Slovenia BMP M-80
The Yugoslav BMP M-80, which Slovenia donated to Ukraine at the end of June 2022, were 35 vehicles of the older series with the Hispano-Suiza HS-115 engine with 191 kW, which remained from the legacy of the former JLA. The vehicles were stored and conserved among tanks and other armored vehicles near Pivka, and the deconservation lasted for several weeks. Logistical problems prevented a faster expedition to Ukraine, most likely due to Hungary's decision to ban the transport of weapons through its territory. In exchange for the donation, Slovenia should receive a credit from the USA. It will be used for the equipment that the Slovenian army needs in its operations.
In 1969, Yugoslavia adopted an indigenous approach that required state-of-the-art solutions to meet the IFV requirements witnessed in 1974 and the regular IFV requirements in 1975. Extensive evaluation took place before the design was officially accepted in 1982. Before the "M-80" designation officially identified the vehicle, the original designation was M-980. Subsequent production jobs yielded 835 copies of this type.
M-80A armored personnel carriers experienced their baptism of fire in 1991 in Slovenia, as they were used on the Yugoslav side by both the 1st Armored Brigade and units of the 32nd Varaždin Corps. TO units captured some vehicles during the clash with the JLA in Trzin near Ljubljana and in Prlekija and Prekmurje. After the withdrawal of the JLA, around 50 vehicles remained in Slovenia, which were first assigned to mechanized troops and finally to the 45th Armored Battalion in Pivka. Currently, the largest user of BVPs is the Army of Serbia, while a larger number of vehicles are also in use by the armies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
The M-80A infantry fighting vehicle weighs just under 14 tons and has a crew of three (commander, driver, gunner), a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour and a range of about 500 kilometers. It is armed with a 20mm M55 cannon (400 rounds) and a mounted 7.62mm M86 machine gun (2000 rounds). The armament is completed by "little" missiles (two on the turret and four in the vehicle) with a maximum range of up to 3500 m, but with manual guidance of the missile to the target. The combat capacity of the vehicle is also increased to some extent by the disembarkation section with seven soldiers who have the possibility of operating with their own weapons from the vehicle itself. The vehicle thus has three firing lines on each side and two more on the rear. Each firing line has a powder gas extraction system and a cartridge catcher.
Each section had four M-70AB2 automatic rifles, two M72B1 machine guns, an M76 sniper rifle and four single-use M80 anti-armor rocket launchers. The vehicle's armor consists of 14 mm thick armor plates at the front and 9 mm on the sides and rear, which means that in practice the vehicle is protected from projectiles up to 20 mm in front, but only from lighter infantry weapons on the sides. The chassis of the vehicle is also extremely vulnerable to mines and other explosive devices. However, the vehicle is fully amphibious and fully protected by RKBO.
At the beginning of 2022, even before the start of the war in Ukraine, the company SLux found a buyer as an intermediary of the Ministry of Defense, namely they would be purchased by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, also through a Czech intermediary. The Ministry of Defense planned to sell 35 old Yugoslav-made M 80-A military transport vehicles, but the government canceled this decision and decided to donate the vehicles to Ukraine. The company SLux, which claims that as an intermediary it has almost completed the sales business in Ukraine, filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to annul the government's decision as illegal. But the court dismissed the lawsuit.
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