The U.S. Army has signed a contract to equip its M2 Bradley tracked infantry fighting vehicles with the Israeli Iron Fist active protection system.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems, told Breaking Defense that allocating resources was made to acquire a small amount of Iron Fist APS for M2 Bradley IFVs.
The service has acquired the Trophy APS for its M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 main battle tanks. The search for an APS for the Bradley fleet has gotten more serious following the observations of the threats faced by IFVs in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Iron Fist is planned as part of an eight-year upgrade programme for the Bradley fleet.
Iron Fist is a turreted active protection system consisting of launchers holding two interceptors each and the detection suite with radars and optics to detect incoming munitions. The four-way arrangement of the sensors provides a 360-degree scan. When a rocket or missile is headed towards the vehicle, the turrets are directed to fire the interceptor round at the right moment.
Due to the time it takes for the turret to rotate and the system to track the target, close-range attacks remain a vulnerability for this type. Said weakness surfaced with the close-range attacks of Hamas fighters using RPGs like the tandem-warhead type Al-Yassin, a clone of the PG-7VR rocket. The proximity was combined with firing from enclosed areas, such as spaces between buildings, to make detection difficult.
Bradley IFVs of the U.S. Army to Get Iron Fist APS
