Editing Infantry fighting vehicle (section)

== Doctrine ==
[[File:M2 loading.jpg|thumb|Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment load into the rear of an M2 Bradley in Iraq.]]
The role of the IFV is closely linked to [[mechanized infantry]] doctrine.<ref name="USMC"/> While some IFVs are armed with a direct fire gun or anti-tank guided missiles for close infantry support, they are not intended to assault armored and mechanized forces with any type of infantry on their own, mounted or not.<ref name="USMC"/> Rather, the IFV's role is to give an infantry unit battlefield, tactical, and operational mobility during [[combined arms]] operations.<ref name="USMC"/>

Most IFVs either complement tanks as part of an armored battalion, brigade, or division. Others perform traditional infantry missions supported by tanks.<ref name="USMC"/> Early development of IFVs in a number of Western nations was promoted primarily by armor officers who wanted to integrate tanks with supporting infantry in armored divisions.<ref name="USMC"/> There were a few exceptions to the rule: for example, the {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}}'s decision to adopt the SPz 12-3 was largely due to the experiences of Wehrmacht {{lang|de|[[panzergrenadier]]}}s who had been inappropriately ordered to undertake combat operations better suited for armor.<ref name="Coffey"/> Hence, the {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}} concluded that infantry should only fight while mounted in their own armored vehicles, ideally supported by tanks.<ref name="Coffey"/> This doctrinal trend was later subsumed into the armies of other Western nations, including the US, leading to the widespread conclusion that IFVs should be confined largely to assisting the forward momentum of tanks.<ref name="Coffey"/>

The Soviet Army granted more flexibility in this regard to its IFV doctrine, allowing for the mechanized infantry to occupy terrain that compromised an enemy defense, carry out flanking movements, or lure armor into ill-advised counterattacks.<ref name="Coffey"/> While they still performed an auxiliary role to tanks, the notion of using IFVs in these types of engagements dictated that they be heavily armed, which was reflected in the BMP-1 and its successors.<ref name="Coffey"/> Additionally, Soviet airborne doctrine made use of the BMD series of IFVs to operate in concert with paratroops rather than traditional mechanized or armored formations.<ref name="USMC"/>

IFVs assumed a new significance after the [[Yom Kippur War|1973 Arab-Israeli War]].<ref name="Coffey"/> In addition to heralding the combat debut of the BMP-1, that conflict demonstrated the newfound significance of anti-tank guided missiles and the obsolescence of independent armored attacks.<ref name="Coffey"/> More emphasis was placed on combined arms offensives, and the importance of mechanized infantry to support tanks reemerged.<ref name="Coffey"/>

As a result of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Soviet Union attached more infantry to its armored formations and the US accelerated its long-delayed IFV development program.<ref name="Coffey"/> An IFV capable of accompanying tanks for the purpose of suppressing anti-tank weapons and the hostile infantry which operated them was seen as necessary to avoid the devastation wreaked on purely armored Israeli formations.<ref name="Coffey"/>