Currently, the BMP-3 is the most advanced infantry fighting vehicle in service with the Russian army. Officially put into service in 1987, the combat vehicle still has the potential for modernization and in the future will serve the military for more than a decade. To date, the Russian army is armed with more than 500 BMP-3, in addition to this, the infantry fighting vehicle was actively exported and is in service with the armies of Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Indonesia and other states.
The main difference between the BMP-3 and most other countries' infantry fighting vehicles is its rather powerful armament, which is represented by a 100-mm gun / launcher and a 30-mm automatic cannon. In addition, the BMP is armed with three 7, 62-mm machine guns at once, two course and one PKT machine gun, paired with an artillery mount. The second main difference from competitors is that a car weighing more than 18 tons is able to swim, overcoming water obstacles at a speed of up to 10 km / h. Recently, Russia has presented several options for upgrading the BMP-3, including the version of the BMP-3M "Dragoon". And in mid-August 2019, a representative of the Rostec state corporation announced that the machines were being seriously modernized, primarily by increasing the level of protection, including the installation of active protection systems.
Protection of BMP-3 will be increased three times
Sergei Abramov, who holds the post of industrial director of the cluster of conventional weapons, ammunition and special chemistry of the state corporation Rostec, told RIA Novosti reporters that in the process of modernization, Russian BMP-3s are planned to be equipped with new means of active protection. Thanks to an integrated approach, the security of infantry fighting vehicles is planned to be increased several times. According to a high-ranking representative of Rostec, the modernization potential of the last of the Russian infantry fighting vehicles put into service has not yet been exhausted. In Russia, work is in full swing on the creation of new systems for protecting BMPs from ballistic weapons, which include the SPG-9 and the RPG-7 hand grenade launcher, which have become widespread throughout the world. Currently, Rostec enterprises are working on strengthening the passive protection of the BMP-3, and are also working on various options for integrating modern active protection systems (KAZ) into a combat vehicle.
A complex of active protection means a kind of protection of armored vehicles from various means of destruction. KAZ is a system that is responsible for detecting ammunition (anti-tank missiles and grenades, as well as shells) flying up to a tank or infantry fighting vehicles, and counteracting such ammunition in various ways from jamming to destroying incoming shells or damaging them and weakening the damaging effect. As Sergei Abramov noted, the use of such systems can increase the survivability of armored vehicles on the battlefield by about two to three times.
At the same time, the representative of the state corporation did not specify which KAZ will be installed on the upgraded versions of the BMP-3. Theoretically, it can be a modernized Arena complex, which was developed in the USSR back in the 1980s, or a new generation complex called Afghanit. This active protection complex was specially designed for installation on armored vehicles built on the basis of the Armata heavy tracked platform, primarily on the T-14 main battle tank and the T-15 infantry fighting vehicle. Individual components of the Afghanit complex can be installed on other types of armored vehicles, including the promising Russian BMP Kurganets-25.
Modern Russian complexes of active protection
At one time, the Soviet Union broke far ahead in the field of creating complexes for active protection of armored vehicles. Soviet engineers began to create the first such systems back in the 1970s, and already in 1983, the first in the world KAZ, named "Drozd", was adopted in the USSR. It was this active protection complex that became the first in the world to be mass-produced.
One of the options for upgrading the BMP-3 could be the installation on a combat vehicle of an upgraded version of the Arena active protection complex, developed back in the late 1980s. This version of the KAZ provides armored vehicles with protection against various types of anti-tank grenades and anti-tank guided missiles, it is also reported that the complex can also hit cumulative shells. An export version of this complex, which received the designation "Arena-E", has now been created in Russia. The complex includes a multifunctional radar and protective ammunition, which are fired towards the weapons flying up to the tank. Protective ammunition with narrowly targeted action provides reliable destruction of missiles, grenades and shaped-charge projectiles with a beam of damaging elements. At the same time, the complex is all-weather, all-day and has excellent noise immunity.
BMP-3 with KAZ "Arena"
Options for installing KAZ "Arena" on the BMP-3 were undertaken. Back in 2003, a version of the BMP-3M was demonstrated in Russia with the Arena-E system installed, which made it possible to destroy various types of ammunition flying up to the combat vehicle. The complex is effective against weapons flying at a speed of 70 to 700 m / s. Since the complex operates in a fully automatic mode, its use does not impose any additional burden on the crews of armored military equipment.
A more advanced active protection complex is "Afghanit", which was specially designed for installation on armored vehicles, created on the basis of the heavy tracked platform "Armata". At the same time, experts note that there are no serious restrictions that would prevent the installation of the Afghanit complex or its components on armored vehicles of previous generations, including the BMP-3. The only serious obstacle can be the cost of such a complex. A high-tech and complex system is quite expensive, and it is the price that can be the factor that will negate any benefits from such a modernization option. So far, "Afghanit" could be seen only on "Armata", "Kurganets" and "Boomerang", which repeatedly became participants in various military parades.
A distinctive feature of the Afghanit complex is the presence of a radar with an active phased array antenna (AFAR), made using the same technology as the radar installed on the Russian fifth generation fighter Su-57. The AFAR-radar installed on armored vehicles includes four panels that are placed on the tank turret, providing a 360-degree view without turning the turret and rotating the radar. In addition to these elements, the complex includes ultraviolet direction finders for ATGM launches and infrared cameras. At the same time, the active protection installed on the T-14 "Armata" tanks is able to cope not only with modern ATGMs and cumulative grenades, but also allows intercepting high-speed armor-piercing sub-caliber shells (BPS). In addition to actively destroying incoming ammunition, the system can activate the setting of a smoke-metal or aerosol curtain.
Version of the location of Afganit's instruments on the turret of the T-14 tank
At the same time, all KAZ complexes have the same drawback. The striking elements fired in the direction of the approaching projectile pose a danger to the infantry surrounding the tank. For example, the developers of the "Arena" complex noted that the zone dangerous for infantrymen is 20-30 meters near the tank, while such protection does not pose any threat to the tank or an infantry fighting vehicle itself. It is for this reason that armored vehicles equipped with KAZ systems are forced to operate in isolation from the infantry order. For tanks, it is much easier to operate in isolation from the infantry than for infantry fighting vehicles, which are designed to transport soldiers to the battlefield. Thus, the installation of KAZ on infantry fighting vehicles leads to a revision of the concept of their combat use and use on the battlefield, as well as the subsequent development of such an application in exercises of all levels.
BMP-3M "Dragoon"
In 2015, Russian viewers at the exhibition in Nizhny Tagil were presented with two novelties of the domestic defense industry - a seriously modernized BMP-3M "Dragoon" and a self-propelled artillery anti-aircraft gun based on the BMP-3, armed with a new 57-mm automatic cannon. ZSU received the designation "Derivation-Air Defense". Both novelties of the Russian defense industry are of great interest, they are able to extend the life of the BMP-3 for many decades.
At the same time BMP-3M "Dragoon", in fact, is already a completely different machine. The infantry fighting vehicle has undergone a major overhaul, and this is not only about changing the layout of the BMP. From the old BMP, only the chassis and hull elements remained. At the same time, the engine-transmission compartment was moved to the front of the vehicle, which increases the protection of the paratroopers and the crew. In fact, it was only in the Dragoon that Russian designers turned to the classic BMP layout for other countries. In addition to the additional protection of the landing force and crew members, such a solution improves the process of loading and unloading paratroopers from the BMP due to the appearance of a stern ramp. The full combat crew of the updated BMP model is 11 people, including three crew members.
BMP-3M "Dragoon"
The second notable difference of the updated BMP is a completely uninhabited turret, which retained the same composition of weapons from a 100-mm semi-automatic cannon, a 30-mm automatic cannon and a 7.62-mm PKT machine gun. The unmanned combat module made it possible to place all crew members inside the hull of the combat vehicle behind the engine, which made it possible to increase their protection.
The mass of the combat vehicle, which also received improved protection, increased to 21 tons. At the same time, the designers installed a new UTD-32 multi-fuel engine on the Dragoon BMP, developing a power of 816 hp. This made it possible to achieve excellent power density indicators - up to 38 hp. per ton, this is much better than most main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles around the world. For example, this is almost twice the size of the main American M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. At the same time BMP-3M "Dragoon" is able to accelerate along the highway to a speed exceeding 70 km / h. Despite the increased combat weight, the plump "Dragoon" retained the ability to swim at speeds up to 10 km / h.
The combat capabilities of the BMP have also grown due to the use of a modern fire control system, as well as duplication of crew functions. The workplaces of the commander of the combat vehicle and the gunner are completely unified, in addition to this, the electronic filling of the combat vehicle has been replenished with a built-in target tracking machine. At the same time, it can be noted that at none of the exhibitions the deepest modernization of the BMP-3 has not yet been demonstrated along with the installed active protection complex.
