Revolutionary & Evolutionary: Russian BMPs get more combat power

Even during the fighting in Afghanistan and then in Chechnya, the Russian military had repeatedly noted that the 30 mm gun of the BMP-2 is too weak when challenging an enemy hidden behind concrete shelters and thick walls of buildings. Then there is the 100 mm gun of the BMP-1, which is not very accurate in the mountains. In spite of its impressive size, it was created “for the destruction of enemy personnel nestled in long field shelters or buildings made of brick”. Taking note of the military’s emerging needs, Russian engineers proceeded on two paths –- the evolutionary and the revolutionary.

The new combat module will become a part of perspective Russian heavy BMPs. Source: Sergey Ptichkin / RG

The evolutionary path has led to the creation of the new combat unit Bakhcha-U, developed for the BMP-3 and BMD-4, and for the modernisation of the BMP-2. The module received twin guns – 100 and 30 mm. Moreover, a missile can be launched from the 100 mm gun, which means enemy bunkers can now be destroyed. This innovation has been implemented not only in the Russian military, but also in ten other countries. Nevertheless, the Russian BMP still has one very significant drawback. With its weight of 18 tonnes, this vehicle does not provide adequate security for the crew during shelling from modern artillery.

Based on its own experience and other local conflicts, Russian arms manufacturers finally realised that a heavy BMP was needed. In Russia, for a long time they could not abandon the concept of floating transport for the infantry, and therefore, the development primarily focused on foreign markets.

During the time of rapprochement between Russia and France after the events of 2008, among the joint endeavors was the Atom project – the creation of a wheeled heavy armoured personnel carrier. The Russian company Burevestnik was to create the combat module, and France and a company owned by the Swedish concern Volvo – Renault Trucks Defence – was to provide the base in the form of wheeled infantry fighting vehicle (BMP VBCI). The prototype of this was presented during the Russian Expo Arms-2013 defence exhibition. This sample, to an extent, shocked visitors, with its futuristic look and a naval gun. That is what Burevestnik used when creating the new Soviet S-60 57 mm anti-aircraft gun, which was produced in the 1940s and has been repeatedly upgraded until it became the A-220M, now used on board naval vessels.

The 57 mm anti-aircraft gun, with a range of 12,000 meters and firing rate, in the design used on ships, of 300 rounds per minute, quickly demonstrates the combat power of the BMP. The S-60 became obsolete as an anti-aircraft gun during the war in Vietnam, but when working on the ground, it is the embodiment of sheer power. During the fighting in Syria, the old S-60s have shown their ability to destroy enemy troops, even if they are behind strong fortifications. Equipped with modern mechanisms and sighting equipment, this gun could have become an excellent alternative to the current 25-mm guns in the combat vehicles of the French infantry. However, on April 8, 2014, the Swedish company Volvo forced its subsidiary – Renault Trucks Defence – to stop working on the joint project, due to the sanctions that the EU imposed against Russia.

On February 22, 2015, Oleg Sienko, General Director of Uralvagonzavod, which includes the company Burevestnik, said that work on the Atom armoured vehicle would continue with a new partner, and a new module for the BMP has already been created for a specific customer.

During the recent military exhibition in the UAE, the IDEX-2015, Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov announced the creation, jointly with the UAE, of a 57 mm gun system. The base for the Russian military module will be created in the United Arab Emirates, on the chassis of the Finnish Patria AMV heavy BMP with the 8x8-wheel configuration, as well as the French VBCI. It is interesting to note that the “revolutionary” 57 mm gun on the Emirati armoured vehicles will be replaced by the “evolutionary” Bakhcha module, which is already well known in the Arab country, having already purchased a great number of BMP-3s.

At Uralvagonzavod, they said that the 57 mm gun would be used on the Russian units. The new combat module will become a part of perspective Russian heavy BMPs. “Installing a smaller calibre gun on massive machines would not meet modern tactical and technical requirements,” says Sienko.

Or maybe to catch a glimpse of Brits running away (tactically retreating) towards Dunkirk, or surrendering Singapore to a much smaller force. Or maybe it was to see hundreds of thousands of Bratwurst eating surrender monkey Germans at Stalingrad.

The French surrender slander never gets old I guess. But they lost far more than the did British in WWI. We see the 800,000 poppies, endure poems about Flanders fields, etc ad nauseum. The French lost 1.7 million and they are the surrender monkeys. We hear about Brits them fleeing the Germans at Dunkirk as a brilliant move. We don’t hear them called tea drinking surrender monkeys. Dieppe? Gallipoli, bravely ran away from the Turks after being stalled.

Or maybe you mean WWII where France lost 85,000 dead in the German invasion, compared to the UK which lost 10k and fled the battlefield. And the Germans lost around 30,000 dead.

The French soldier really doesn’t have a reputation for surrender. The ideas of their Generals aren’t always great, certainly as bad as British generals. But the point is that The Brits have surrendered more than the French, and usually when further resistance is impossible. Same with France.

The world was faced with a new type of warfare in 1940 and wasn’t ready.

I had a small part in it. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, I explained the effectiveness of the use of ridicule of nations in propaganda.

France was politically opposing our entry into Iraq and refusing to be helpful at the time. France has been very supportive of our efforts since, sending men and materiel to some of the hottest spots to help us. As it turned out in political discussions since then, though, there are some national and religious identity associates who harbor generalized ill feelings and envy toward the French for Roman issues long past, from the Gaelic invasion of Rome through the days of Benito Mussolini and beyond.

Here's a bit from another recent instance in history.

French troops were killed after Italy hushed up ‘bribes’ to Taleban
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362686/posts
timesonline.co.uk ^ | Oct. 15, 2009 | Tom Coghlan

When ten French soldiers were killed last year in an ambush by Afghan insurgents in what had seemed a relatively peaceful area, the French public were horrified.

Their revulsion increased with the news that many of the dead soldiers had been mutilated — and with the publication of photographs showing the militants triumphantly sporting their victims’ flak jackets and weapons. The French had been in charge of the Sarobi area, east of Kabul, for only a month, taking over from the Italians; it was one of the biggest single losses of life by Nato forces in Afghanistan.

What the grieving nation did not know was that in the months before the French soldiers arrived in mid-2008, the Italian secret service had been paying tens of thousands of dollars to Taleban commanders and local warlords to keep the area quiet, The Times has learnt. The clandestine payments, whose existence was hidden from the incoming French forces, were disclosed by Western military officials.

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