In Kiev, at the rehearsal of the parade in honor of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, modernized Soviet BMP-1s were seen. Only ten units.
These infantry fighting vehicles received a single-seat combat compartment "Spis"("Spear"). It was created to replace the Shkval module, first shown 20 years ago on the BMP-1U, also at the parade in the Ukrainian capital.
The previously used Soviet 30-mm rapid-fire gun 2A72 has now given way to a clone of local production-ZTM-1, instead of the 30-mm AG-17, an automatic grenade launcher KBA-117 has been installed, the old anti-tank guided missiles "Competition" have been replaced with more advanced R-2 with laser guidance. Only the machine gun remained the same - 7.62-mm PKT. If earlier ATGMs were located openly, now they are covered with armored protective screens.
It is claimed that the entire electronic filling of the "Spis" has been significantly updated, for example, a television camera has appeared that transmits a color image to the display of the gunner-operator. There is also a thermal imaging channel for conducting combat operations at night.
The protection as a whole remained the same, only an additional reservation appeared on the sides at the locations of the driver and commander. To improve buoyancy, we mounted float wings like those of the BMP-2. Earlier it was reported about the possible replacement of UTD-20 engines with 330-horsepower German ones, but there is no information about the installation of imported engines on parade equipment. Perhaps there was not enough money for this again.
Alexey Brusilov
