable of firing high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds at a rate of up to 300 rounds per minute (RPM). The beast also mounts a 9M113 Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel) anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launcher. The BMP-2 can hit targets up to 2.5 miles away with its 30mm cannon, depending on the target type. And for closer engagements, the vehicle has a coaxial 7.62mm PKT machine gun, meaning it can engage a range of targets, from infantry to light vehicles and even armored threats. Again, this is reflective of the Soviet combined-arms tactics that have been carried over to the Russian Armed Forces today.
Powered by a 300-horsepower UTD-20S1 diesel engine, the BMP-2 can achieve top speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, and can swim across various water obstacles at approximately five miles per hour, using its powerful tracks for propulsion. This is particularly helpful in eastern Ukraine, which largely turns to mud during the spring and makes movement in traditional vehicles extremely difficult.
Since its inception, the BMP-2 has seen heavy use in a variety of conflicts, including the Soviet-Afghan War, the Chechen Wars during the 1990s and 2000s, and the ongoing Ukraine War. It has been used effectively by the Russian Armed Forces for rapid offensives in rough, variegated terrain. On the other hand, its thin armor has created a real liability when confronted either with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) or NATO-provided anti-tank missiles deployed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, resulting in high crew losses.
The BMP-2M: Rostec’s Upgrades
The BMP-2M, according to Rostec, is the result of hard lessons learned in combat against NATO-equipped Ukrainian forces. Rostec asserts that the upgraded IFV has a massively increased effective firing range—not only over its predecessor, but more importantly over the Bradley IFV. Specifically, Rostec claims that the new effective firing range is double that of the Bradley.
Rostec’s official assessment of their new product is that the BMP-2M’s effective firing range is eight kilometers, or nearly five miles away! Moscow claims that the upgraded BMP-2M is now equipped with the Berezhok combat module—featuring a 30mm autocannon and four Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, complimented by an automatic grenade launcher.
Rostec has also integrated a digital fire control system, a combined sight, and an automatic tracking mechanism that allows for the BMP-2M to engage with tanks, blast apart fortified positions, and pick off enemy personnel at extended ranges.
The BMP-2M Could Displace the Bradley IFV
The Bradley is also a byproduct of the final decade of the Cold War. Indeed, it was meant as a direct response to the Red Army’s BMP-1 IFV. Designers of the Bradley meant for the system to match the mobility of the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT) while serving as an armored personnel carrier and a tank-killer. A crew of three, like the BMP-2, mans the Bradley (commander, driver, and gunner), while carrying up to seven infantrymen.
Bradley IFVs is equipped with a 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun, a Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) ATGM system, and a 7.62mm M240C machine gun, offering robust firepower against infantry, light armor, and fortified positions.
Unlike the BMP-2, which prioritized speed, the Bradley emphasized crew survivability. The Bradley’s steel and composite armor provides better protection for the crew than the BMP-2’s light aluminum armor. Of course, as has been proven in the killing fields of Ukraine, the Bradley is nonetheless susceptible to modern anti-tank weapons—and the Russians are masters of blasting NATO systems.
What’s more, unlike the BMP-2 and its recently announced BMP-2M upgrade, the Bradley cannot conduct amphibious operations. In Ukraine’s unique geography, that’s a significant complication for the Ukrainians to contend with.
The Bradley has long boasted superior electronic systems, including advanced fire control and night vision, over the BMP-2. Yet, unlike the BMP-2, the Bradley is far more expensive and more complex, making it harder to maintain. This inherently limits the numbers of Bradleys available, relative to the BMP-2’s ubiquity on the battlefield.
Further, the fact that Rostec’s BMP-2M now includes an advanced suite of electronic systems, paired with Russia’s superior industrial capacity, and with the longer firing range of the BMP-2M, the dominance the Bradleys have supposedly enjoyed over Russia’s BMP-2 fleet up to this point is likely to end in Russia’s favor.
The Result: The BMP-2 Beats the Bradley
The Bradley IFV has been one of the few Western weapons platforms that has had some degree of success against the Russian Armed Forces in the Ukraine War. Still, a whopping 65 percent of the Bradleys that NATO has provided to the Ukrainians have been destroyed by the Russians, according to a 2024 assessment from the Wall Street Journal. And this was even before Rostec implemented their sweeping upgrades to the BMP-2 in the form of the BMP-2M.
In an exchange over the Signal texting app, one Moscow-based military analyst told this author that the Russian Armed Forces today have implemented a series of upgrades to their key systems based solely on the lessons learned from fighting the “top NATO gear” in the Ukraine War.
So, if the war were to continue in perpetuity, the BMP-2M’s upgrades combined with Russia’s immense production capabilities make it clear that the remaining Ukrainian Bradleys would be soundly defeated in a straight-up confrontation.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Karasev Viktor.
