the Soviet armament of the BMP-1!

[puebespuebes]

Some people may say the 73mm is obsolete but im pretty sure any infantry man would beg to differ !

[timgosling]

Being 'safe' inside is relative, when you're sitting in amongst the fuel tanks.

[jaredellis]

Imagine being sat in the back chilling with your mates and you hear the commander shout out to the driver and gunner to engage enemy MBT.

I'd be out those side doors in a flash. Ain't got no time for that.

[zahwa]

I love how the 73mm ammunition looks like RPG ammo 😂

[jame]

Great narrative. In terms of obsolescence. It amazes me just modern conflicts are consigning so many very expensive systems to the tactical junk yard.

[adamesd]

The 73 mm gun fired HEAT warheads. One of them managed to destroy an M1 Abrams tank with a shot to the rear during Desert Storm in 1991. This was after the M1 had overrun an Iraqi position and either didn’t notice the BMP-1 or didn’t realize it was manned and active.

It was obviously an unusual situation, but it shows that what US officers called a “pop gun” could still be deadly in certain circumstances.

[chadocracy]

These are such a fascinating concept. Love playing with these on the game Squad on the militia faction

[MrHeavy]

Genius idea at the time and the theory holds up today.

[BHuang]

It was a revolution in setting the benchmark for Infantry Fighting Vehicles and maintained a long service career. The design, although great in concept, was greatly flawed in practice.

[lukeb-rrhp]

They also made excellent retaining walls for Afghan canals post war. So many destroyed ones around

[szymonmaraszewski]

Fun fact, hollow back door was meant to be filled with sand in case of emergency, as an extra protection, but crews would usually have it filled with sugar and water to brew moonshine. BMP were legendary and still are. "Andrzeju nie denerwuj sie" video with Polish company commander yelling at his soldiers for denting vehicle's back fender is one of the most famous virals of polish internet.

[nerdo]

It was an extremely influential design for modern IFV's since it put the basis of a fast and manueverable vehicle, that could hold an infantry squad inside

Its main cannon, although obsolete, was still good at dealing with fortifications and lighter armoured vehicles

[aceman]

You can see the 2A28 Grom in action for yourself on the front lines in Ukraine....

[TheArklyte]

Never understood why they have gone for 73mm caliber which matches neither previous generation guns, nor rocket launchers, nor mortars. Wouldn't 76mm or 82mm be preferable to cut down development time and simplify production?

Also weird how BMP-1 was not equipped with DShKM as AA HMG.
Can't recall what's the BMP-1 upgrade was called (D or P?), but on it they updated ATGM and changed the placement of it which forced the gunner to expose themselves anyway and that wasn't called a problem. So if gunner would expose themselves to use HMG, that would be equal situation, no?
And on that one they no longer had used the ATGM mount on top of the gun, so they could have moved HMG there to make it a coax with the gun.

[grimmerjxcts]

It's obsolete against tanks but works very well as artillery or mortar

[shenyathewelder]

The Beautiful Magnificent Perfection number-1 ❤❤❤❤

[arturvitor]

Its not just about penetration. It doesnt matter that the 73mm can pen mbt in the right angle. The guns is imprecise, hard to aim, has not stabilozation is manned by one gunner and has no modern optics or situational aware for the crew. And its also a more or less fragile vehicle, even for a ifv. It does the job but the gun is lacky in armor figthing and for both anti-light vehicles and infantary a autocannon would suit it best, thats why the bmp 2 do exist after all.

[Minerage]

"It hardly does any damage"
*I say as I see a shell flying straight at my head*

[overdozz]

500mm of penetration in the main gun of the BMP 1 is more than enough to deal with all modern light armoured vehicles and plenty of medium armoured vehicles.

Anything more than that, the user guided rocket can deal with it with more than 700mm of penetration.

[kingfish]

Bmps weren't meant to fight tanks head on, their 73mm gun was mainly for infantry support, thats why it was low pressure, so it could safely shoot over friendly infantry