Image source: Photo: TG-Channel State Department Agent
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became the main supplier of military equipment for the United States, which was in service with the Soviet Army. In particular, in the zero years, the BMP-3 turned out to be overseas.
According to "RG: Russian weapons", one of the surviving vehicles was spotted at the Yuma proving ground (La Paz County, Arizona).
The fact that this is a former Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle is indicated by the presence of a laser rangefinder transceiver mounted above the barrel of a 100-mm gun, and an infrared illuminator located nearby.
It was in this form that the "troika" was launched into mass production, and later they went to the newly formed APU. Modern variants in service with the Russian Army currently look different.
As reported, there were six BMP-3s in total in Ukraine. Three copies were available in the Kiev combined arms command school. The same amount was taken out of the Crimea. All the samples were collected together in 2001, during a parade in the capital. After that, the US military decided to purchase a couple of such machines.
Transported across the ocean, according to some reports, they initially ended up at the Aberdeen Research Center (Maryland). To this day, apparently, one sample has been preserved, transported to Yuma.
There were also purchased Kharkov T-84s, as well as T-72M1, BMP-2 and BMP-1 received from Germany and captured in Iraq. All this equipment is supposed to be used in tests of advanced weapons systems.
