Gavin-Phillips Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Well youtube never fails to amaze me, especially with some of the archival materials that ends up on there. In this case I stumbled on two BMD-1 airborne infantry combat vehicle video's and at 7:47 on the video, there is a short scene where the vehicle is creating its own dug-in firing position with assistance from some sort of attachment fitted to the nose. Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this before? I've seen pictures and videos of most Russian tanks from T-64-onwards using such equipment, howitzers like the 2S19, but not a BMD... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N56_vG5Ig3Q There's a "vid2" also uploaded by the same youtube user. Certainly well worth a watch. Some great footage on there, loving the joystick control of the original AT-3 Sagger and how its actually loaded onto the launch rail is pretty intriguing stuff. The user also has tons of other very interesting clips showing vehicles like the PT-76 being launched for amphibious landings, the Vityaz crawlers, T-64's, etc. All very impressive stuff! The BMD-1 entrenching blade however, intrigues me. I really haven't seen anything or read anything about this before. Perhaps it was a trial idea that was just never accepted for use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 The swedish S tank has its own blade to dig its own scrapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) Edited October 9, 2016 by rmgill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin-Phillips Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 I had seen a few pictures of the "S-tank" before showing the blade off to good effect. I am more curious about this BMD entrenching itself as I have never read or heard about anything like this being fitted to the hull of such a vehicle. Usually when a tank or armoured vehicle has such a feature, its listed in some technical description and/or features but I have never seen anything concerning a blade on a BMD chassis. There is also a possibility I guess, of the vehicle with the blade actually being some engineer variant based on the BMD chassis? Or again, some kind of trials being conducted to see if a dozer blade mounted on such a light-weight chassis was worth having or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 I think the hydropneumatic suspension of the S-103 lends itself to the standard kit because you can control blade depth by adjusting suspension. The blade merely has to fold out or in for angle (or stowage). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Good point, the BMD-1 also has hydropneumatic suspension for adjusting height, that would be equally helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Werb Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Ryan, quite a few tanks have blades to dig their own scrapes, the T-72, T-80, T-84 and T-90 IIRC for example. What is odd about this one is its use in reverse, dragging sand backwards. I have never seen that done before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kula66 Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 It does seem unusual. Is there any tactical issues with a scrape flat with the ground and the spoil behind you against one pushed up in front? Less visible, poorer field of fire? Does an earth mound in front offer much real protection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Does an earth mound in front offer much real protection?No. Not much noticeable protection. It is for concealment mostly to hide the vehicle shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin-Phillips Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 Ryan, quite a few tanks have blades to dig their own scrapes, the T-72, T-80, T-84 and T-90 IIRC for example. What is odd about this one is its use in reverse, dragging sand backwards. I have never seen that done before. Same here really. I was wondering if it was designed that way due to the BMD's undercarriage being somewhat more fragile compared to an MBT's? I've never seen any attachment points on pictures of BMD's either so I'm just thinking this was perhaps a prototype/demonstrator and the idea was never widely adopted in service. Of course, that's my theory anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 It's a nifty little vehicle packed with all sorts of neat ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin-Phillips Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 It's a nifty little vehicle packed with all sorts of neat ideas Its still a mystery to me who fires the two forward-facing PK machineguns in the bow of the BMD-1. Its a neat little vehicle yes, but also quite a confusing one at times too haha. I understand one used to be on regular display at IWM Duxford (ex-Iraqi vehicle) however it was privately owned and does not reside there anymore? A shame that, I'd love to see one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiloMorai Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 According to Wiki, Crew 2 (driver, gunner) + 6 troopers (including commander and machine gunner seated next to the driver and 3 men in the troop compartment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogDodger Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 This article goes into some detail on the bow MGs on the BMD-2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Dejo Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Two thoughts on this ... Oddity. Could the gearing of the transmission not take the abuse of push plowing ( hence the drag plow ), may also prevent too aggressive a pass taken with the plow and keep you from damaging your ride ( which if parachuted is far, far from home ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin-Phillips Posted October 13, 2016 Author Share Posted October 13, 2016 This article goes into some detail on the bow MGs on the BMD-2. That has to be the most definitive page of information on the BMD-2 that I've ever seen. Most of the time I've read anything about the vehicle, it has been listed as a BMD-1 variant (which it really is I suppose) and given the usual 5-6 lines worth of detail, and that's about it. This is a really in-depth article. Thanks for sharing it with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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