M3 Bradley Q.

Bradley.http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/ATC/ATC-Bradley-2.jpg> It appears to be hinged so that it can swing up. There is nothing below

I think that's front part of a ' flotation collar ' that makes the Bradley an amphibian. ( Yeah a Bradley can float ! ) It's used to cross small rivers or creeks. That plate swings forward and the crew attaches a ' curtain ' like collar around the top of the tank that provides enough buoyancy for the thing to float.

Chris

The reason for the plate is that it is a "Wave Breaker" like that on the front of an M113. It is erected and a series of panels are attached to give the vehicle some sort of protection -- it doesn't need a "DD" type full collar all around it. The grilles are mesh for the driver to see through when it's erected.

That being said, from the A2 variant on the Bradley basically is no longer amphibious -- since it went from about 22-26 short tons to around 30 and it is no longer buoyant enough. Also other than some dummy driving off a bridge in Iraq into the Euphrates or Tigris River they don't need to swim in the desert!

Cookie Sewell

That was a plate used when fording streams with it to prevent the waves from coming up to the driver's hatch and flooding the interior. They had incidents where the crew forgot to raise it (or attach it - it was removable) and the vehicle sank with loss of life, so they replaced it with a peripheral inflatable pontoon collar that goes around the front and sides of the vehicle.

Pat

Bradley.http://www.warbirdphotographs.com/ATC/ATC-Bradley-2.jpg>> It appears to be hinged so that it can swing up. There is nothing below

Thanks

on 12/28/2007 6:39 PM snipped-for-privacy@aol.com said the following:

Thanks. I can leave it off then. This is a 1987 model, so it predates even Desert Shield.

on 12/29/2007 3:44 AM Pat Flannery said the following:

Thanks