BMD-1 (Boyevaya Mashina Desanta)

History

Ever since the use of airborne troops tactics had lethal results in World War II, the challenge has been to arm these troops with powerful weapons. Airborne troops are often required to travel light, which limits their tactical effectiveness once the enemy responds to a sudden drop.

One of the biggest threats to these light armed forces is the main battle tank - the lack of enemy armor for the airborne units. Some wartime initiatives ended up being successful, but it took a post-war environment to really see the effort - the Soviet BMD series was one such device.

After World War II, the Soviet Empire was a vast assemblage of nations and interests spanning the globe. Where security is to be enhanced, it is necessary to deploy a rapid response force around the world.

One such unit eventually became the Soviet paratroopers, for which airborne soldiers needed a way to defeat enemy armor at long distanceswith firepower beyond that provided by bulky man-portable anti-tank weapons. Consider giving these fighter jets on the ground tracked vehicles that can parachute from the sky.

The Red Army was already working on the BMP series of amphibious light tanks, but although they belonged to the "light" classification, they proved too heavy to be airdropped by Soviet transport aircraft. Therefore, a new tracked vehicle was designed along the lines of the BMP, retaining the firepower and tracked characteristics of its predecessor to meet the needs of the Soviet Army. The resulting design was called the BMD, and design work began in 1965 and production began in 1968.

Serial production began in 1970. In contrast, the original BMP-1 has been in front-line service since 1966.

The BMD mimics the sharp lines of the original BMP, but is smaller for obvious reasons. The hull is a boat-like design with a raised but sloping front wing that leads to a flat hull roof. The sides of the fuselage are vertical fairings. Midship is a tower with the engine at the rear. This forced the cab and fighting compartment to be in the front center of the design layout.

The vehicle is propelled to one side of the track by five small wheels. The drive sprocket is at the rear and the chain idler is at the front. Four sprockets wrap the chain around the upper area on the sides of the fuselage. Line-of-sight blocks allow combatants to see outside action while under the relative protection of the vehicle. The original BMP-1 weighed 13 tons, while the BMD-1 was about half as heavy at 7.5 tons, making it airdroppable as required by the Soviet Army.

The standard operator consists of four people, including the driver, commander, machine gunner and main gunner, with room for two passengers. The driver is located in the center of the front of the fuselage, with the vehicle commander on the left and a dedicated machine gunner on the right. The main gunner took a position in the turret.

The vehicle is 5.4 meters long, 2.5 meters wide and less than 2 meters high. As might be expected, interior conditions were cramped for the largest soldiers. Armor protection is 33mm at its thickest point, although this is mainly composed of the hood and cast magnesium alloy construction.

The hull is suspended on a hydraulic independent torsion bar suspension system for good off-road performance. The ground clearance of the vehicle is adjustable by the driver.

Power is provided by a single liquid-cooled 5D 20 6-cylinder diesel engine producing 241 hp at 2,600 rpm. The device achieves a top speed of 80 km/h and a range of 600 km on ideal ground (less off-road). This allows the BMD-1 to keep up with other armoured units if necessary, or to overtake ground forces to secure the forward area. As an amphibious tank, the BMD-1 is equipped with amphibious equipment for wading. A pair of water jets mounted on the rear of the hull propel the craft through the water.

If the Cold War gets "hot" outside East Germany, the expected Western European battlefield will greatly increase the strength of the BMD-1.

The main armament is concentrated on the 73mm main gun of the 2A28 series "Grom" mounted on the BMP-1 turret. The gun has a smooth design, short recoil, and a semi-automatic firing mechanism. The additional weapon is a launcher designed to fire anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).

Can carry up to three ATGM missiles (depending on the missile model), supported types are 9M14M (AT-3 "Sagger"), 9M113 (AT-5 "Spandrel") and 9M111M (AT-4 "Spigot") series rockets. Not only can the BMD-1 use its 73mm main gun to hit armored targets, but it also has a potent tank-killing capability that can fire additional missiles from a distance.

The ship carried 40 rounds of 73mm ammunition, including armor-piercing and high-explosive rounds, for use against armored threats and soft targets, respectively. The main gun is complemented by a 7.62mm PKT series machine gun mounted coaxially on the turret.

Another pair of fixed forward-firing 7.62mm PKT machine guns are mounted on the bow for additional offense/defense against enemy infantry. In total, up to 6,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition can be transported.

The airdrop quality of the BMD-1 certainly makes it unique - only comparable to the American M551 Sheridan light tank. The BMD was strapped to a pallet before loading, and the vehicle could then be transported by a handful of evacuated Soviet aircraft, including several Antonov-type aircraft, as well as Mil helicopters. Parachutes aided rough landings, while a special missile system was later developed to further cushion the fall.

After landing, the vehicle was released from the pallet, waiting for the soldiers to prepare for battle.

Significant combat action of the BMD-1 came quickly with Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. Airborne forces quickly realized the value of their light armor systems, although their "light" value also proved to limit the use of guerrilla tactics and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). In addition, the magnesium alloy armor structure on the original car is easy to spread fire. Therefore, the tanker will suffer a fate worse than death after a direct hit.

More than nine years of fighting and casualties began to accumulate, so much so that Soviet troops eventually abandoned the area for good.

The BMD-1 was used in the Angolan Civil War before the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Both Iran and Iraq are operators of this type, and these were used in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The surviving Iraqi members were then sent back to the war in Operation Desert Storm, with dire consequences.

Likewise, the remaining units were used again during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. BMD also served in the Balkan conflict with Russian forces under the NATO peacekeeping banner. Other actions put them at risk during the Second Chechen War and, most recently, the 2008 South Ossetia War.

BMD was eventually used by the Soviet/Russian and armed forces of Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, India, Iraq, Iran, Moldova, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. By far the largest operator remains the Soviet-Russian army.

BMD-1 was eventually further developed along several lines to produce various derivatives. The first production model was simply called "BMD". These were improved as the BMD-1, which added additional equipment to the BMD-1K command vehicle and was notable for its twin antenna masts. The BMD-1 was eventually modified to launch missiles along with the BMD-1P. The BMD-1PK became the brand's command vehicle variant.

Smoke grenade launchers and new road wheels ushered in the arrival of the BMD-1M brand. Several other branches of the BMD-1 were fitted with 30mm guns instead of the original 73mm mounts.

Another carried a large field mortar for fire support, while the other was converted to be used as a combat missile launcher.

The BMD-1 was eventually redesigned and heavily modified to become the "BMD-2" described elsewhere on this page. The BTR-D is a variant of the BMD-1 with a longer fuselage, reinforced frontal armor and no turret, intended as a light and fast personnel carrier with a capacity of 10 people.

The "BMD" designation identifies it as "Boyevaya Mashina Desanta", which basically translates to "Airborne Combat Vehicle".

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

40 x 73mm bullet

3 x anti-tank missiles

6,000 x 7.62mm ammo

Changes