BMPT (Terminator) (Object 199)

History

The urban combat experience of the Russian army in the first and second Chechen wars led to the need for a new type of armored combat vehicle to play a supporting role. The vehicle will combine with Russian tanks and other front-line combat vehicles to provide additional offensive capabilities on the battlefield while retaining the protection and mobility of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

In 2011, the BMPT (known as the "Terminator") was introduced, a heavily armed and armored tracked system based on the existing chassis of the classic Soviet-era T-72 main battle tank (MBT). The vehicle is manufactured by Uralvagonzavod.

The BMPT is neither a tank nor an infantry fighting vehicle, as it does not have a large-caliber main gun as the former nor a troop transport facility for the latter. Instead, it is a true support vehicle, with a standard crew of 5 people and a weight of 53 tons (short), with a wide selection of weapons for long-range combat against heavy and light enemy vehicles, as well as defense against friendly tanks Infantry attack. Primary armament consists of 2 x 30mm 2A42 series automatic cannons in conjunction with 4 x 130mm turret-mounted Ataka-T Anti-Tank Missile (ATGM) launchers - these launchers provide considerable power to armoured targets at a distance firepower. Secondary armament includes 2 x 30mm AG-17D "Plamya" 30mm automatic grenade launchers for suppressing enemy infantry, and the vehicle also carries 1 x 7.62mm PKTM for extreme localized defense. Armor protection is a combination of composite, steel and reactive armor.

Dimensions include an overall length of 23.6 feet, a width of 11 feet, and a height of 11.2 feet, allowing the vehicle to be transported by rail, heavy truck, or certain transport aircraft.

Since the vehicle uses the existing T-72 landing gear, it has six twin tire wheels on one side of the hull, the drive sprocket at the rear and the track idler at the front. The upper track section is well protected by side skirt armor plates.

Power comes from a single 1,000-horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine. This, combined with the torsion bar suspension, gives the vehicle a top road speed of 37 mph and a range of up to 340 miles. Off-road driving is also possible, but with reduced performance characteristics.

Ground clearance is a useful sixteen inches.

The need for this heavy vehicle originally stemmed from the Soviet Union's involvement in the Soviet-Afghan War, when BMP vehicles proved extremely vulnerable to close range guerrilla ambushes. These vehicles also lack the agility and versatility needed to fight smoother but rather primitive enemy forces. Design work on the solution began in the 1980s and several prototypes were reviewed.

This need was further fueled by combat experience in the First Chechen War, when fighting on city streets was the norm. Likewise, existing BMP vehicles fail to provide the necessary combat capability and crew protection sought by field commanders.

This led to further research on other prototypes, culminating in the Object 199 model. The vehicle, introduced in 2000, went into series production in 2002. Interestingly, the modern Russian military has inherited a well-armed BMPT - authorities cite the T-72's Cold War origins as the main reason.

Instead, the car found its first export operator in Kazakhstan, with interest from the governments of Algeria, Azerbaijan and Peru. Instead, the Russian Army will get a new generation of armored fighting vehicles, likely related to the new T-99 "Armata" series, which includes the T-14 MBT and T-15 IFV (both of which are discussed elsewhere in this article) ) are detailed on the website).

Uralvagonzavod offers a "Terminator 2" package to upgrade existing T-72 MBTs to Heavy Armored Support Vehicles (HASV). Despite its Cold War roots, T-72 numbers remain healthy across many operators around the world, from Algeria and Angola to Vietnam and Yemen.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

850 x 30mm projectile.

4 x 130mm rockets.

600 x 30mm shells.

2,000 x 7.62mm ammo.

Changes