BMP-1 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty)

History

The Soviet Army was the first major military force to popularize the "Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle" concept with its revolutionary 1967 BMP-1 series. The type features a traditional tracked wheeled design with a low hull and turret, and is equipped with a large number of weapons to carry combat-ready infantry in relative (armored) safety, while still being able to use its own anti-infantry firepower/carry armor.

When the vehicle penetrates deep into enemy territory, it is fast enough to compete with the main mechanized forces, and its amphibious capabilities allow it to discreetly traverse weakly defended off-road areas so that even prepared enemies like those expected to be detected will encounter to the European battlefields of the Cold War.

The BMP-1 was primarily designed to replace the limited-edition BTR-50 series vehicles (especially the BTR-50P model), which also included the greatly improved 8x8 wheeled BTR-60 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) developed jointly with Produced on the same scale with the more technical BMP-1 series. Both vehicles are in overseas service and have been instrumental in the countless conflicts that shaped the Cold War decades. Although the BMP-1 entered service with the Soviet Army in 1966, it was first spotted in the West in November 1967 and is now widely regarded as the first "true" infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) due to its ability to transport troops on board , and then capable of operating as a standalone Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV). As such, the BMP-1 is a revolutionary hybrid design that combines the advantages of a light tank with the advantages of an armored personnel carrieressentially creating a new subclass of armored vehicles.

Since then, contemporary Western counterparts have included American Bradley, British Warriors and German Marder.

The name of the BMP-1 comes from the word "Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1", which means "Infantry Fighting Vehicle 1". Due to the limited intelligence used by the West during the Cold War, the BMP-1 was initially identified as "M1967" and later evolved into the "BMP-1" designation.

Design work on the BMP-1 series began in 1959-1960 through a competition involving several companies. The final winner became the "Obyekt 764" prototype, which seemed to incorporate all the design features (firepower, performance and protection) required by the Soviet Army.

The first pilot vehicle was completed in 1964, and further developed models were tested in 1965, after which the 1966 model was accepted after passing the required state tests.

The BMP-1 represents a departure from previous armoured infantry carriers, as most early versions of this vehicle had open-air cabins, exposing their infantry to a variety of battlefield and environmental hazards and hazards (i.e. threats nuclear war, which actually lasted until the 1950s). The Soviet design featured a flat hull with extremely sloping forward sloping panels and a three-person base crew (driver, gunner and commander). The engine is mounted in the right front compartment to open the rear of the passenger compartment design and access through the unobstructed rear. The turret is placed in the center, and the surroundings of the hull are unobstructed.

In the rear of the hull were eight infantrymen seated on two benches (four infantrymen per bench), facing outwards (fuel was stored between the two rows of seats). There are protected firing ports (four on one side) on the sides of the fuselage, allowing passengers to protect the vehicle from small arms fire from their own personal weapons (periscopes allow direct aiming, although the ports themselves are not stable). Entry/entry of troops is through a pair of outward-opening wing doors located in the rear of the hull, each wing door also having its own firing port and aiming periscope.

When the aircraft is "buckled", the pilot sits on the left side of the fuselage with the personal hatch in his place and the sight barrier. The turret retained the gunner's hatch, while the commander was located in a special position behind the driver in the hull.

According to the standard Soviet tank theoretical design of the time, the BMP-1 was fully amphibious, able to traverse open water with relative ease while being propelled by the movement of its own tracks. Preparations included raising a front trim shovel and turning on the bilge pump before deep water entered.

The water speed is only 4.3 miles per hour.

Power for the vehicle is provided by a single water-cooled 6-cylinder diesel engine producing 300 hp at 2,000 rpm. This gives the vehicle a maximum road speed of 50 mph and a range of 310 miles on the road, and its specs allow it to keep up with the rest of the armored spearhead led by main battle tanks. The car is also fully suspended, and its track and wheel arrangement includes six twin-tire rubber-wrapped wheels on one side of the hull, a drive sprocket at the front of the hull, and a track idler at the rear.

Three track return rollers are partially wrapped by thin armored skirts along each side of the hull.

The BMP-1 is equipped with a 73mm 2A28 Grom smoothbore main gun as its primary armament, firing proven High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) projectiles or High Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG) rounds. The main gun was mounted on a flat, conical turret in the top center of the fuselage.

The turret can handle a full 360 degree arc of fire around the vehicle in the +33 and -4 elevation range. This, combined with an AT-3 "Sagger-A" 9M14 Malyutka wire-based anti-tank missile launcher mounted on the main gun barrel, gives it long-range line-of-sight armor plate capability. While 73mm weapons can be used against infantry, construction and light armored vehicles, AT missiles can be reserved for use against Western main battle tanks.

Secondary armament consists of a 7.62mm machine gun mounted coaxially in the turret.

The hull of the BMP-1 is designed to withstand the effects of large-caliber 12.7mm machine guns (up to 23mm cannons fired through the front fairing) and artillery jets that would otherwise injure occupants within the hull, maim or kill the vehicle. Armor thickness measured at key fairings is 33mm.

The full crew features include an integrated NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) system, night vision goggles for all three crew members, and a smoke generation system that uses fuel vapor injected directly into the exhaust.

During the Yom Kippur War against Israel in 1973, the BMP-1 was baptized with fire along with Syrian and Egyptian troops. This type was also widely used by the Soviet Army during the 1979-1989 war in Afghanistan. The Libyan army used this type against Chad. As a mechanized platform, the BMP-1 was undoubtedly valuable in the operational domain of its users, including the Soviet Army.

The 1970 BMD-1 was a direct descendant of the BMP-1 and was intended as a smaller, lighter air-launched derivative of the original and as a powerful "air-droppable" light tank for Soviet paratroopers.

The BMP-1 itself was eventually replaced by the improved BMP-2 family of armoured vehicles, introduced in 1980, a legendary design that also garnered significant sales and service worldwide. The BMP-2 has an improved shorter, lower hull, improved visibility for the commander through a revised internal layout, can accommodate 7 infantrymen, and a more accurate - albeit smaller caliber - 30mm main gun - BMP - 2 Changes brought about by the limitations of the original BMP-1 design were shown in both the Yom Kippur War and the Soviet-Afghan War - especially in the driver and commander's tandem seats, which limited the latter and single The visibility of the two crew members of the mine - or exposed to the RPG explosion. The main battery ammunition depots in the cabin also exposed the crew to direct hit ammunition explosions, and the cabin fuel depots posed a clear danger to passengers. Realized support for Gen 2 along with improved amphibious capabilities.

The 1987 BMP-3 was and remains the final evolution of the BMP front, replacing the BMP-2 in limited numbers.

Many BMP-1s underwent extensive modernization in the mid-1970s. This move resulted in the final BMP-1P, which provided support for the 9M113 and 9M113M AT missiles with increased range and penetration. Added 6 smoke grenade launchers for point defense to protect vehicles from pursuit.

These versions came online in 1979, resulting in the new BMP-1 operating standard used in the 1980s and 1990s.

A total of 26,000 BMP-1 units were produced at the Soviet factory, the Chinese national arsenal, the Czech factory and locally licensed in India. Many BMP-1 users came from states and countries allied with the Soviet Union.

Many such examples were added to local lists after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

40x73mm ammo.

2,000 x 7.62mm ammo.

4 x Sagger anti-tank missiles.

Changes