BMP-2

From the Call of Duty Wiki

The BMP-2 is a tracked, Russian-Designed, Amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicle. It is a further development of the BMP-1 first developed in the 1960s—the world's first true IFV.

[edit] Design Features

The BMP-2 is equipped with a 30mm auto-cannon as its primary armament and a 7.62mm machine-gun in a coaxial mount along with an AT-5 Spandrel Anti-Tank missile. The cannon is capable of tilting to high angles, allowing it to be used as an anti-helicopter weapon. The cannon has a high rate of fire for a weapon of it's type, 600 rounds per minute, which can be scaled back to 300. The cannon cannot be fired very rapidly on the higher setting, as smoke would build up inside of the turret faster than one can vent it out. The AT-5 was also an improvement over the BMP-1's AT-3 and 4 Missiles. The missile allows the BMP-2 to take on even modern battle tanks at long ranges (though you only get one shot, and it takes a while to reload. It has a maximum armor thickness of 33mm, protecting against small-arms, grenades, and shell fragments, but not shaped-charge explosives such as the RPG-7's warhead. It can also carry up to seven armed troops in addition to the operating crew in a rear-ward compartment with the 300 HP diesel engine up-front to allow the space. The troops enter and exit through two doors in the rear. The BMP-2 is also rated for combat in NBC environments. It has a boat-like profile with an angled hull at the front and a relatively flat top, and has a very low silhouette to make it a difficult target at range, as typical with Russian vehicles. It also has firing ports allowing for infantry to fire their own weapons, though their effectiveness is at best reduced.

[edit] History

The BMP-2 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty, literally meaning "Combat Vehicle of the Infantry") is based on the BMP-1 and designed to be a better IFV than the original BMP, with lessons learned from its use in the armies of Syria and Egypt during the Yom-Kippur War and the Invasion of Afghanistan. A number of issues concerning crew survivability and combat effectiveness came up, as the IFV's were vulnerable to Israeli Recoilless Rifles and .50 Caliber rounds. They were also vulnerable to the old 'tilt-rod' variety of anti-tank mine. A BMP-1's steeply angled front hull would allow an arming rod on the mine to tilt without much resistance until it would be deep under the vehicle, where it would then explode and likely kill it's driver and commander, seriously injure anyone else inside and render the vehicle inoperable. There were also issues with the armament, as it's 73mm cannon was not very effective against infantry and armour. It was also only six feet above the ground, meaning that infantry advancing in front of the vehicle could be potentially killed by a careless gunner in the BMP, an unfortunate byproduct of Soviet vehicle design (most Russian and older Soviet combat vehicles have a low silhouette to make them a harder target). It's short 73mm gun also had issues hitting targets further than 500 meters and it's AT-3 missile proved difficult to fire from inside the turret. However, it was praised for being fast, versatile, and innovative, capable of traveling where more conventional wheeled transportation could not.

The BMP-2 was designed to solve these issues. First planned in 1972, taking cues from foreign designs such as the German Marder IFV as well as experience regarding the above flaws, such as moving the crew to better-armoured positions, such as the commander sharing the well-armoured turret with the gunner. However, major flaws continued to surface. During combat in foreign armies and the Soviet's own experiences in Afghanistan, the placement of the fuel-tanks practically underneath the seats that six of the seven troops reside in. If hit by an incendiary round, this would cause the fuel to explode and disable the vehicle, as well as likely severely injure or kill the troops sitting inside. This was never corrected, as the ability of the troops to augment the BMP's offensive capability their own firepower was considered important in Soviet military thinking. Due to this and the BMP's low armour, most troops opt to sit outside the vehicle when being transported. The BMP series was also more costly to maintain than the wheeled Bronetransportyor (BTR) series of vehicles.

Despite these short-comings, the BMP-2 is still a versatile—if somewhat expensive—IFV. It continues to see service in the Russian army as well over twenty other nations including Indonesia, Finland and Afghanistan. It has also seen service in various conflicts since it's introduction, including both Gulf Wars, the current conflict in Afghanistan and the wars in Chechnya.

[edit] In Game

The BMP-2 is first seen on Call of Duty 4 in the level The Coup, with the car transporting the player to his execution traveling behind one as it delivers troops to a location in the city. They are then encountered frequently in the level Shock and Awe trying to shoot down the player's Helicopter transport. One patrols the town where Al-Asad's safe-house is located in Safehouse and during the level All Ghillied Up where it was part of a large patrol group the player must navigate past. They play their most significant role during the level All In, where the player must destroy several attacking BMPs along with their troop complements. They can also be seen near the end of Game Over, where if the player wanders to far forward,  they will be decimated by a BMP 2. Using a smoke screen is advised in-game, and will prevent the BMP from shooting the player before they can plant det-packs  Destroyed BMPs also serve as scenery and cover in some levels, both in single and multiplayer games.

In Modern Warfare 2, while most enemy armor consists of BTR-80s, a BMP is seen in the Khazakstan airbase in Cliffhanger.

Vehicles of Call of Duty 4
USMC/SAS	M1 Abrams · AH-1W Super Cobra · CH-46 Sea Knight· UH-60 Black Hawk · AV-8 Harrier· AC-130H Spectre
Ultranationalists/OpFor	T-72 · Mi-24 · Mi-28 · BMP-2· Mi-8· BM-21· MiG-29 · Ural-4320 · UAZ-469
Loyalists	Mi-28· Mi-8