B05YA01 Combat Module for Armoured Vehicles Upgrade

THE LIGHT-WEIGHT CATEGORY COMBAT vehicles (IFV, airborne assault vehicles, APC) are able to determine the combat potential of a country’s armed forces due to their application versatility.

Infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3) and airborne assault vehicles (BMD-3, BMD-4) are the most common hardware of land forces and airborne troops.

Currently a huge fleet of such combat vehicles is in service both with the Russian army, as well as abroad. These vehicles have been produced for several decades and presently their weapon systems do not meet modern requirements. However, their life cycle is quite long and reaches 30–40 years.

Many countries are keep on upgrading the main fleet of their combat vehicles. In Russia, a BMP-2 mechanical module was selected as a basis for designing a uniform combat module weighing below 3 tons for upgrading Russian combat vehicles.

Russian infantry fighting vehicle BMP-2, being the main combat vehicle of multiple countries’ land forces, was adopted for service in 1980 and used to exceed most of its foreign counterparts in terms of combat capabilities. Nowadays BMP-2 still basically meets the modern requirements. 

The analysis of current state and development tendencies of weapons and fire control systems shows that BMP-2 weapon system cannot meet modern requirements in a number of parameters.

The firepower of a combat vehicle is determined by its weapon system. Thus, the increase of combat efficiency may be achieved by weapon system modernisation. BMP-2 has a high weapon system upgrade potential. The challenge of increasing the firepower of existing BMPs providing their superiority over other modern vehicles has been successfully met by KBP Instrument Design Bureau.

The upgrade was implemented on a serially produced BMP-2 turret with 2A42 automatic cannon (without changing the mechanical module and turret internal layout). The design concept implies the following :