BMP-2 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty)

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The BMP-2, a second-generation amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, rolled off Soviet Union assembly lines in the 1980s, following closely on the heels of its predecessor, the BMP-1 from the 1960s. Although the BMP-1 was a groundbreaking design, its main armament, including the 2A28 Grom and the 9S428 ATGM launcher capable of firing 9M14 Malyutka (NATO: AT-3A Sagger A) and 9M14M Malyutka-M (NATO: AT-3B Sagger B), quickly became outdated. As a result, Soviet engineers began working on an upgraded version of the BMP-1 in 1972. During its combat debut in the Yom Kippur War, Egyptian and Syrian BMPs proved vulnerable to .50 calibre machine-gun fire from the sides and rear, as well as 106 mm recoilless rifles. The 73 mm gun was found to be inaccurate beyond 500 metres, and the AT-3 Sagger missile struggled to be effectively guided from within the confines of the turret. Following the war, several Soviet technical teams were dispatched to Syria to gather valuable information. These lessons, combined with observations of Western AFV developments, prompted a replacement program for the original BMP in 1974. The first product of this program was the BMP-1P upgrade, designed as a stopgap measure to address the most pressing problems with the existing design. Smoke grenade launchers were added to the rear of the turret and the manually guided AT-3 Sagger missile system was replaced with the semi-automatically guided AT-4 Spigot / AT-5 Spandrel system. The BMP-1P entered production by the late 1970s, with existing BMP-1s gradually upgraded to the standard during the 1980s.