
The first true infantry combat vehicles in service, the BMP-1 is exceptionally low and well-shaped. Very thinly armoured, but its armament is is quite potent, brandishing a 73mm gun in a one-man turret with an auto-loader as well as a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun. It also makes provision for firing anti-tank missiles from a rail above the gun. It has firing ports for the machine guns and rifles of the eight man infantry section that can be carried in the rear compartment, and it can be entered/exited through roof hatches and twin doors in the hull rear.
This amphibious vehicle is powered by a 224hp diesel engine with a top speed of 65 km/h, with a road range of 600 kms and weighing 14 tons.
The infantry compatments is ver cramped, and the commander has limited vision and no physical contact with the infantrymen where he is seated in the hull behind the driver.
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FAPLA BMP-1 Amphibious Tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle
1/300th scale miniature supplied and painted by Johan Schoeman of the Peninsula Wargames Group
Specifications |
Weight |
13.2 tonnes |
Length |
6.735 m |
Width |
2.94 m |
Height |
2.068 m (1.881 m to the turret top) |
Crew |
3 (+8 troopers) |
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Armor |
welded rolled steel
26-33 mm gun mantlet
23 mm at 42° turret front
19 mm at 36° turret side
13 mm at 30° turret rear
6 mm turret top
7 mm at 80° upper hull front
19 mm at 57° hull lower front
16 mm at 14° hull upper side
18 mm at 0° hull lower side
16 mm at 19° hull rear
6 mm hull top
7 mm hull belly rear
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Primary armament |
73 mm 2A28 "Grom" low pressure smoothbore short-recoil semi-automatic gun (40 rounds)
9S428 ATGM launcher (4 + 1 rounds) |
Secondary armament |
7.62 mm PKT coaxial tank machine gun (2,000 rounds)
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Engine |
6-cylinder 4-stroke V-shaped airless-injection water cooled multifuel 15.8 litre diesel[6]
224 kW at 2,600 rpm
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Power/weight |
17.0 kW/tonne |
Suspension |
individual torsion bar with hydraulic shock absorbers of 1st and 6th road wheels |
Operational Rnge |
600 km (road)
500km (off-road)
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Speed |
65 km/h (road)
45 km/h (off-road) |
For more detail on the BMP-1, see Wikipedia.com |