The United States handed over the final batch of M2A2 Bradley Infantry fighting vehicles to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), according to lebarmy.gov.lb news website.
The U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) recent delivery included eight Bradley Fighting Vehicles, along with 40mm automatic grenade launchers and 155mm laser-guided artillery shells.
A total, the United States has provided to the Lebanese Army: 32 Bradley M2A2 infantry fighting vehicles, 40 M198 howitzers; 50 armored Humvees; an armed Cessna aircraft with Hellfire missiles; 55 mortar systems; 50 Mark-19 automatic grenade launchers; 1,100 machine guns, including 800 50-caliber machine guns; 4,000 M4 rifles; over half a million rounds of ammunition; 320 night vision devices and thermal sights; and 360 secure communication radios.
Also on June 13, the United States delivered four A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to the LAF.
As for Bradley M2A2, it’s an improved version of the Bradley armoured infantry fighting vehicle introduced in 1988. The A2 version received an improved 600 horsepower (447 kW) engine and new armor protects against 30 mm APDS rounds and RPGs (or similar anti-armor weapons).
The troop carrying number was reduced to six, eliminating the periscope position behind the driver. After live firing testing, the seating and stowage arrangements were redrawn. These upgrades raised the cumulative gross weight of the vehicle to 30,519 kg (67,282 lb (30.037 long tons; 33.641 short tons)).
