The US Army is taking stock of industry’s ability to source rare or obsolete parts needed to keep Ukraine’s Bradley infantry fighting vehicles running, according to a recently posted notice.
The M2 Bradley, an armored combat vehicle, first entered service with the US military in the 1980s and has seen action in several major wars since. In Ukraine, these American-made vehicles have repeatedly proven their worth by transporting assault infantry, engaging Russian armor, carrying out ambushes, and serving in a light-tank role, though they have also suffered losses.
The US Army is surveying industry to see which companies can effectively access, source, or potentially reproduce hard-to-find parts for the vehicles. US Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal issued a sources-sought notice last week seeking out defense firms that could support the ongoing repair, parts procurement, and delivery of the M2A2 ODS-SA Bradley.
The Army said firms would need either immediate access to the components or a viable plan to source them and asked companies to explain how they would “navigate severe supply chain bottlenecks and vendor obsolescence for legacy defense systems.”
The M2A2 ODS-SA is a modernized variant of the M2 Bradley. Ukraine received these via arms transfers, but not the newer M2A3 or M2A4 variants.
The notice said that interested parties “must demonstrate immediate access to, or a viable plan to source, highly specialized, legacy, variant-specific components currently impacted by supplier obsolescence,” including turret drive control units and transmission control modules.
It identified ammunition chutes, specialized target-acquisition-system hardware, military-grade lens lights, and vehicle fasteners among the parts contractors might need to be able to find or reproduce.
The Army is also looking for a contractor that can train Ukrainian mechanics and provide the equipment, tools, and materials required for relevant training.
Bradleys first arrived in Ukraine in 2023 and have been praised as a success, even as other armored vehicles, which arrived in smaller numbers, struggled. Some analysts have said that their performance in Ukraine has improved their reputation.
The US Army said vendors need to be able to provide the repair and sustainment capability required to restore the vehicles to fully mission-capable and safety standards to fulfill the US government’s “foreign assistance requirements for the defense of Ukraine.”
US Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal said that the source must be able to sustain legacy hardware and manage the supply chain for the Bradleys, and it indicated some urgency.
“Due to immediate operational timelines, vehicles must be processed under a phased delivery approach: achieving ‘Move, Shoot, and Communicate’ capability for immediate shipment, followed by the management and fulfillment of delayed or back-ordered non-mission-essential parts,” it said.
It said the notice was not a solicitation for bids and that no contracts would be awarded, describing it instead as “a market survey for information and planning purposes only.” It said the government intends to negotiate a sole-source extension but that “all interested parties may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency.”
It asked companies to detail how long they have been in business, their experience in restoration and training mechanics, their experience with this variant of the Bradley, and to show how they would take over the production, testing, and delivery to meet production capacity and deadlines.
Keeping Bradleys in the fight has been important for Ukraine, which tries to repair damaged vehicles whenever possible. Ukraine has specialized mobile maintenance teams for its Bradley fighting vehicles within the Logistics Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
And there have also been other external repair and support initiatives. For instance, defense company Rheinmetall was awarded a $31-million contract late last year to develop and demonstrate ways to repair Ukraine’s Bradleys faster, including by doing maintenance closer to the front lines.
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