What small arms does a Bradley IFV crew use?

[CrazyIrishman]

I'm a little curious to know what small arms Bradley crews generally use. Are M16 rifles issued or do they get M4 carbines? I've never seen the interior of a Bradley IFV but it would seem to me that the carbine would be a better choice.

After my son graduates BCT/AIT at FT.Benning this December he will be going to a Bradley unit unless things change.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

The old infantry bradley's had six firing ports. Two on each side and two on the back. The newer models only have two on the back I believe. They will be issued M4 carbines
Mid 1990s Carbine Version of M-16A2
30” over all lenght
7.9 Pounds
5.56 NATO
62 Grain M-855 Bullet @ 2900 FPS
80” Drop @ 500 Yards
30 Round Staggered Box Magazine

If he gains confidence with this weapon he can command the ground. Most Iraqis spray and pray but their shoting is getting better. You can't just throw a weapon at a person and say Hey mahmood you are now in the resistance.

 

[Lebben-B]

I've been a light fighter for my entire career, so I'm not going to hazard a guess about the heavy side. You might wanna PM my bro Possum, he's a Bradley guy and could probably tell you everything you want to know about it.

Mike

 

[armoredman]

When did they quit using that dedicated firing port M-16 clone, the one that was only loaded with tracers, and had no sights?

 

[Onmilo]

M231 fire port weapons were dropped back in the eighties.
I didn't know Bradleys still had operational firing ports.
As far as I know Bradley crews are issued a couple of M9 handguns, a couple of M4 rifles, and maybe an M203 grenade launcher.

 

[MrZ]

It all depends on the unit.

Some brad units have M4's, some still have M16's.

I have been outside the heavy world my entire career up until Apr, and my unit had M16's up until the beginning of this month.

Until I got to this unit I had not carried an M16 in over 12 years...

 

[Jeff White]

My son is a Bradley commander in the 4th ID, presently deployed to Iraq. The Bradley crew (BC, driver and gunner) have M16A4s. The dismounts have M4s, M203s, M249s and M240s.

My son is in a new doctrine combined arms battalion (Infantry, Armor and Engineers all in one battalion, makes doctirne out of what we used to do when I was in by cross attaching units and making task forces). His platoon has been attached to a tank company to create a company team (also like we used to do). The tank company commander issued pistols to members of the Infantry platoon so many of the grunts are carrying an M9. But this is not standard in all units.

M231s were not discontinued. They are alive and well and my son drew 4 of them (they are basic issue items for the track) before they deployed.

Last I talked to him the S3 was looking at options to give the BCs something to keep on top of the turret to fire warning shots at civilian vehicles with. My son uses the M9 for that.

Jeff

 

[Flak_Jakett]

The bradley crew in my unit all carried M-4s. The dismount crew carries the same complement of weapons that anyother infantry squad would carry. A regular squad with have M-4s, M-203s, and M249s. The weapons squads would carry the M-240s and on occasion AT weapons. They all used to carry M-16A2s. It was cramped, but the firepower the infrantrymen carried was the same as light infantry.

The firing port weapons are still on MTOW, but are very very rarely used. They are just like a super short M-16A1, except they ONLY fire full auto. They were originally messing with adding a 100 round drum mag for them, but their effectiveness was deemed as nil so they never went ahead with it. The reason why are not used is because when fired the port weapons would fill the entire troop compartment with a thick noxious cloud of carbon cast off. Sooooo thick that it rendered the troops and crew within combat ineffective. I've never been in a brad when those were fired, but that is the story my platoon daddy told me. We infact only used the port weapons to clear trenches. They were fun as heck to shoot, but there was absolutely no way to control them. They climb like an AK on steroids.

BTW Jeff, I was in the 4 ID from '96 to '98. Is your son stationed out of Colorado or Texas?

 

[Jeff White]

He's stationed at Ft Hood. But sometime afer the division returns from Iraq, they'll be going to Carson. The new stationing plan puts all of 4th ID at Ft Carson.

He's worried about having to move again as soon as he get's back, but since he just PCS'd to Hood about 90 days before the deployment, I think he'll probably stay at Hood and be transferred to 1st Cav. When I was in there was a regulation about PCS moves having to be so many months apart. So I think he'll end up staying at Hood.

Jeff

 

[CrazyIrishman]

I'd like to thank y'all for the info. In the next couple of days he'll be issued his M16 which I'm sure he is looking forward to. He should do pretty good with it at the range along with the cleaning and maintainence of the rifle. If he doesn't do good I'll be very surprised.

 

[tanksoldier]

I retired out of 4th ID at CArson just after the current deployment left.

The plan then was to mostly move flags around... many of the Soldiers in 3rd ACR at Carson will become 4th ID Soldiers, 4th ID Soldiers at Hood will become 1st CAV, etc... some troops will be required to move but most will just reorganize and reflag where they are.

The new stationing plan puts all of 4th ID at Ft Carson.

 

[Hawken50]

dedicated firing port M-16 clone, the one that was only loaded with tracers, and had no sights?

why use only tracers?

 

[Dain Bramage]

why use only tracers?

No sights, so you walk the rounds into the target with the tracers.

 

[Sistema1927]

With no sights, the only way to traverse on target is to follow the tracers.

 

[Falconeer]

What's the vision arrangements for the supressive fire positions?

 

[dragongoddess]

and the 1st is coming to Ft. Bliss

 

[Langenator]

The only firing ports left on the M2A2 and subsequent Bradleys are the ones in the rear, (the side ones were blocked when additional armor was added) and they're generally not used because that's also the dismount ramp for the GIBs-meaning you have to pull the M231s out of the ports and stow them before dropping ramp.

Sighting/spotting is done through periscopes in the roof of the troop compartment.

I was a Bradley PL and XO from 97-99 in 1AD. The driver has brackets to secure his rifle (we had M16A2s) near his seat, and as PL I stowed mine in the bustle rack most of the time, secured with a snap link. Not sure where my gunner stowed his.

 

[MT GUNNY]

you would think that but they dont

at least when i was a driver of one they didnt

 

[wingnutx]

Last I talked to him the S3 was looking at options to give the BCs something to keep on top of the turret to fire warning shots at civilian vehicles with. My son uses the M9 for that.

Wrist-rocket works pretty well

 

[Lebben-B]

My son is in a new doctrine combined arms battalion (Infantry, Armor and Engineers all in one battalion, makes doctirne out of what we used to do when I was in by cross attaching units and making task forces).

It's not a combined arms battalion, it's a brigade combat team (BCT). The new doctrine you refer to is known as "Modularity," essentially it replaces the division as the main warfighting HQ with the brigade. BCTs are a flexible force package that can be tailored to the mission, environment, tempo and intensity.

 

[Hawken50]

why use only tracers?

sorry for the stupid question. if it wasn't 4:45am when i posted it i probably would've figured it out myself.

 

[Kharn]

One Bradley TC I knew put a reddot sight on an M231 and used that as his personal weapon during Desert Storm, rather than use the M16A2. He said it was pretty effective at getting cars to move out of the track's way when he could get his hands on a load of tracers.

Kharn

 

[possum]

No fear Possum is here!

my unit is 1-41 Inf out of ft.riley. we are mech and have BFV's so i think i will be able to answer anything you need to know. I have been in and around them for over three years, 1 year of that In Iraq. driving and gunning. so now the goods.
all units are different but our guys were issued m16a4's, even the crews. the only people in the company to get m4's were the rto's, platoon sgt, and platoon leader. yes you are very right a m4 would be alot better but we do with what we have. it is very cluttered and small inside the hull.

M231 fire port weapons were dropped back in the eighties.
I didn't know Bradleys still had operational firing ports.
As far as I know Bradley crews are issued a couple of M9 handguns, a couple of M4 rifles, and maybe an M203 grenade launcher.

we still carried m231's in iraq and still have them in the arms room, we have
used them and the brads still have ports for them to be used. i used to love carrying em to the chow hall and getting all the funny looks that came with it! they fire at approx 1200rds per minute, unless you take out the smallest recoil spring, and that slows down the rate a little, but it is still hard as all get out to keep the muzzle down. we do load all tracers in them unless we don't have adequete ammo to do that, then we go with the norm for or m16.the only m9's we got were for the 1sg and CO, no other crew members had them. and the only m203 was the fire team leader in the back if you had one.

as a crew member i had an m16a4 behind me, 12 mags on me, an m231 under the seat, lots of medical equipment, mt.dews and slim jims! and that was it!

I know this wasn't in the question but for general info. the brad's weapon systems, for the Infantry now, i don't know about all the others. include a

1)Bushmaster m242 25mm chaingun, that fires HE and AP rds. (my favorite! )
2)m240c coaxail machine gun that is feed from the right instead of left, has no hand grip, and no heat shield. etc.
3) m231 port firing weapons 2 per track
4) dual tow missle launcher ( FYI tow= Tubular launched, optically tracked, wire guided)
5) kinda sorts a weapon, the smoke grenade launchers!

Hope this helps if you need any in dept intel let me know but that is the basics.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

mt.dews and slim jims!

That's the same thing I use in my Nissan Altima for long roadtrips!

 

[Lebben-B]

mt.dews and slim jims

The preferred patrol ration for me and my boys was Red Bull and venison jerky (sent from home) .