Build the M2A2 ODS-SA IFV from the Ukraine 47th Mechanized Brigade with this new 1/35 scale kit by Magic Factory.
This set not only comes with all the necessary parts but also a variety of decals.
US Army proposed the development of a new generation IFV to replace the largely equiped M113 APC in April 1972. The FMC Corporation won the contract then and tested three XM723 prototypes in 1974. The Army re-examined the MICV (Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle) project and required to develop the XM273 a common platform for an IFV and a scout vehicle. The development direction of M2 was set initially. In December 1978, the first batch of XM2 prototypes were delivered to US Army. They were renamed M2 IFVs in 1979 and put into official production in January 1980.XM2 (now M2) were named M2 Bradley IFV after WWII American General Omar Bradley in 1981.The first combat unit to be equipped with Bradleys in March 1983 and since then, Bradley began its service.
M2 Bradley IFVs participated almost every war and regional conflict in which US ground forces involved from the 1980s to the first two decades of the 21st century.Their outstanding performance and good design affected design and developing direction of other countries’ IFVs, and their disadvantages also have been upgraded and improved through the battles.
The main M2 Bradley variants have been through steady and staged upgrades. As the most successful upgraded variants of M2 family, the M2A3 and M3A3 Bradley FIghting Vehicles have good armor protection, strong continuous firepower, good mobility and intelligent information processing capabilities which made Bradleys good examples and good IFVs to be imitated.
Before the next-Generation IFV formally serve in the army, also due to the limited military spending, U.S Army could only use and modernize numbers of mothballed IFV to face to the newest warfare situation and meet the needs of its allies,instead of procuring a large numbers of new 'Bradleys'. According to the performance of M2A3, M2A2 ODS-SA are modernized from M2A2 ODS which produced and stored in the United States after the 1990s. ODS-SA stands for M2A2 Operation Desert Storm – Situational Awareness, including the latest 'Block1' 2nd Gen FLIR,improved 'IBAS',Driver's Vision Enhancer(DVE) Wide,the Squad Leader's Display (SLD) and Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below(FBCB2). The difference between M2A2 ODS-SA and M2A3 is that M2A2 ODS-SA does not have commander’s independent thermal viewer(CITV), also M2A2 ODS-SA uses the same turret basket as early M2A2 ODS.
Since the warfare between Ukraine and Russia in 2022, a huge amount of advanced militray equipment from European countries and the United States have been sent to Ukraine to meet the needs and help to take the fight to Russia. A first portion of the M2A2 ODS-SA have arrived Ukraine and taking part in combat operations.
As Ukraine amry advanced towards the Russian positions, M2A2 ODS-SA can safely carry and deploy the troops to the frontline with its good mobility and protection, which significantly decrease the casualties and tanks losses when attacking the Russian positions with M2A2 ODS-SA's heavy fire support.Even if the M2A2 ODS-SA is hit and damaged during the battle, it can significantly protect the lives of its troops, that proves the M2A2 ODS-SA is a qualified vehicle tested in full-scale wars.
The new combat vehicles created based on M2, a successful IFV platform, will continue to affect the setup and direction of human combat weapons.
