Analyzing How a Ukrainian Bradley Destroyed an Advanced Russian T-90

Wes O'Donnell
7 min readFeb 25, 2024

Did I ever tell you the story of how a Bradley ran me over in the Army?

An M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Public domain.

It was part of a training exercise in the infantry to teach us to keep calm and still perform our jobs in extreme conditions.

We were to let the Bradley, a stand-in for an enemy tank, roll over us (between the wide tracks obviously) and then pop up and shoot it in the rear armor with an AT-4 anti-tank rocket.

Since then, I’ve had a healthy respect for the Bradley, even though I was a light infantryman and never got the privilege to ride in one.

(Light infantry have to walk everywhere… Or jump from an airplane. Mechanized infantry get to ride around in style in the Bradley or Stryker).

On January 11th, 2024, near the city of Avdiivka, a video surfaced showing a pair of M2 Bradleys duking it out with Russia’s most advanced T-90M main battle tank.

And spoiler alert…

The Bradley won.

But wait! Isn’t the Bradley a lightly armored infantry fighting vehicle? And isn’t the T-90M one of Russia’s most advanced tanks?

Yes, and yes.

Here’s the video to get us started:

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Wes O'Donnell
Wes O'Donnell

Written by Wes O'Donnell

US Army & US Air Force Veteran | Global Security Writer | Intel Forecaster | Law Student | TEDx Speaker | Pro Democracy | Pro Human | Hates Authoritarians