Everything you own does zero damage to it
The first thing to accept about the Bradley APC: it is immune to every damage type except explosive.
Bullets, arrows, melee, fire — zero. You can empty your entire ammo reserve into the front of it and take not one point of health off.
There is one theoretical gunfire exception, explosive 5.56 ammo, and it needs over 500 rounds, which makes it a thought experiment rather than a method.
This is why most players who meet Bradley at Launch Site conclude it cannot be killed. It can. The catch is that it is a math problem with a known answer, not a reflex test.
What it has against you
| Weapon | Damage | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Main cannon | 25-30 per shell, armour-piercing | A direct hit on an unprotected player is near-certain death |
| Coaxial machine gun | Up to 7 per hit | Short bursts with pauses between them |
It also locks on and pursues once it sees you, and it drives the roads of Launch Site on a fixed patrol route.
Structure is your friend here: Launch Site is the biggest monument in the game and almost all of it is concrete, and Bradley cannot shoot through walls. Every tactic is built on that.
The answer: HV rockets, and the number is seven
| Method | Quantity | Approximate sulfur |
|---|---|---|
| HV rockets | 7 | ~1,400 |
| F1 grenades | ~40 | ~2,400 |
| C4 | 3 | ~6,600 |
| Satchel charges | ~20 | ~9,600 |
| Regular rockets | 8-11 | ~15,400 |
HV rockets are the only sensible option for a normal run. Seven of them to the rear or the treads, at roughly 200 sulfur each, is about 1,400 sulfur, plus 7 metal pipes and 700 gun powder.
The HV rocket’s recipe is the reason. It is 1 Metal Pipe + 100 Gun Powder at a Workbench Level 2, with a 10-second craft and no Explosives step — which means no Workbench 3 and no low grade fuel. Gun powder crafts in batches of 10 from 20 sulfur and 30 charcoal, so 100 gun powder is 200 sulfur and 300 charcoal. The blueprint is 60 scrap at a research table.
Two things to know:
Metal pipes are usually the real limit, not sulfur. Pipes are a Workbench 3 craft from 20 scrap and 2 HQM, so most players loot them out of barrels and crates instead. An HV rocket uses one pipe where a standard rocket uses two.
Sources disagree on the per-rocket cost. Most put an HV rocket at 200 sulfur; rust-survival.com’s event page lists “~140 sulfur per rocket” for the Bradley kill. If you are budgeting, use 200.
The same split appears on regular rockets: one source says 8-10, another says 11. Either way it is the wrong tool — the cheapest reliable kill is HV.
There is a case for C4. Planting three charges takes about half a minute, where firing seven HV rockets takes about a minute and a half. If the monument is crowded and you are worried about being killed mid-process, that speed difference can be worth more than the sulfur. For a standard run, C4 is pure overpay.
F1 grenades are cheap but you have to stand next to it. Forty grenades under the machine gun is a group tactic with a dedicated distraction player, not a solo plan. Second cheapest in sulfur, first in risk.
The deadline nobody tells you about
If Bradley takes no damage for 5 minutes, it heals back to full in about a minute.
This is the single mechanic that makes people think Bradley is unkillable. They land four rockets, get pushed off, come back six minutes later, and find it at full health. They conclude the rockets did nothing.
They did — the timer just ate them.
The attack has to be one continuous sequence. Seven rockets, no long pause. If you fire four and break contact for five minutes, you have not saved four rockets; you have wasted four rockets.
Where to stand at Launch Site
The fight rhythm is identical to the one you use against the patrol helicopter: shot — retreat behind cover — wait for the burst to end — step out and shoot again.
Positions that work:
- Roadside shacks and service rooms along the patrol route. These give you a chokepoint: shoot as Bradley drives past, dive inside when the turret swings around.
- The roof of the recycler building. The classic spot. You can see the route from height, and the roof edge is cover — one pace back and the line of fire breaks.
- Any mound or elevation change you can crouch behind. Terrain beats open ground every time.
And the trick that makes the rhythm work: listen to the machine gun. There is a window between its bursts, and that is when you step out. Do not try to dump your whole load from one position in a row — that is how most people die at Launch Site.
Do not engage with rockets if you cannot survive the return fire. The main cannon kills through walls, and it one-shots full-HQM gear.
Radiation is the other thing that will kill you. Launch Site is a radiation monument. Go in with hazmat or a proper radiation-protection armour set, or the fight ends without Bradley’s help.
Solo, step by step
Killing Bradley solo is entirely doable. It is preparation, not reflexes.
- Bring nine or ten rockets, not seven. Seven is the calculation for seven clean hits. Everyone misses.
- Get into a covered position on the patrol route before you fire anything.
- Wait for it to drive past, then fire at the rear or the treads. Frontal armour is not a target.
- Break line of sight between every shot. Do not stand still.
- Keep the sequence continuous. No five-minute gaps or you start over.
- When it dies, it drops three crates at the wreck. The wreck is on fire — gas mask on before you touch anything.
The hard part is after the kill
The burning wreck of a Bradley is visible on the map. Half the server now knows someone spent resources and is standing next to the fattest loot on the map.
- Gas mask first, always. The wreck burns.
- Loot one crate at a time, retreat, repeat.
- Have an exit route planned before you fire the first rocket.
- Do not loot on a timer. If you hear anyone coming, leave with what you have.
What is worth the trouble: three Bradley crates containing MLRS rockets, targeting computers, explosives, HQM, AK-47s, LR-300s and M249s. The respawn is about 60 minutes, so a group that can hold Launch Site can farm it on a loop.
The whole thing in three lines
It is immune to everything you carry, so carry explosives. Seven HV rockets into the treads, from cover, with no five-minute gaps. Then get off the burning wreck before the server arrives.