The BMP-2 is broadly similar to the BMP-1. The most significant changes are:
- A new two-man turret armed with the 2A42 30 mm auto-cannon and the 9P135M ATGM launcher capable of firing SACLOS guided 9M111 "Fagot" (AT-4 Spigot), 9M113 "Konkurs" (AT-5 Spandrel) and 9M113M "Konkurs-M" (AT-5B Spandrel B) anti-tank missiles.
- The commander now sits with the gunner in an enlarged turret.
- Seven troops are carried instead of eight.
- Two rear infantry roof hatches instead of four.
- Slightly improved armor.
| BMP-2 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Kurganmashzavod |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 14.3 tonnes (15.8 short tons; 14.1 long tons) |
| Length | 6.72 metres (22 ft 1 in) |
| Width | 3.15 metres (10 ft 4 in) |
| Height | 2.45 metres (8 ft 0 in) |
| Crew | 3 (+7 passengers) |
| | |
| Armor | 33 millimetres (1.3 in) (max) |
| Main armament | 30 mm automatic cannon 2A42 9M113 Konkurs ATGM |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm machine gun (PKT) |
| Engine | diesel UTD-20/3 300 hp (225 kW) |
| Power/weight | 21 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Operational range | 600 km (370 mi) |
| Speed | 65 km/h (40 mph) (road) 45 km/h (28 mph) (off-road) 7 km/h (4.3 mph) (water) |
Layout
In the centre of the vehicle is the welded steel turret which seats the commander and gunner, both of whom have hatches. The commander sits to the right and has three day vision periscopes, a 1PZ-3 day-sight designed for anti-aircraft use with 1x, 2x and 4x magnification, an OU-3GA2 infra-red searchlight, a TNP-165A designator and a TKN-3B binocular sight with x4.75 day magnification and x4 night-sight magnification.
The gunner sits to the commanders left and has a smaller rectangular hatch with a rearward-facing day periscope, additionally there are three other day periscopes facing forward and left. The gunner has a BPK-1-42 binocular sight with a moon/starlight vision range of 650 meters or 350 meters using the infra-red searchlight, and a TNPT-1 designator. A FG-126 infra-red searchlight is mounted coaxially to the 30 mm cannon.
The driver sits in the front left of the vehicle, with the engine in a separate compartment to his right. The driver has his own entry hatch above him, with three day periscopes. The center TNPO-170A periscope can be replaced with either a TNPO-350B extended periscope for amphibious operation or a TVNE-1PA night vision scope. An infantry man sits immediately behind the driver, and has a firing port and vision block. TNPO-170A periscopes are used throughout the vehicle and are electrically heated.
BMP-2 Mobility
The BMP-1 and BMP-2 share the same chassis and have almost identical road performance. The BMP-2 is heavier but also has a more powerful engine to compensate.
The BMP-2 is amphibious with little preparation, using hydrodynamic fairings to convert track momentum into water jets. Peacetime regulations require that any BMPs entering water must have a working radio set, since its bearings are not airtight and it can be carried away by currents in case of loss of engine power (the vehicle lacks an anchor).
BMP 2 Weapons
The main armament is a stabilized 30 mm 2A42 auto-cannon with dual ammunition feeds which provide a choice of 3UBR6 AP-T and 3UOR6 HE-T / 3UOF8 HE-I ammunition. The gun has a selectable rate of fire, either slow at 200 to 300 rounds per minute or fast at 550 rounds per minute. The stabilization provides reasonable accuracy up to a speed of about 35 kilometers per hour.
The AP-T ammunition can penetrate 15 millimeters of armour at sixty degrees at 1,500 meters, while a new APDS-T tungsten round can penetrate 25 millimeters at the same distance. A typical ammunition load is 160 rounds of AP ammunition and 340 rounds of HE ammunition. The ammunition sits in two trays located on the turret floor rear. The gun can be fired from either the commander or the gunners station.
The commander's 1PZ-3 sight is specifically designed for anti-aircraft operation and combined with the high maximum elevation of 74 degrees, it allows the 30 mm cannon to be used effectively against helicopters and slow flying aircraft. The turret traverse and elevation are powered and it can traverse 360 degrees in 10.28 seconds and elevate through 74 degrees in 12.33 seconds.
Reloading the BMP-2's 30 mm cannon can be somewhat problematic, and can take up to two hours, even if the ammunition is prepared. Additionally the cannon is normally only used on the slow rate of fire, otherwise fumes from the weapon would build up in the turret faster than the extractor fan can remove them.
The effective range of the 30 mm cannon is up to 1500 meters against armor, 2500 meters against ground targets, and 3,000 meters against air targets.
A coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted to the left of the 30 mm cannon, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition are carried for it. On the roof of the turret is an ATGM launcher, on Russian vehicles this fires AT-5 Spandrel missiles, but on export models it normally fires AT-4 Spigot missiles. A ground mount for the missile is also carried, allowing it to be used away from the vehicle. The missiles are a substantial improvement on the AT-3 Sagger missiles used on the BMP-1, in both range and accuracy.
Behind the turret is the troop compartment which holds six troops, the seventh sits just behind the driver. The troops sit back to back, along the center of the vehicle. Down each side of the compartment are three firing ports with periscopes. Access to the compartment is by the two rear doors, which also hold fuel tanks, both doors have integral periscopes and the left door has a firing port.
In addition to the main weapons it can carry a man portable surface to air missile launcher and two missiles, and an RPG launcher and five rounds. The vehicle is fitted with a PAZ overpressure NBC system and fire suppression system, and carries a GPK-59 gyrocompass.
BMP 2 Countermeasures
The original BMP-1 had a significant shortcoming in its protection scheme, which only became obvious during the war in Afghanistan. The one-man-turret fighting vehicle seated its driver and commander in tandem layout, in the front-left side of the hull alongside the diesel engine. When a BMP-1 hit the obsolete kind of "tilt-rod" anti-tank land mine, its steeply sloped lower front glacis armor plate allowed the mine's arming rod to tilt with little resistance until the maximum deflection was reached with the mine already well under the chassis. When it subsequently detonated, the blast usually killed both the driver and the vehicle commander, causing a significant loss of specialist personnel in the Soviet Army.
This shortcoming was addressed in the BMP-2 design, where the tank commander shares the well-armored two-man turret with the gunner. The driver's station has been enlarged and he is provided with an armored driver's seat, in addition to extra belly-armor in the lower front.
The BMP-2's armour is broadly similar to the original BMP-1. Its frontal and side armour is no longer effective against the most recent .50-calibre SLAP [Sabotted light anti-armour projectile] and the 25 mm cannon of the US M2 Bradley MICV or the British GKN Warrior IFV 30 RARDEN. Like the BMP-1, the rear doors of the BMP-2 are filled with diesel fuel offering some risk from incendiary rounds. These additional fuel tanks are shut off from the fuel system when in combat.
The problem most often cited by western analysts is the design of the main fuel tanks. Due to the low profile of the vehicle the designers had to place the fuel tanks between the two rows of outward-facing passenger seats, in other words, the infantry passengers actually sit on the bulk of the vehicle fuel storage, with extra fuel carried in the hollow rear doors. As the rear doors are weakly armoured, a hit with any kind of incendiary round will send burning fuel into the crew compartment, resulting in horrendous injuries and painful death to the occupants trapped inside the burning vehicle and a possible explosion.
However the rear door tanks are not always filled as they are meant to increase road travel range of the vehicle, and are almost always empty when the BMP goes into combat, instead being filled with sand to add protection. In intense war areas where the BMP sees action relatively often and relatively near to its base of operation, it is a practice not to fill them at all as a rule, and to add fuel to the internal tanks from other sources if the need arises. That however also means that an attack conducted behind enemy lines in a relatively safe area would have much more effect. Nonetheless, the inner fuel tanks (which are used) are more vulnerable than those of many modern IFVs – the weak armor means powerful shots (like RPGs in Chechnya and Afghanistan) can pierce both the outside vehicle armor and the inner tank armor. The last argument however comes from the fact that BMP is a lighter vehicle than some other designs. Naturally, heavier and more powerful vehicles, such as BTR-T, offer a substantially better protection.
Furthermore, it is not clear what could be a better alternative to the infantry positioning in a IFV. A hit, which actually reaches the center of a vehicle [and the fuel tanks] would presumably impact the infantry inside first. Also, investigation by USAF LTC James Burton demonstrated that the center of a vehicle is more likely to be hit, which implies that placing the whole complement of infantry in the center of a vehicle is potentially even more dangerous.
Therefore, the arguments about the design of the fuel tanks or crew positioning in the BMP can only be considered an opinion, as there is no clearly better alternative given weight, functionality, and mobility requirements.
The basic hull armor on the BMP-2 can be easily penetrated by any shaped-charge missile, from the 66 mm LAW on up. One important modification carried out as the result of operational experience in Afghanistan was the fitting of a second layer of stand-off armor, usually a high resistant ballistic rubber-like material, to act as spaced armor around the top of the hull sides and around the turret.
