Cost and production have always been two of the leading factors in military procurement, the greatest champions of this mentality certainly had to be the designers of the Soviet Union. The vehicle that is the topic of today's paper, while far from perfect, sits among the greats of its era in weaponry history alongside the AK-47 assault rifle, the T-62 and T-72 Main Battle Tanks, and the MiG-21 Fighter/Interceptor.
From the Central African rainforests to the Persian Gulf, to the snowy mountains of Chechnia, no vehicle has carried more troops into frontline combat or fired more shots in anger, than the Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty (Боевая Машина Пехоты; БМП), the BMP.
Widely recognizable having served in a wide variety of variants across 65 countries since its service introduction in 1966, the BMP can be considered to be the very first of its kind in Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs). Most vehicles with roots so old typically only operate under export customers, typically in second or third-hand condition. However, the BMP still sees large-scale production in its original form and the modernized upgraded variations and remains in service domestically in the Russian Federation with the Armed Forces. The BMP is so common that in many conflicts such as the Iraq-Iran War, the Chechen Wars and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the BMP has been fielded by both sides in large numbers.
The three primary models of the vehicle in use, and the primary topics of this paper, are the BMP-1, BMP-2, and BMP-3.
The Origins of the BMP
The concept of the Infantry Fighting Vehicle came about in the late 1950s when the newly formed West German Army rejected the American Battle Doctrine of using armoured personnel carriers as essential "battle taxis" where they would drive troops to a drop-off position and then leave. Instead, Germany would create and implement the Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30. Carrying five passengers and armed with a 20mm auto-cannon, it would carry troops into combat alongside tanks and other personnel carriers and then also stay to support them with its firepower. German engineers had created what was essentially the world's first modern Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
Soviet engineers immediately recognized the benefit of such a vehicle as it would allow mechanized infantry formations to rush with the tank units they were attached to while also using their intermediate firepower to engage multiple types of threats and emplacements allowing the tanks to focus on knocking out enemy armour.
In 1959, the requirements for the vehicle that would eventually become the BMP-1 were presented. The vehicle was to have a hybrid weapons system consisting of the 2A28 Grom low-pressure gun to engage fortifications and infantry formations at ranges up to 700 metres and the 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) which allowed the BMP to strike targets with relative accuracy out to three kilometres. The Malyutka ATGM also allowed the BMP to combat heavy armour on its own directly. This type of hybrid cannon/missile weapon layout would become the base of most IFVs around the world, but at the time of its introduction was completely revolutionary. A PKT machine gun firing 7.62x54mm rifle round was also mounted coaxially to the main gun for close-in protection against infantry
Multiple manufacturers would present designs for the project, including Object 1200 from the Bryansk Automobile Plant (BAZ), Object 911 and Object 914 from the Volgograd Tractor Plant (VgTZ), and Object 764 from the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (CTZ). Object 764 would be adopted in the end and after some further design modifications through 1965-66, it would become Object 765 and be adopted into the Soviet military officially as the BMP-1.
BMP-1
With a combat weight of 13 tons and a 600HP diesel V6 engine, the BMP-1 achieves a power-to-weight ratio of 23HP/t. While not impressive by modern standards, this ratio was a marvel for Soviet engineering at the time. With a crew of three tankers and eight infantry for dismounting sat in a 2x4 order in the rear of the vehicle. A unique feature of the BMP is that each rider in the rear has their own independent vision block for increased situational awareness while dismounting, individual firing ports are also provided so the riders can provide close-range fire support. Four hatches are also along the top of the rear hull allowing the riders to stand and fire and have an emergency exit from the vehicle. The three tankers also have their own hatches and can also leave via the door in the rear of the troop compartment.
All three of the vehicle crew members are provided with night vision optics, the Gunner and Commander stations can have infrared spotlights mounted to them for additional night vision capability of up to 400 metres for the Commander and 1000 metres for the Gunner.
To call the BMP anything other than "extremely lightly armoured" would be quite a stretch. The thickest areas on the hull only come to 20mm and on the turret, it only comes to 30mm. While this may seem relatively thick, it is hardly enough to stop fire from heavy machine guns and fragmentation from artillery.
The gun is loaded via an auto-loader system that holds 40 rounds of ammunition with a sustained rate of fire at 10 rounds per minute. The gunner can still load rounds manually if the need arises, such as with the high explosive ammunition introduced in 1974 that must be hand-loaded or if the electronic and hydraulic systems sustained damage. Over many years though, due to unreliability, many BMP-1s would see their auto-loader removed entirely.
On a rail above the gun sits the 9M14 Malyutka wire-guided anti-tank missile. The missile is capable of penetrating 400mm of armour at ranges between 500 to 3000 metres. The vehicle can carry four reserve missiles and load them via a small hatch above the gun which allows firing and reloading from inside the vehicle.
The BMP-1 was primarily equipped to the doctrine of Soviet motor-rifle brigades meant to be deployed alongside main battle tank divisions. Part of the standard equipment for the dismounts was 9K32M Strela anti-air launchers or RPG-7 anti-armour launchers for even further fire support. The vehicle was also amphibious, though it required engineering services for coastal operations, the crew only needed five minutes to prepare it for a simple river or lake crossing.
Theoretically, a BMP unit could be used as a competent lone asset while also providing a perfect support network to larger armoured or infantry units. However, in practice, the BMP-1 had many glaring issues brought to light in its early service years. Crew conditions were insanely cramped even by Soviet standards which cost dismounts crucial seconds getting out of the vehicle. The lacklustre armour protection and low survivability caused dismounts to ride exposed on top of the vehicle rather than inside. The two rear doors contain fuel tanks as well as the area between the seats of the dismounts making fires an extremely dangerous hazard. The main gun ammunition had absolutely no protection leading to many catastrophic detonations and the shape of the front of the hull virtually guarantees the effectiveness of mines, causing them to detonate under the centre of mass rather than the front.
The above depicts the catastrophic ammunition detonation of a BMP-1
After its first combat use in the 1967 Yom Kippur War, mass reliability issues would plague the Egyptian and Syrian forces causing them to abandon nearly half of their BMPs. The weaponry was also found severely lacking by both the Arab forces as well as the Red Army during the SovieT-Afghan War. The Malyutka missile was difficult to control and took extensive time to reload while the main gun, designed to be accurate to 700 metres, could not effectively hit targets at half that range. The 73mm ammunition was found to do a poor job engaging fortified targets in a demolition role while also struggling to dispose of infantry behind light cover. The shaped-charge rounds intended for anti-tank usage also did little damage.
Poor gun elevation proved to be a major flaw, a hard lesson learned by Soviet forces in the mountains of Afghanistan while also being so front-heavy due to the forward-mounted engine, that a full load of infantry was required to perform any amphibious crossings. However, because of the intended role to be attached to main battle tank divisions, the amphibious issue was hardly a problem.
The BMP-1 would see exceptional success on the export market, not only being used by the Warsaw Pact countries but also across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
BMP-1P
Developed in 1979 and entered service in 1981 as a response to the experiences of Arab forces in the Yom Kippur War and the fighting in the Angolan Civil War. The BMP-1P swapped the 9M14 Malyutka for the much improved 9M113 Konkurs. The launcher is seated on a pintle mounting and the gunner must expose himself from the hatch to fire and load the weapon. This danger was considered and believed to be worthwhile due to the performance of the 9M113 missile and many BMP-1s would be upgraded to the "P" variant throughout the 80s. The old loading hatch for the 9M14 would also be welded shut to increase crew protection. The BMP-1P also received smoke grenade launchers and many other minor upgrades to improve reliability and survivability.
BMP-2
After the issue of the BMP-1 surfaced in the Yom Kippur War, its designers began looking at ways to improve the vehicle, primarily the weapons systems. The 2A28 Grom was meant to embody the best of infantry support and anti-tank weaponry but only showcased the worst. The extremely cramped conditions made manually loading the small gun difficult, making a sustained rate of fire incredibly slow as the auto-loader had mostly been completely abandoned. The 73mm shell was found to be lacking in explosive power and shrapnel leaving the designers with two options. Go bigger and effectively turn the vehicle into something else entirely, or use a smaller calibre weapon that can sustain a high rate of fire to cover troop movements and suppress enemy positions.
In 1974, the Kurganmashzavod began work on Object 675, which was to become the BMP-2. Using a BMP-1 hull, modifying it and applying an enlarged turret, the 2A28 Grom was replaced by the 30mm Shipunov 2A42 autocannon. Accurate at 4x the range and vastly more effective at infantry suppression, penetration took a massive hit compared to the 73mm projectile, though the sabot rounds could still penetrate light-skinned vehicles at a range of 1500 metres. The fire rate can be adjusted between 200-550 rounds a minute and has a two-plane stabilizer allowing the vehicle to maintain accurate fire while on the move, a significant upgrade over the BMP-1. The elevation angles were also vastly improved allowing the vehicle to engage helicopters and low-flying aircraft. The 9M113 Konkurs was retained from the BMP-1 upgrade program and a system was added to allow the gunner to fire and control the missile from inside the vehicle. Export variants would be equipped with the 9K111 Fagot missile system.
Object 675 was selected as the successor to the BMP-1 and entered service in 1980 as the BMP-2. Seeing use in 35 countries around the world, the BMP-s was an export success like its older brother.
The enlarged turret allowed the commander to sit in the turret with the gunner at the cost of covering two of the four roof hatches on the rear of the hull. This reduced the internal riding capacity for infantry to six in a 2x3 layout, with a seventh rider sitting in the old commander position. This shake-up of crew capacity caused problems in reorganizing doctrine and despite the gunner being able to fire the Konkurs missile from inside the vehicle, he still had to expose himself to reload the weapon. Loading the 30mm autocannon was time-consuming and despite having a much more powerful engine, it was also many tons heavier than the BMP-1 which offset any performance increase.
Hull survivability remained as poor as the BMP-1 as well as the top speeds of 65km/h on-road and 45 km/h off-road. While conveniently matching the speeds of Red Army main battle tanks when performing a combined operation, it left the BMP-2 unsuitable to perform something like armoured reconnaissance which was left to vastly more vulnerable BTRs.
BMP-2M "Berezhok"
The BMP-2M was the result of a 2008 upgrade plan, upgrading the power pack to 400hp while also adding the Berezhok turret to the vehicle, vastly increasing its firepower. Retaining the same 2A42 autocannon, it boasts an additional AGS-30 automatic grenade launcher along with four launchers for the 9M133 Kornet ATGM, two on each side of the turret with a range of 8km and a staggering penetration value of 1,000+ millimetres. The gunner and commander also received upgraded optics and the hull received a survivability upgrade in the form of armoured side skirts and slat armour to disrupt the effect of shaped charge warheads.
BMP-3
Based on the designs of Object 688, what would become the BMP-3 entered service in 1987 as part of the Improved IFV program. A completely redesigned vehicle sharing few characteristics with the BMP-1 and 2, the BMP-3 used a brand new hull design with greatly improved protection, improving the frontal armour from 15mm to 80mm. They also replaced the 30mm 2A42 with the lighter 30mm 2A72 autocannon with a slower rate of fire for more controlled firing as well as adding the 100mm 2A70 low-pressure cannon. The 2A70 allowed the BMP-3 to fire both high-explosive projectiles directly or at an arc to act as an assault gun while also being able to fire the 9M117 Bastion and 9M117M1 Arkan anti-tank missile to directly engage armoured threats up to 6km. While the auto-loading system can maintain a respectable 15 rounds a minute for the regular high-explosive ammo, it is so poor at handling the missiles that gunners usually elect to manually load them.
A new 500hp engine, improved transmission and hydropneumatic suspension meant that despite the even heavier weight than the BMP-2, it could reach even higher top speeds of 70 km/h.
The larger weapon platform as well as the new engine placement low in the rear of the hull also changed the crew carrying layout with two dismounts riding next to the driver in the front and the remaining five in the rear troop compartment. The change in hull design also changed the way riders would dismount compared to the BMP-1 and 2. The BMP-3 required the two large roof hatches to be opened along with the back doors to give the riders enough space to effectively get over the engine and out the rear of the vehicle.
BMP-3M
The BMP-3M received a new power pack putting out around 600hp along with an improved auto-loader that could reliably load the 9M117M1 Arkan missiles. The gunner and commander received improved infrared imagers. The armour was upgraded with the "Cactus" armour package consisting of Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) and Active Protection Systems (APS) such as the soft-kill Shtora-1 and/or the hard-kill Arena system primarily reserved for main battle tanks.
Despite the issues, the BMPs continue to play a significant role on the modern battlefield. They transport troops into a combat zone under armoured protection, provide a tank unit with highly mobile and readily available infantry, and provide organic armoured and heavy fire support to an infantry battalion along with levels of tactical mobility.
By @MrPwong
