Preview: 35th scale M7A3 Bradley BFIST in 35th scale from Magic Factory

Called the "Eyes of the artillery", the Bradley M7A3 BFIST is the next incarnation in this all-of-a-sudden very popular vehicle from Magic Factory. We give you the info we have on the kit so far & the real thing in our preview...

Preview: 35th scale M7A3 Bradley BFIST  in 35th scale from Magic Factory

M7A3 Bradley BFIST 

From Magic Factory

Kit No #2006

1/35th scale

Plastic injection model kit

Masks & prismed shapes for transparencies included.

Photo-etch & metal barrel included (first production run)

Link & length tracks included

Two marking choices provided in the box

Price: $82 USD from Hobbylink Japan

Magic Factory Website & Facebook Page

The Subject: M7A3 Bradley BFIST 

The BFIST (Bradley Fire Support Team) acts as the “Eyes” for the US Army’s artillery units. It was introduced to replace the older M981 fire support team vehicle (FISTY). Built on the Bradley M3A2 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) chassis, the BFIST retains the Bradley’s key features while enhancing reliability, availability, maintainability, mobility, and survivability. With advanced long-range sensors, the BFIST can detect, identify, track, and designate targets while remaining protected under armour, thus improving crew safety. It is assigned to the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and Combined Arms Battalions within the Armored Brigade Combat Team of the US Army.

A US Army BFIST on manoeuvres, no BRAT armour on the front of this one.

The BFIST features the same two-man turret as the Bradley M2/M3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), equipped with a 25 mm ATK Gun Systems Company M242 Chain Gun and a coaxial M240C 7.62mm machine gun. The turret can rotate 360º electrically, and the weapons can be elevated from -10 to +60º. The standard Bradley IFV’s TOW anti-tank guided missile launchers are replaced by target acquisition optics on the left side of the turret. Additionally, two M257 electrically operated smoke grenade launchers, each holding four grenades, are mounted on the turret’s forward part.

You can see on this M7 BFIST, instead of the TOW anti-tank missile, target identification equipment is installed in this large "bin". This vehicle can detect targets at a distance of up to 20 km.

The BFIST is based on the Bradley M3A2 chassis and has a similar layout to the standard Bradley M2/M3 IFV, with antennas on each side at the rear of the top hull. It has a crew of four: a driver at the front, two men in the turret, and one man in the troop compartment at the rear. The hull and turret are made of all-welded aluminium armour with spaced laminate armour on the hull, sides, and rear.

Four Bradley M7 BFIST vehicles were reportedly received by Ukraine, with its initial deployment by Ukrainian Forces on the Zaporizhzhia front in September 2023.

Powered by a Cummins VTA-903T turbocharged 8-cylinder diesel engine producing 600hp at 2,600 rpm, the BFIST can reach a top speed of 61 km/h and has a range of 400 km. Its torsion bar suspension includes six dual rubber-tired road wheels on each side, with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear.

The Russian Army apparently captured one of these reported that they had captured a US-supplied BFIST used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in the Avdiivka direction.

Standard equipment for the BFIST includes a fire detection and suppression system, NBC system, and day/night vision equipment for the commander, gunner, and driver. The gunner has an Integrated Sight Unit (ISU) with an eye-safe laser range-finder, and the commander has an optical relay from the gunner’s sight. The eye-safe laser range-finder is part of the ODS improvement package for current Bradley vehicles. Major subsystems of the BFIST include an Inertial Navigation System (INS), an eye-safe laser range finder (ELRF), four Single Channel Ground and Airborne Receiver System (SINCGARS) radios, a precision lightweight Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver (PLGR), a Battlefield Combat Identification System (BCIS), a mission processor unit (MPU), a handheld terminal unit (HTU), a lightweight computer unit (LCU), and two tactical communication interface modules (TCIM).

The kit:

Although we only have the art so far, we can glean a lot from Magic Factory's other two Bradley releases. This M7A3 Bradley BFIST comes with the extra 3D printed parts for the long-range antennas and GPS/INS system and large sight instead of the TOW missile launcher.

Also included in the package will be a metal gun barrel (with the first release batch), masks for the opticals (along with those prismatic lenses), and a small sheet of photo-etch. The tracks are link and length.

The decal sheet on this kit interestingly includes the stencils for the TOW missile, although they wouldn't be used on this version (as the sight replaces it).

The make up of this kit and parts shown may lead on to another M3s in the future, why not!?

That is all we know about this kit for now - Check out the Magic Factory Website & Facebook Page