Army Worried by Bradley Defect : Weapons: Faulty transmissions hinder the controversial vehicle’s ability to reach its top speed. Immediate inspections are ordered.

The Army is rushing to inspect hundreds of its long-troubled Bradley Fighting Vehicles, used to carry soldiers into battle, for a faulty transmission that could render them sitting ducks.

The defect can limit the vehicles’ forward motion to about 10 to 12 m.p.h., far short of the top design speed of 38 m.p.h., according to an Army memo quoted by the Associated Press.

The Bradley, built by FMC Corp. in San Jose, was among the most controversial weapons programs of the 1980s. The vehicle was dogged by disclosures that it was overweight, equipped with relatively light armor and suffered from repeated transmission failures.

Congressional investigators who have investigated the Bradley said Saturday that the transmission defects have been known since the mid-1980s, but that the Army had taken only a Band-Aid approach to fixing the problem. The transmissions are built by General Electric Co.

The vehicle--which resembles a tank with the exception that it is equipped with a smaller gun--carries nine infantry soldiers into combat. The latest Bradley model packs the TOW 2 antitank missile, a 25-millimeter cannon, heavier armor, redesigned fuel and ammunition storage and, in some vehicles, reactive armor designed to destroy certain types of incoming projectiles.

The transmissions of 511 Bradleys, most of which are in Saudi Arabia, are potentially equipped with a defective part. But half or more of the suspect transmissions have already been repaired, according to the Army memo.

Army officials began the inspection after three Bradley transmissions failed in heavy testing. In addition to limiting forward speed, the defect limits reverse speed as well, the memo said.

The immediate cause of the most recent transmission defect was traced to a lever inside the transmission control apparatus. But since the mid-1980s, the transmission has had a poor reputation.

Army officials in Europe told congressional investigators in 1988 that they were forced to replace transmissions in 25% of the Bradleys within two months of their delivery to the field, according to a staff member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Bradley, which weighs 60,000 pounds--roughly as much as a fleet of 30 compact cars--was far over its original design weight. The additional weight overstressed the transmission and compounded inherent problems with the mechanism, the congressional investigator said.

The first Bradleys were delivered to the Army in 1982. They, and subsequent models, were designed to be faster than the powerful Soviet-style armored vehicles widely employed by Iraq’s armored forces. Analysts consider the Soviet BMPs among the world’s finest infantry fighting vehicles.

Initially, though, the Bradley was designed with an aluminum hull, which, it turned out, could be penetrated by 12.5-millimeter ammunition. That meant that a rocket-propelled grenade--a fairly light weapon fired by a single soldier--could penetrate the exterior and set off secondary explosions of rockets stored inside the Bradley.

As the Army improved the armor, the Bradley’s weight grew, creating the secondary problem with the transmission, the congressional investigator said. The Bradley also had difficulty meeting an Army requirement that it could swim through deep water--another secondary problem associated with its weight. A number of Bradleys--named after World War II hero Gen. Omar Bradley--sank during exercises.

The model affected by the current transmission problem is the A-2 Bradley, the newest version of the vehicle, which went into production in 1988, incorporating design improvements to improve its combat reliability and survivability, according to information supplied to the Associated Press.

Most of the A-2s are assigned to the Army’s top units in Germany. Those units were rushed to Saudi Arabia beginning in December and now are on the front line in the northern Saudi desert. They represent about one-fourth to one-fifth of the approximately 2,000 Bradleys in Saudi Arabia.

The A-2 transmissions were improved by the substitution of stronger parts than those used in earlier versions, but the Army decided to forgo buying a transmission designed to accommodate the higher weight of the vehicle, according to congressional investigators.

The Army memo urged commanders to conduct inspections immediately “since the vehicle performance and mobility could be downgraded” by the defect.

The memo, sent to logistics and other Army officials in Saudi Arabia last week, said GE has developed an inspection device that “is quick and effective and can be done in vehicle.”

“In addition, a special tool for reworking the defective part has been developed, which is also quick and effective and can be utilized in vehicle,” the memo said.

The memo said the initial inspection takes 45 minutes. “If the quality problem is found during inspection and rework is required, downtime is estimated to be one hour,” it said.

TRANSMISSION CHECK

Hundreds of Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the Army’s premier armored infantry transport, may have a critical transmission defect. Problem: The defect may affect reverse and forward movement, limiting the vehicle to only 12 m.p.h., according to an Army memo. The 60,000-pound Bradley is designed to go up to 38 m.p.h.

How many: About 500 Bradleys may be equipped with the defective part; there are about 2,000 Bradleys in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Tank-like carrier is designed to carry nine infantry personnel. Produced in San Jose by FMC Corp.

Equipment: The latest version carries a TOW 2 anti-tank missile and a 25-mm cannon.