In the mid-1980s, at the height of Cold War, weapon technology in the former Soviet Union was progressing, The Soviets were developing more effective ammunition fot the main guns of their most modern tanks. As a result , the US Army began a program to give the M2/M3 Bradley better surviviability against the threat of the new, upgraded types of Soviet anti-tank ammunition. The production line for the M2A2/M3A2 Fighting Vehicles began in the spring of 1988 with the first vehicles delivered to the Army in the autumn of the same year.