Ukraine makes an upgraded BMP-1 armored vehicle

Ukrainian industry has developed to the prototype stage a major upgrade package for the Russian BMP-1 tracked infantry fighting vehicle (IFV).

The first prototype vehicle, designated the BMP-1 UM IFV, is being tested in Ukraine.

The BMP-1 was a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1, meaning “infantry fighting vehicle”. The BMP-1 was the first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) of USSR.

  • Over 20,000 original BMP-1 and variants were produced in the USSR.
  • 18000 were produced in Czechoslovakia)
  • Another 3000 were produced in China
  • 800 were made in India

The extensive modifications include the replacement of the original one-man BMP-1 turret, which was armed with a 73 mm 2A28 smoothbore gun, a 7.62 mm PKT co-axial machine gun (MG), and a KBM 9K11 Malyutka (Sagger) anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) that was originally mounted on top of the main gun’s barrel.

Many operators have removed the original wire-guided ATGW as it is difficult to control, especially in windy conditions.

In the upgrade, the baseline turret has been replaced by the locally developed Shkval overhead weapon station (OWS), production quantities of which have been developed for installation on a number of platforms including the locally manufactured BTR-3 8×8 series of armoured personnel carriers (APCs).

The OWS is armed with a stabilised 30 mm ZTM-1 dual-feed cannon, 7.62 mm KT coaxial machine gun (MG), and a 30 mm AG-17 automatic grenade launcher, which is mounted externally on the left side of the turret.

The ZTM-1 has an effective range in the ground-to-ground role of up to 2,000 m and can also be used to engage some types of aerial targets. It has a maximum muzzle velocity of 960 m/s.

Ready-use ammunition typically consists of 225 rounds of 30 mm ammunition and 2,500 rounds of 7.62 m ammunition; additionally it can carry 116 rounds of 30 mm grenade ammunition (of which 29 are ready use).

SOURCES – IHS Janes, Wikipedia