European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. November 22, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 7 Bradley vehicle displays sturdy resistance7 by Norman Black Washington aim a no army armoured vehicle withstood test bombardment with High expo Mac rounds indicating thai it is More  than critics claim an Arr spokesman said wednesday. . Craig Macnab said the tests in september and october at Aberdeen proving ground in Mary land did suggest a need for some modifications to the ji.5 million Bradley lighting vehicle. But we were surprised at the sturdy resistance of the Bradley to damage from enemy  Mac Nab added. And it is vastly Superior to the soviet equivalent which we have also  however congressional officials who have monitored the tests said privately wednesday that Mac Nab s characterization of the results was too Posi  they declined to provide a detailed run Down. The army will provide both unclassified and Classi fied reports on the tests to Congress dec. 2. The vehicle runs on treads like a tank and can move at speeds exceeding 40 Mph. It was designed As an armoured vehicle that could accompany and augment the lir Power of tanks on the Battlefield according to Macnab none of the 10 live fire tests caused the aluminium sided Bradley to go up in a fireball which some had predicted. One of the shots with an Armor piercing round did set off a fire in an ammunition compartment in the rear of the vehicle but that fire could have been extinguished quickly in combat he said. Most of the anti tank weapons fired at the vehicle incapacitated Between one and three of the five dummies placed inside he said. But there were no big fuel fires and that had been a  Macnab said. I can t discuss inc classified report but the army was pleased with the  the vehicle is designed to carry a squad of six infantrymen but the army does not classify the Bradley As a conventional personnel Carrier because it is fitted out with a 25mm Cannon and can also carry anti Lank missiles and machine guns. Although the army has been buying the vehicle since 1981. The Bradley has Over the past year become the subject of heated internal and congressional criticism. Last summer an air Force officer working in inc Pentagon s research and engineering office charged that the army had purposely avoided realistic Battlefield tests of the vehicle. With congressional concern growing the army announced in August that it would launch a new series of tests using live ammunition. The army had resisted such testing in part on the basis that the hrad Lcy was never meant to withstand direct hits from soviet tank killing missiles. According to Macnab. The Bradley was built to be a fast Mobile vehicle that could Man Euver away from enemy tanks while absorbing hits by machine guns Small arms and some types of artillery. The spokesman said the army now intends to begin a second phase of testing next Spring after Experiment ing with some modifications. The changes will include adding extra Protection to the electrical system and rearranging the fuel system and ammunition Compart ments to reduce their vulnerability. Mcnab said the changes were under study before the Start of the tests and would add no More than $100.000 to the Cost of each vehicle. The army Hopes to acquire 6,832 Bradley at a Cost of $11.3 billion. 20th-Century slavery claimed mrs. Mandela attacks . Policy Washington a the wife of jailed South african Black Leader Nelson Mandela accepting the Robert f Kennedy human rights award said inc Reagan administration s policies toward the Pretoria government have condemned her people to "20th-ccnf.ury  Winnie Mandela charged Hal the Rea Gan administration considers civil rights for Black South africans to be against . Interests. Your government has taken the View that our liberation would be a setback to ils own sphere of influence she said wednes Day in a filmed Szalc Nicol Al the Kennedy awards ceremony at Georgetown univer sity. Mrs. Mandela w to was barred from leaving South Africa to receive the award said your government condemns us to a 20th-Century slavery by echoing the propaganda of the racist regime in South Afri Ca. Sharing the award were inc Rev. Allan Loesak a mixed race minister who founded the Anli apartheid United democratic front and the Rev. . Beyers Naude a while South african who was banned by his govern men for seven years and who succeeded Bishop Desmond Tutu this year As Secretary general of the South african Council of churches. Loesak also was not allowed to leave South Africa to accept the award. He was charged Wilh subversion Lasi month and re leased on bail with severe restrictions Fol lowing his arrest for planning a March on the prison holding Nelson Mandela. In her statement mrs. Mandela de scribed As a failure the administration s pol icy of constructive engagement or using quiet diplomatic Means to urge Reform in South Africa s apart acid system of racial separation. We ask no More than what the people of the United slates enjoy As a Basic right the right of each person to have one vote she said. A Woholo Bishop Tutu s daughter Mph accepts Frk award for Winnie Mandela no pass no play statistics sought by Texas judge Houston a a judge wednes Day halted the trial of a suit against the state s no pass no i y Law and said she would appoint a special master to gather information from Texas 1,100 school districts on the effects of the statute. State District judge Marsha Anthony said the master would gather such statistics As failure rates and numbers of students excluded from the Rule. Anthony Sheppard the plaintiffs attorney argued that the Law which bars failing students from extracurricular activities discriminates against minority and Handi capped students. Tic said the main reason the appointment was being made was because he could get data from Only 19 districts. The stale has been like an Ostrich and stuck its head in the ground and has not gathered the needed information he said. Anthony had ordered school districts to submit the data but inc stale supreme court voided that order on nov. 8. Assistant attorney general Kevin o Hanlon who is defending the Law in the class action suit argued against the master saying the state is not required to keep such statistics. The master will do what the state was ordered not to do he said. All we re doing is going through a lot of expense to gel the same Point  a hearing will be held monday to consider who should be appointed master. It May take up to six months to gather All the data. Sheppard said. Sheppard contends the Rule discriminates against handicapped students because it does t apply to them. He also claims minority children fail at a higher rate than Whites and As a result the Rule discriminates against them. The Rule Stales students failing at least one subject in a six week grading period May not participate in an extracurricular activity for the following six week period. Lack of Money keeping ski research on the ground by Richard c. Cross Colorado Springs Colo. Up the Star wars defensive system has focused on building a ground based anti missile laser because Lack of Money has forced delays in space based laser research the project s director said wednesday. Citing recent successes in inc vast program . Gen. James Abr Harmon said an electromagnetic rail gun recently fired plastic pellets at tremendous velocity at a one Bird Cale lockup of a soviet ss-18 warhead in a Laboratory Experiment destroying the Model. The ss-18 is the soviet Union s biggest and most threatening missile carrying 10 nuclear warheads. Abrahamson spoke to about 500 people at a three Day symposium sponsored by the . Space foundation sup ported by the aerospace Industry which backs the Strate Gic defense initiative popularly known As Star  his comments on the Pitfalls and successes of the 214 year old program came As president Reagan and soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev concluded their two Day sum Mit in Geneva that dealt partly with the ski As it relates to arms control. Moscow opposes the program. After Geneva Abrahamson said. I Don t believe the question will be whal we will give up in the ski project. I believe the que Simon will be whal we can go ahead Wilh  he later told reporters he thought the Summit will have a productive outcome of some kind that could mean something new in research for the Complex ski program. He did not elaborate