BAE Land Systems to Upgrade M2A2 ODS Bradley Fighting Vehicles for Croatia

BAE Land Systems, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $89,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed fee, firm-fixed-price) contract to refurbish and provide new equipment training on Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Croatia of refurbishment/modernization and support for seventy-six (76) M2A2 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) Bradley Fighting vehicles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $757 million. Work will be performed in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2026. Fiscal 2023 Foreign Military Sales (Croatia) funds in the amount of $89,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity.

The Government of Croatia has requested to buy refurbishment/modernization and support for seventy six (76) M2A2 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) Bradley Fighting vehicles consisting of: eighty-four (84) M240 machine guns; one thousand one hundred three (1,103) TOW 2A Radio Frequency (RF) missiles; sixteen (16) TOW 2A Radio Frequency (RF) fly?to?buy lot acceptance missiles; one hundred (100) TOW 2B Radio Frequency (RF) missiles; eight (8) TOW 2B Radio Frequency (RF) fly-to-buy lot acceptance missiles; five hundred (500) TOW Bunker Buster (BB) Radio Frequency (RF) missiles; and eight (8) TOW BB fly-to-buy lot acceptance missiles. Also included are M257 Smoke Grenade Launchers; ammunition; radios; simulator; special armor; Hunter/Killer technology, which may include an exportable Commander’s Independent Viewer (CIV); spare and repair parts.

The M2A2 ODS emerged as part of a two-phased M2A2 modernization plan designed to implement lessons learned from over ten years of mechanized Infantry experience and to correct deficiencies noted during Operation Desert Storm. The addition of PGS/POSNAV enhances the M2A2 ODS’ ability to maneuver with the rest of the combined arms team. Crew survivability is also enhanced with the integration of Battlefield Combat Identification System and a Missile Countermeasure device. The M2A2 Bradley is armed with an ATK Gun Systems Company M242 25 mm Bushmaster Chain Gun with a 7.62 mm M240C machine gun mounted coaxially to the right of the main armament. The Javelin anti-tank missile replaced the earlier Dragon in the M2A2 restow, and five TOWs or three TOWs and two Javelins could be carried.

The M2 Bradley IFV is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense. The Bradley IFV was developed largely in response to the amphibious Soviet BMP family of infantry fighting vehicles, and to serve as both an Armored personnel carrier (APC), and a tank-killer. The M2A2 Bradley was introduced in the U.S. Army in 1988. It is an improved version of the standard vehicle Bradley M2A1. After Operation Desert Storm (First Gulf War in 1991), the M2A2 was upgraded again with the addition of an eye-safe carbon dioxide laser rangefinder, global positioning system, combat identification system, and thermal viewer for the driver. The 1,423 M2A2 Bradleys brought up to this standard were referred to as M2A2 ODS (Operation Desert Storm).