For the first time, the Russian Armed Forces used a platoon of tank support vehicles (BMPT) "Terminator" as part of a special operation in Ukraine.
This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to its informed source. According to the interlocutor of the agency, BMPT together with tank platoons participate in the fire defeat of Ukrainian positions, armored vehicles, calculations of anti-tank missile systems. It is also said that the participation of the BMPT during the special operation will allow us to finally form the tactics of using these vehicles and determine their place in armored groups.
We must immediately make a reservation that we are most likely talking about the Terminator-2 car. The first version of the Terminator was an original car, but it never made it into the army system. Then the designers of Uralvagonzavod decided to create a tank support combat vehicle based on the T-72. The tower was removed and a deeply upgraded combat module from Terminator-1 was installed. This made it cheaper to produce new equipment, and according to its characteristics, the Terminator-2 suited the military. In 2017, the BMPT was adopted.
Nevertheless, they entered the troops in very limited numbers. To some extent, this was due to the fact that the new generation of military leaders most likely did not understand why the tank needed fire support. After all, he himself, "rattling with fire, flashing with the glitter of steel," supports the advancing motorized infantry. However, at the end of the Great Patriotic War, with the appearance of faustpatrons among the Germans, it turned out that only infantry is able to protect formidable machines from enemy soldiers using grenade launchers.
Afghanistan has just confirmed that the tank is in dire need of fire cover. In the war "across the river" anti-aircraft self-propelled guns "Shilka" were used for these purposes, armed with a quadruple 23 mm cannon installation. At the same time, it became clear that the armored units badly needed a support vehicle.
Based on the Afghan experience, the first BMPT was developed, which received the name "Terminator" at the beginning of the XXI century. She was actively supported by the head of the Main Armored Department, Colonel-General Sergei Mayev. But even his authority was not enough for an accelerated delivery to the troops of a machine that really had no analogues in the world.
Perhaps now the situation will change, and the BMPT will go into mass production. By the way, the idea was put forward to slightly change the name, to designate "Terminators" as fire support combat vehicles.
In fact, the Terminator is capable of supporting not only tanks with fire, but also infantry, especially those fighting in the city.
Here are just the main features and advantages of this machine. Since the BMPT is based on the T-72, it has tank armor protection - it is problematic to knock it out. The machine has optical, television and thermal imaging channels for observation and aiming. He sees at night as well as during the day.
Three targets, including well-protected ones, are guaranteed to be hit at a range of up to 1000 meters at the same time. And this is an absolute defeat.
The actual firing range of cannons is up to four kilometers, and missiles - up to five.
The BMPT is armed with two rapid-firing 30 mm 2A42 cannons and four Ataka missile launchers. The elevation angle of the rocket armament and guns at 45 degrees allows for effective combat operations in mountainous terrain and in populated areas.
As the developers said at the Army military-technical forums, new, even more advanced systems have already been developed for the BMPT, capable of determining the exact location of potentially dangerous objects for tanks and infantry, issuing their data to the fire control system and destroying them with guarantee.
The firepower of this machine is hurricane. According to this indicator, as experts have calculated, one "Terminator" surpasses two motorized rifle platoons.
Sergey Ptichkin
