Mysterious Weapon Fired From Bradley Fighting Vehicle During Exercise

Yahoo

19-03-2025

The U.S. Army has released a picture of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle using its BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missile launcher to fire something else referred to simply as the '670,' which appears to be previously unseen.
'A U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle launches a 670 during Project Convergence-Capstone 5 (PC-C5) on Fort Irwin, Calif., in March 2025,' the image's caption reads. 'PC-C5 is the premier Joint, Combined experiment hosted by Army Futures Command to demonstrate how technology enhances cross-domain military operations.'
The Army kicked off the Project Convergence initiative in 2020 and has been using events like PC-C5 to test, integrate, and network together new and improved systems and capabilities in increasingly more operationally representative conditions. The first half has been taking place this month at the sprawling National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin in California. The second half will kick off next month at multiple operating locations across the Indo-Pacific.
No further information about the '670' looks to be readily available and TWZ has reached out to the Army for more details.
From what can be seen in the image the '670' is propelled, at least immediately after launch, by a small rocket motor at the rear of its broadly cylindrical body. It also has three pop-out grid fins at the tail end. Whether or not it has other control surfaces that are not seen in their deployed positions is unknown, but there are open sections visible toward the front end of the body.
The 670 also has a rounded white-colored nose, but whether that might be a radome or seeker of some kind, or just an aerodynamic fairing or something else, is not known. There are also at least three distinct sections visible along one side of the body, which might be modular and potentially dispensable payloads, such as cluster munitions or countermeasures of some type.
The overall configuration of the 670 is distinctly different from any version of the BGM-71 known to exist, including modern types that are no longer wire-guided. However, since it can be fired from a Bradley's TOW missile launcher, it does need to have at least a similar form factor. Current generation TOW missiles are just under four feet long and six inches in diameter. Certain variants have probes that extend around a foot from the front of the nose after launch to help defeat explosive reactive armor and otherwise ensure optimal detonation. You can read more about the full TOW missile family here.
The U.S. military does have the tube-launched GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) in its inventory, which has three grid fins at the tail end and is of the appropriate general size. However, the SGM, which also has a pop-out main wing, is unpowered and its fins have a distinctly different design from those on the 670.
Without knowing more, it's hard to say with certainty whether the 670 might be a munition, an uncrewed system, countermeasure, or something else.
A major component of all Project Convergence events since the Army first launched the initiative in 2020 has been tests of what are now referred to as 'launched effects.' This broad term encompasses a still-growing range of drones and loitering munitions that can be launched from fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and platforms on the ground. A launched effect design capable of performing surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, kinetic attack, and/or other functions, and that can be fired from existing TOW launchers, could be a boon to a variety of Army units beyond heavy armored formations equipped with Bradleys.
The video below offers a very general overview of the Army's vision for its future family of launched effects.
The Army has also been at least exploring options in recent years for a new anti-tank guided missile to succeed the venerable BGM-71 series that would also be able to make use of existing launchers.
An air defense version of the Bradley, known as the M6 Linebacker, with a four-round launcher for Stinger heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles instead of the TOWs, was previously in Army inventory, as well. The service could now be looking at ways to reboot that general concept, especially in light of the growing threat posed by drones.
BAE Systems, the current prime contractor for the Bradley, has previously proposed a modernized short-range air defense (SHORAD) variant with either a four-round Stinger launcher or one that could be loaded with up to two radar-guided AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles. More recently, the company has pitched a SHORAD variant of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), which is derived from the Bradley.
Whatever the mysterious 670 might be, it highlights the potential for the Bradley's TOW launcher to evolve into a more multi-mission system in the future.
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