House Panel Backs Repairs on Bradley Troop Carrier

The addition of a $43 part to the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle should keep the $1.5-million, amphibious troop carrier from sinking in water, a House subcommittee reported Sunday.

The Armed Services investigations subcommittee looked into 11 instances of the vehicles sinking or becoming swamped while crossing water. The problem turned out to be a canvas barrier that is put up when the Bradley is driven across water, the panel reported.

“It was designed so the driver could collapse it an instant after leaving the water,” said Rep. Bill Nichols (D-Ala.), chairman of the subcommittee. “However, the mechanism was too sensitive and the barrier sometimes collapsed while the Bradley was still in the water.”

With the planned modification, the canvas shield will be held more firmly in place, but a crew member will have to climb atop the vehicle to take it down.

“Tests show it takes only a few seconds for a crewman to do this,” Nichols said, “so the improvement in safety from gaining a tightly secured water barrier far exceeds the operational loss from the few seconds of delay.”

It will cost about $43 a vehicle, or a total of about $139,000, to add the locking mechanism to each of the 3,250 Bradleys now in the field, the report noted.

The armored vehicle, named for the late Gen. Omar N. Bradley, is designed to carry soldiers into battle. It runs on tank-type treads at speeds up to 45 m.p.h. and is armed with a 25-millimeter cannon, missiles and machine guns.

The Army wants to buy 6,800 of the Bradleys, at about $1.5 million each, to replace the M-113 personnel carrier.

The Democratic-controlled subcommittee’s investigation was only the latest congressional examination of the new personnel carrier. Previous tests focused on the ability of its armor to withstand attack. Critics of the design say it is too vulnerable in battle, but the Army maintains that it can successfully withstand attack.