BMP-2 AFV - Design
The BMP-2 AFV weighs in at 14.3 tons and is 6.858 meters long. It stands 2.077 meters high to the top of its turret and can travel up to 80 km/hr on roads. It has a road range of 450-500 km and can cross a trench two meters wide. An onboard fire extinguishing system is provided as well as a gyrocompass and an anti-flooding system for the engine during amphibious operations. Also an exterior optical-cleaning device is fitted. Armor on the BMP-2 offers the same protection as the BMP-1. Maximum hull armor thickness is 19-mm and that of the turret is 23-mm. The BMP-2 is proof against .50 caliber all around and against 7.62- mm from above.
The BMP-2 is fully amphibious [water obstacles can be crossed by swimming], and the upper part of the track has a sheet metal cover deeper than that of the BMP-1 which is filled with a buoyancy aid. A French SNPE explosive reactive armor (ERA) kit and others are available for use on the BMP-2. However, during dismounted troop movement, ERA would be a hazard. Thus, passive armor is more likely and ERA application is doubtful. For amphibious use, additional armor application is unlikely. Other options are spall liners, air conditioning, and a more powerful engine. Russian AG-17 30-mm automatic grenade launcher modification is offered for BMP-2.
The main armament of the BMP-2 is a 30-mm automatic cannon 2A42 mounted in a double rotating turret. With the gun, the 7.62-mm PKT machine gun is paired. The 9P135M (9P135M-1) launcher is located on the roof of the turret between the commander's and gunner's hatches. Thus, the weapons installed in the car allow fighting against various targets, including tanks and helicopter gunships.
The BMP-2 chassis with a six-way undercarriage in terms of design and technical characteristics is similar to the BMP-1 chassis. The combat crew of the machine consists of 10 people: a non-dismountable unit (crew) 3 people (the commander of the car, the same commander of the compartment, the operator-gunner and the driver-mechanic) and 7 infantry commanders. The latter can target fire from personal weapons through special embrasures.
Russian KBP offers a drop-in one-man turret, called Kliver, with a stabilized 2A72 30-mm gun, a 4 Kornet ATGM launcher, thermal sights, a coaxial 7.62-mm MG and improved fire control system. ATGM load consists of one ready on the launcher and four stowed. They are readily accessible, but require hand loading from an open hatch. The AT-5 and AT-5B are more likely than AT-4 and -4B. French-German Flame-V adaptor kit permits the BMP-2 system to launch Milan, Milan-2, and Milan-3 ATGMs.
While the new BMP-2’s main gun is of smaller caliber than the 73-mm of the BMP-1, it is a more efficient weapon. It is a 30-mm rapid-fire cannon stabilized in two planes. It has a dual-feed system for AP-T or HE-T ammunition. It has three firing modes: single-shot or two rates of autofire - 200-300 rounds per minute or full auto at 500 rounds per minute. The 30-mm AP-T shot can penetrate, at zero degrees angle of obliquity, 55 mm of armor at 500 meters and 50 mm at 1,000 meters. Five hundred rounds of main gun ammunition are carried, as are 2,000 rounds of 7.62-mm ammunition for the coaxial machine gun. The BMP-2’s square mantlet, as opposed to the BMP-1’s protruding mantlet, allows the gunner to elevate the gun to a maximum of 74 degrees, which gives it excellent antiaircraft (AA) capabilities, especially against low-flying planes and helicopters. The 30-mm gun’s maximum effective AA range is 2,000 meters.
The AT-3 Sagger antitank guided missile (ATGM) of the BMP-1 has been replaced on the BMP-2 by the AT-5 Spandrel ATGM. This newer missile has a range of 4,000 meters and a semi-automatic guidance system. The gunner fires the Spandrel from its over-the-turret launching rail. The special guidance optical equipment for the Spandrel sets just below the launcher. The crew can reload the missile launcher from inside the turret. The BMP-2 carries one Spandrel ATGM in the ready position on the launch rail and four more inside the vehicle. Some sources also report that the BMP-2 is alternately armed with the AT-4 Spigot ATGM that has a range of only 2,000 meters.
The hull-mounted IR searchlight on the BMP-1 has been moved to the BMP-2’s turret hatch, and a new white-light and IR gunner’s sight are mounted to the right of the main gun and slaved to it. There initially did not seem to be thermal sights on the BMP-2. Thermal sights are available, and the Russian SANOET-1 thermal gunner's sight is available. The Russian Trakt/1PN65 thermal imaging (TI) ATGM night sight is optional. Acquisition range is 2,500 m (NFI). For the launcher in dismount configuration, the Slovenian TS-F ATGM night sight is available and has a detection range of 4,500 m and recognition range of 2,000 m. The Russian Mulat/1PN86 lightweight TI ATGM thermal sight has 3,600 m detection range and 2,000 m identification range.
On the machines of the first issues, as in the experimental "object 675", there were no smoke grenade launchers and a second machine gun was mounted on the roof of the hull above the hatch of the senior shooter. There are three grenade-launcher pods on either side of the turret, capable of firing HE or smoke grenades. Similar pods have been seen on the newest T-72/80 tanks. In addition to the smoke grenades, the Soviets also inject diesel fuel into the exhaust system to produce smoke./p>
The control compartment is located in the left front of the machine. It houses the workplace of the driver-mechanic, equipped with traffic control devices for the vehicle, instrumentation, surveillance devices, communication equipment (the A-3 apparatus of the tank intercom system - TPU). Behind the driver's seat is the workplace of one arrow. It is equipped with an embrasure for shooting from personal weapons (in the left side of the hull), observation instruments TNP-165A and TNPO-170A, and also with the A-3 TPU apparatus.
The right front of the machine's body is occupied by the engine-transmission compartment (MTO). It is combined along the length of the machine with the control department. These compartments are separated by a heat and sound insulating partition, in which there are hatches for access to the MTO units. The engine, gearbox and planetary gears are combined into a power unit, and the radiators of the cooling system, the engine lubrication system, the transmission oil system, the ejector and the air purifier - into the cooling and air-cleaning unit. The latter is attached to the beams of the roof of the case.
The body of the machine is welded, made of rolled sheets of armored steel. The case details have different thicknesses and design angles for providing the best protection against bullets, small caliber projectiles, shell fragments and mines, as well as strength and rigidity of the structure. According to the configuration of the body, BMP-1 and BMP-2 are close to each other. The biggest differences are in the construction of the roof of the hull, which is connected with the installation of a much larger double turret on it. The latter has a conical shape, welded from steel armor plates. On the roof of the turret are hatches of the commander and the operator, holes for the installation of the 1PZ-3 and BKK-1-42 sights, as well as the support of the ATGM launcher.
On the hatches, nests of all devices and the joint of the hull and the turret (between the upper and lower shoulder straps of the ball bearing), there are rubber seals, providing sealing of the internal space. On the roof of the hull in the amphibious compartment and on all covers of the hatches on the inside, there is a rebound, which increases the protection of the crew from penetrating radiation.
Changes in rear deck hatches reflect reduction in infantrymen carried inside the new model. The BMP-2 has only two hatches, whereas the BMP-1 had four. The BMP-2’s hatches are directly above the rear doors. These doors also serve as fuel cells, as on the BMP-1. Moving the BMP-2’s turret further to the rear has reduced the number of infantrymen the vehicle can carry. The BMP-1 could carry eight, but the BMP-2 can only carry six [or seven??]. Theoretically, the infantrymen can fire their weapons through hull ports just beneath the turret ring. In practice, however, this hasn’t worked because of the crowded interior. The vehicle’s poor ventilation system can’t handle the high concentrations of cordite gases. This is known to have happened repeatedly in the BMP-1 during the Mideast wars. Protection of the crew and landing from radioactive dust, poisonous substances and bacterial agents is provided by the system of hermetic sealing of inhabited compartments and the supply of purified air into them, which includes a device for radiation and chemical reconnaissance (PRRR), a filter-ventilation installation, permanent and closed seals, actuators. The system has automatic inclusion with manual duplication.
Although the BMP-2’s firepower has been upgraded with its 30-mm rapid-fire cannon and the new Spandrel ATGM, the human engineering was virtually unchanged. The vehicle’s survivability on the battlefield does not seem to have been significantly improved over its predecessor and like the BMP-1, the BMP-2 is still highly vulnerable to mines.
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