BMD-3 (Boyevaya Mashina Desanta)

History

The BMD-3 is another part of a relatively successful family of light amphibious airdropped infantry fighting vehicles in service with the Soviet Airborne Forces. The BMD series is technically referred to as an "air combat vehicle", although its field deployment is more similar to a traditional "infantry fighting vehicle" (IFV). The series is based on the larger and heavier BMP series IFV, produced under the BMP-1, BMP-2 and BMP-3 brands.

The original BMD (BMD-1) was first introduced in 1969, and then the improved BMD-2 was introduced from 1985. Both were used with larger BMP models in the Soviet-Afghanistan war - although they proved vulnerable to landmines and rocket-propelled grenades (BMP/BMD were designed to fight in Europe). Thus, the BMD-3 was the third evolution of the BMD front, designed to provide a powerful armored combat vehicle for lightly armed Soviet airborne personnel. The BMD-3 was developed alongside the BMD-2 variant, which used a smaller version of the BMP-2 turret.

Thus, the BMD-3 received a full-scale version of the BMP-2 turret with all its inherent advantages. The BMD-3 entered service with the Red Army in 1990 and is still in service with the Russian Army today. As in the previous version, production took place at the Volgograd Tractor Plant.

The project name for the BMD-3 model is Obyekt 950, the BMD name stands for "Boyevaya Machina Desanta", which translates simply to describe field use ("Airborne Combat Vehicle").

The BMP-3 retains many design lines from the previous BMP/BMD series. The hull is fairly simple, with board sides, raised front and well-sloped glacis boards. The driver retains a front center position with two seats on either side for additional occupants.

The turret is now large enough to accommodate a crew of two, usually the vehicle commander and the main gunner. Three smoke grenade launchers are mounted on each side of the turret. The fighting compartment is located in the center of the hull, and the engine is located in the stern. Water jets mounted on the rear of the lower hull allowed unrestricted amphibious capabilities - a hallmark of Soviet armored vehicle design.

The chain system consists of five small road sprockets, with the drive sprocket at the rear, the chain idler at the front, and four chain idlers. The armor consists of lightweight aluminum alloy components on the hull and steel for the turret.

Wider rails can also be used if desired (480mm compared to the original 320mm type).

Primary armament is a 30mm 2A42 cannon, supplemented by a coaxial 7.62mm PK series machine gun. The mobile two-person turret is also armed with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). Secondary armament consists of a 30mm AGS-17 series automatic grenade launcher (front left hull) and a 5.45mm RPKS general purpose machine gun in the bow (front right hull). Overall, the BMD-3 is a well-equipped machine that can be used against all types of enemies - including main battle tanks.

The main gun carries 860 x 30mm projectiles and 4 x ATGM. The ship is loaded with 2,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and 2,160 rounds of 5.45mm ammunition. 551 rounds were carried for the 30mm grenade launcher.

Powered by the installation of a 2V-06-2 liquid-cooled diesel engine with an output of 450 hp. This is much better than the 241 hp systems previously used in the BMD-1 and BMD-2. The top speed on the road is 70 km/h and the range is 500 km.

As with previous BMD products, the torsion bar suspension system is serviced with hydropneumatic height adjustment. The amphibious portion of the BMD-3 relies on the aforementioned pair of water jets as well as onboard bilge pumps. A shape has been erected before entering the water.

The maximum speed in water is 10 km/h.

The BMD-3 was used to designate the original production tank. A new turret was then developed with a 100mm main gun and a 30mm automatic cannon, which resulted in an improved BMD-4 variant (derived from the BMD-3M prototype, which became the BMP-3 turret).

A modernized version of this form became the BMD-4M. The BMD-3 itself was further developed in the RKhM-5 chemical reconnaissance platform to test ground and air samples in the event of a nuclear explosion. The BTR-BD "Rakushka" is a special transport variant with an enlarged hull and no traditional turret layout. These serve the Russian army as multi-purpose tracked vehicles.

The battlefield ambulance version became the BMM-D. The chassis was also used as the basis for a command vehicle, an armored recovery vehicle and a mortar transporter. After some time, BTR-BD was upgraded to BTR-MDM.

The final installation form of the BMD-3 design was the dedicated 2S25 Sprut-SD, which incorporated a 125mm main gun into a new turret on the BMD-3 chassis for use as a tracked tank destroyer or light tank. This design also adds two wheels to each side of the track to replace the extra weight.

Production has delivered over 120 BMD-3 systems, plus another 60 upgraded BMD-4 models.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

860x30mm ammo

2,000 x 7.62mm ammo

2,160 x 5.45mm ammo

551 x 30mm case

4 x ATGW missiles

6 x Smoke Grenade

Changes