Used by See Operators | In service 1987–present | |
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Wars First Chechen War, Yemeni Civil War (2015) | ||
The BMP-3 is a Soviet amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, successor to the BMP-1 and BMP-2. The abbreviation BMP stands for Boevaya Mashina Pehoty (Боевая Машина Пехоты, literally "Infantry Combat Vehicle").
Contents
Production history
The design of the BMP-3 or Obyekt 688M can be traced back to the Obyekt 685 light tank prototype with 100 mm gun 2A48-1 from 1975. This vehicle did not enter series production, but the chassis, with a new engine, was used for the next-generation infantry combat vehicle Obyekt 688 from A. Blagonravov's design bureau. The Ob. 688 weapons configuration—an externally mounted 30 mm gun and twin Konkurs ATGM launcher—was rejected; instead the new 2K23 armament system was selected. The resulting BMP-3 was developed in the early 1980s and entered service with the Soviet Army officially in 1987. It was shown for the first time in public during the 1990 Victory Day parade and was given the NATO code IFV M1990/1.
The BMP-3 is designed and produced by the Kurganmashzavod ("Kurgan Machine Building Plant") some variants however are built by the Rubtsovsk Machine Building Plant (RMZ), for example the BRM-3K.
In May 2015, the Russian Defense Ministry signed a three-year contract to receive "hundreds" of BMP-3 vehicles to maintain its armored vehicle force until its replacement, the Kurganets-25, completes research and development. In the process of the BMP-s serial production, the vehicle's design underwent 1,500 amendments.
Operational history
The BMP-3 saw action in several conflicts.
First Chechen War
The BMP-3 saw action with the Russian forces during the First Chechen War.
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
The BMP-3 also saw action with Emirati forces in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, where it is currently deployed.
Weaponry and optics
The BMP-3 is one of the most heavily armed infantry combat vehicles in service, fitted with a low-velocity 2A70 100 mm rifled gun, which can fire conventional shells or 9M117 ATGMs (AT-10 Stabber). 40 100mm-rounds and 8 ATGMs are carried. A 2A72 30 mm dual feed autocannon with 500 (300 HEI and 200 APT) rounds and a rate of fire of 350 to 400 RPM, and a 7.62mm PKT machine gun with 2,000 rounds, all mounted coaxially in the turret. The main gun elevates from −5° to +60°. There are also two 7.62mm PKT bow machine guns, again with 2,000 rounds each. The BMP-3 is capable of engaging targets out to 5,000–6,000 meters with its ATGM weapon system 9K116-3 "Basnya". The minimum engagement distance, flight time and vulnerability of the launcher are typical of command-guided, rather than fire-and-forget, ATGM systems. With conventional ammunition, such as the HE-Frag shell 3OF32, the 2A70 gun has a range of 4,000 meters.
According to the manufacturer's web-site, all weapons can be fired from the halt, on the move, and afloat with the same effectiveness. The ability to hit targets on the move with missiles was successfully demonstrated during competitive evaluations in the UAE in 1991.
The turret is fitted with the 2K23 system, which consists of an automatic loader with 22 rounds (the remaining 18 rounds are stored in the hull), a 1V539 ballistic computer, a cross-wind sensor, a 2E52-2 stabilising system, a 1D16-3 laser range finder, a 1K13-2 gunner's sight/guidance device, a PPB-1 gunner's sight and an OU-5-1 IR searchlight. The commander has a combined optical sight 1PZ-10, a day/night vision device TKN-3MB and an IR searchlight OU-3GA2. Since 2005, the BMP-3 can be fitted with a new fire control system from the "Peleng" Joint Stock Company from Belarus. This consists of a SOZH-M gunner's main sight with an integrated laser range-finder and missile-guidance channel, a Vesna-K targeting system with thermal imaging camera and automatic target tracker AST-B, an armament stabilisation system, a ballistic computer with data input sensors and a PL-1 IR laser projector.
Standard equipment includes five firing ports with associated vision blocks, an R-173 tranceiver, an R-173P receiver, a GO-27 radiation and chemical agent detector, an FVU filtration system, an automatic fire extinguisher and six 902V "Tucha-2" 81 mm smoke grenade launchers.
Mobility
The vehicle has an unconventional layout. The engine is in the back of the vehicle to the right (unlike most other IFVs, which have the engine located forward in the hull). As a result, the driver is seated forward in the hull (in the center) together with two infantrymen (one on each side of the driver). The vehicle has a double bottom and the engine is located under the floor of the vehicle (troops enter/leave the vehicle over the engine). The remaining five infantrymen are seated aft of the two-man turret.
Early models were powered by a 450 hp engine UTD-29, but most BMP-3s are now equipped with the 500 hp UTD-29M version. The engine was developed at the Transmash Diesel Engine Plant in Barnaul. The BMP-3 has a range of 600 km, an altitude of operation of up to 3,000 m and it is transportable by train, truck, sea, and air. The BMP-3 engine is a diesel four-stroke, liquid-cooled design. The transmission is a four-speed hydromechanical power unit, with power takeoff to its water jets. The suspension is independent, with a torsion bar and six hydraulic shock absorbers. Steering is by gear differential with hydrostatic drive. The track adjusting mechanism is remotely controlled from the driver's station, with tension force indication. The water-jet propulsion unit is single-stage, axial, auger-type.
Countermeasures
The hull and turret are made of a high-strength aluminium alloy, with the front of the hull being provided with an extra steel plate welded over it plus spaced armour from the trim vane. The turret is also provided with a thick steel spaced armour shield over its frontal arc. Over the frontal, the vehicle is protected against 30 mm gun rounds at a range of 200 m. In addition to "hard" protection, the BMP-3's self-healing fuel tank is located in front of the driver, directly behind the front armour plating. It is specially constructed to act as armour, effective against shaped charge warheads as well as any autocannon shells that managed to go through the front armour.
The BMP-3 can lay its own smoke screen by injecting fuel into the exhaust manifolds. A chemical agent detector, an FVU filtration system, an automatic fire extinguisher and six 902V "Tucha-2" 81 mm smoke grenade launchers are standard.
At least two distinct sets of explosive reactive armour kit are currently available, giving the BMP-3 protection from less advanced rocket propelled grenades. One of them is the Kaktus ERA kit, which has a unique design that creates minimal acoustic and kinetic backlash to the armour behind it upon detonation, thus ensuring that the occupants will not be harmed by shockwaves from the ERA block. The ERA blocks will completely disintegrate after detonation. According to Kurganmashzavod, the BMP-3 may also be fitted with additional side armour tiles, which can resist .50 caliber armour-piercing ammunition perpendicularly at close ranges. They give the BMP-3 added side protection from autocannon fire as well.
The BMP-3 also has the ability to carry a Shtora electro-optical jammer that disrupts semiautomatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) antitank guided missiles, laser rangefinders and target designators. Shtora is a soft-kill, or passive-countermeasure system.
Standard weight of the vehicle is 18.7 tonnes. If additional armor overlay (metal sheet of armor and Kaktus ERA) is installed, weight will reach to 22.2 tonnes. The body covered from the sides and the top. In such kit, it is protected against 12.7 mm machine gun rounds in the range of 100–200 m.
Russian Federation
The turret of the BMP-3 has been fitted to the Patria Armoured Modular Vehicle.