BMD-4

BMD-4

BMD-4

USSR

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.3	9.3

Class:

Light tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The BMD-4 is a gift rank VI Soviet light tank with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB) and 9.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Red Skies" as a reward for the 2021 Summer Landing event. In a simple comparison to the similar-performing vehicle, the BMP-3, the BMD-4 has less armour, higher mobility and faster ATGM reload.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull40 / 30 / 20

Turret40 / 20 / 20

Crew3 people

Visibility78 %

BMD-4 is very poorly armoured. Front has adequate armour thickness, but upper front plate of the hull is more vulnerable than the turret or the lower front plate and allow for penetrations with 12.7 mm MG, even from afar. Autocannons are very likely to just shred this tank instantly, but how soon this happens depends on enemy attention span, autocannon rate of fire and where an enemy aims first.

Researching movement modules adds some of them to the front of the tank, which reduces likelihood of taking overpressure damage from ATGM and increases chances of blocking autocannon rounds when they hit the hull.

Roof is vulnerable to even HEAT overpressure and turret hits with chemical shells are very dangerous for this tank. It is easy to strafe BMD-4 from the sky for the same reason.

There are 3 crew members, both of the turret crew members can fire all weapons, so it is not enough to take out the gunner to stop BMD-4 and it will not just explode upon being hit like Shturm-S, so at the very least it can avenge itself after being hit.

Armour type:

• Alloy ABT-102 (hull, turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20 mm (62°) Upper glacis 40 mm (35°) Lower glacis - Top 23 mm (64°) Lower glacis - Bottom	40 mm Top - Front 20 mm Top - Centre 10 mm Top - Rear 20 mm Bottom 20 mm (46°) Bottom - Belly junction	10 mm	10 - 12 mm
Turret	40 mm (30-44°) Turret front 40 mm (cylindrical) Gun mantlet	20 mm	20 mm	10-12 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and torsion bars are 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 12 mm thick.

Mobility

Amphibious

The design allows you to swim and control movement in the water

 

Controlled suspension

It is possible to adjust the ground clearance or more complex suspension positions

Reverse gearbox

Forward and backward movement is possible at the same maximum speed

Speedforward / back

AB78 / 78 km/h

RB and SB70 / 70 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

5 back

Weight13.6 t

Engine power

AB859 hp

RB and SB450 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB63.2 hp/t

RB and SB33.1 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	78	78	13.6	697	859	51.25	63.16
Realistic	70	70		398	450	29.26	33.09

BMD-4 somewhat resembles BMP-2 in terms of mobility, but can drive equally fast in either direction and accelerates much faster.

It is possible to control suspension on BMD-4, but only a bit. Suspension controls allow to slightly tilt BMD-4 forward or backwards or lower/raise the hull a bit. Tilting is mostly important for RB, where it helps the tank to gain more gun depression on a hill, but can also be used in AB to either hide the UFP or to prevent the gun from bouncing too high up while charging.

It also can swim, like all the other Soviet light tanks.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 064 → 5 481

RB3 200 → 5 724

SB3 706 → 6 630

Total cost of modifications186 300

307 000

Talisman cost2 700

Crew training175 000

Experts620 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces1 010 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

130 / 170 / 220 %

226 / 226 / 226 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 7 800 Cost: 12 000 310 Suspension Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 350 Brake System Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 350 Filters Research: 9 800 Cost: 15 000 390 Transmission Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440 Engine Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440	Improved Parts Research: 2 300 Cost: 12 000 310 Improved FPE Research: 2 600 Cost: 14 000 350 Crew Replenishment Research: 9 800 Cost: 15 000 390 ESS Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440	Horizontal Drive Research: 7 800 Cost: 12 000 310 NVD Research: 7 800 Cost: 12 000 310 Laser rangefinder Research: 7 800 Cost: 12 000 310 Adjustment of Fire Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 350 Airstrike Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 350 Elevation Mechanism Research: 9 800 Cost: 15 000 390 Smoke grenade Research: 9 800 Cost: 15 000 390 Scout UAV Research: 9 800 Cost: 15 000 390 Artillery Support Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440 Improved optics Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440 30mm_2a42_APDS_ammo_pack Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 440

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

30 mm 2A72 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload1.0 s

Fire rate330 shots/min

Vertical guidance-6° / 60°

The 30 mm fires the same shells as the BMP-2 autocannon does and is identical to the one on BMP-3. There is only one fire rate option for the cannon this time around - which is relatively slow at 300 rounds per minute. Despite low fire rate, it still fires faster than the one on the Warrior and if user fires first it can neutralize many light tanks at close to medium range before BMD-4 disintegrates from their retaliatory fire.

A note on the control scheme. Currently, the autocannon counts as the main weapon and 100 mm is fired with "additional weapon" button. The aim assist and scope is, therefore, displayed for 30 mm. While this is fine if BMD-4 user uses ATGM, but the only way to swap scope to acquire aim assist towards 100 mm to aim HE is to switch main weapon to "secondary weapon". This, unfortunately, breaks the weapon layout, and 30 mm becomes unusable until the control scheme is reset. Either way, the 30 mm counts as a "primary" weapon as of writing of this text.

30 mm 2A72						Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	500 (250)	330	-6°/+60°	±180°	Two-plane	57.1	79.1	96.0	106.2	112.9	1.30	1.15	1.06	1.00
Realistic						35.7	42.0	51.0	56.4	60.0

Ammunition

• 30 mm HE: HEF-I* · AP-T · HEF-I* · HEF-T*
• 30 mm APT: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF-T*
• 30 mm APDS: APDS · APDS · APDS · APDS · HEF-T*

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
30 mm HE	65	63	54	44	36	30
30 mm APT	65	63	54	44	36	30
30 mm APDS	82	81	79	75	72	69

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
2	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Additional armament

100 mm 2A70 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition38 rounds

Reload5.0 s

The 100 mm of this tank is near identical to the one on BMP-3. However, its autoloader can load ATGMs as well, removing the 28 second reload penalty which makes the BMP-3 unsuitable for skirmish, at a cost of 1 second of reload time overall.

While the gun is stabilized, it is not a very good idea to rush uphill at full speed until gun drives were upgraded as the gun has poor depression and kicks upwards when the tank drives uphill. Without upgrades, it will not put itself back on target in time, and the tank can't sustain even accidental hits unlike the BMP-3.

Gun itself can bring two different ammunition types into battle, although the choice are limited to chemical energy shells. The ammunition choices are: Slow HE (3OF70) , super slow HE (3OF32) and Tandem HEAT ATGM (9M117M1). It is only possible to take 4 ATGM. Overall, it is similar to the BMP-3.

HE shells are mostly designed to be fired in a mortar fashion and for comfortable use it is necessary to install laser rangefinder or to play in AB mode. Unlike with the BMP-3, it is also necessary to swap primary weapon to "secondary weapon" to be able to aim HE precisely. The projectiles fall very slowly, but they are also very small and will often squeeze in-between ERA bricks and hit the enemy tank roof, causing overpressure damage and destroying the target. Overall, they can be used to harass other tanks out of cover (including ATGM carriers) or fired along with the autocannon to blow up light tanks in general melee range (although it is very awkward and slower than with the BMP-3).

The missiles are launched at near maximum speed from the get go, which makes them ones of the deadliest at the rank (as many missiles at the BR start at around 250 m/s at best), but also make them mostly unsuitable for trick shots of any kind and require direct launch. Tandem missiles usually do not even require user to aim any more than in the enemy tanks direction. Missiles also have huge area of the blast wave, but BMD-4 cannot just destroy all of the surrounding cover as it itself is fragile and needs it to survive, so some restraint should be kept, at least until you are sure that it's possible to get away with such behaviour.

Ammunition rearm for 100 mm on a capture point takes about 6 seconds, which means that this tank can almost indefinitely spam ATGM at incoming enemies if its user can hold the line. Make sure to choose ATGM as the top ammunition in ammo distribution UI, as otherwise HE will be rearmed first.

Weapons are not rearmed outside of the capture point in AB, even if it only uses ATGMs, so the tank cannot be used as a standoff sniper in AB for long, but is rather to be sacrificed in a deep flank.

In terms of what types of ammunition to bring in, two types of combination can be made between the standard HE shells and the ATGM, as BMD-4 can only bring two selected ammo into battle:

• ATGM + HE = the player can default to ATGM to react to armored threats in a pinch, but switch over to HE shells to bombard the enemy from a distance if they are behind cover or in other similar situations. The HE shells can also be used to fight light tanks at close range, even if the BMD-4 runs out of ATGM. Slower HE can fire vertically at ranges as close as 400 m, but may fail to penetrate medium tanks and it is easier to see for moving targets, so the faster 3OF70 HE shell might be a better choice sometimes.
• HE + HE = Not recommended, as neither of the 100 mm HE shells could deal with most medium tanks directly. Enemies in general will show no mercy to a BMD-4 since they will always assume the BMD-4 is carrying a ATGM, so its best to respond to this threat with an ATGM rather than HE shells.

100 mm 2A70				Reloading rate (seconds)
Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
38	-6°/+60°	±180°	Two-plane	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
3OF32	HE	31	31	31	31	31	31
3OF70	HE	36	36	36	36	36	36
9M117M1	ATGM (tandem)	750	750	750	750	750	750

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
3OF32	HE	250	15.6	0	0.1	2,600	79°	80°	81°
3OF70	HE	355	13.41	0	0.1	3,540	79°	80°	81°
9M117M1	ATGM (tandem)	370	18.8	0.4	0.1	4,620	80°	82°	90°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
38	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

7.62 mm PKTM machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate700 shots/min

7.62 mm PKT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,000 (250)	700	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Arcade mode:

There are two main ways to use BMD-4 efficiently, both involve using its high movement speed.

First way is to attack into a capture point by using ATGM based loadout. BMD-4 cannot sustain frontal damage and can only take one hit before exploding. It is necessary to have high reaction time, good crew and the element of surprise. Try to arrive at the fighting location first and take cover at a suitable fighting position. If you want to do something extra, it is possible to tinker with suspension to lower BMD-4 hull even more to hide as much of the hull as possible.

There is also an option of attacking not the capture point itself, but to rush past it and to attack the first encounter group, preferably from a side. If you manage to pounce on them, it is possible to take out three tanks before other enemy tanks notice that something is wrong and destroy the BMD-4.

The reason why rushing in such a fragile tank is even a viable option is because that way BMD-4 can quickly rearm after fighting and either attack by spamming ATGMs from the cap or continue its conquest elsewhere.

Second way is to deliberately give up working on a capture point and instead to do a deep flank around enemy team and unload BMD-4s entire arsenal onto enemy snipers. This works because BMD-4 moves insanely fast for a Soviet light tank and has ATGM which reloads almost as fast as the gun on the Object 906, while being absolutely lethal regardless of the enemy tank armour level. If the range between your firing position and an enemy is more than 400 m, it is also possible to continue annoying them by launching 3OF32 at them over cover (swap main weapon towards 100 mm to acquire proper aim assist on the HE).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Moves quite fast even when stock, can drive fast in either direction unlike BMPs
• Autoloader with a 5-second reload for ATGMs (fastest ATGM reload, reloads faster than most conventional tanks as well)
• Can fire on the move without restrictions
• ATGMs start at near maximum speed, do very high damage on direct hit and have a wide blast and overpressure area
• Commander can still fire weapons even if the gunner was shot
• Also can fire HE at enemy tank roofs by using laser rangefinder or AB aim assist
• Also has an autocannon which can be fired along with the main weapon
• Can act as a scout and also has thermal scope, smoke grenades and ESS, which can be used to scout or fight
• Is amphibious, allowing safe travels over waterways

Cons:

• Low armour protection, hull upper front plate can be penetrated even by a 12.7 MG until movement modules are researched, which will protect BMD-4 from some frontal shots or even block overpressure
• Only 3 crew members
• Extremely awkward sight controls for HE - to even access it, user must swap main weapon to "secondary weapon" which disables the autocannon and MG completely
• While missiles high launch speed is good for sudden encounters and ambushes, it is near impossible to land a vertical shot with them, and HE needs quite some range to get on target, so if someone does area denial strategy at close range, BMD-4 can't do anything about it
• In AB, ATGM cannot be rearmed outside of a capture point, as BMD-4 counts as a normal tank

History

Devblog

A complex of research aimed at increasing the combat effectiveness of the Soviet airborne combat vehicle named "Bakhcha-U" was carried out in the Tula Instrument Design Bureau in the second half of the 90’s. As a result of the research, the Volgograd Tractor Plant presented an experimental BMD-4 combat vehicle with the Bakhcha-U module, which was put into service on the last day of 2004. An experimental batch of 60 vehicles was delivered to the 137th Guard Paratrooper Regiment for testing. Compared to the BMD-3, the new vehicle significantly surpassed it in terms of combat effectiveness and technical characteristics.

Much attention was paid to the complex of anti-tank armament - a 100mm cannon-launcher could use guided missiles, including missiles with a tandem warhead. During the tests of the pilot batch, the manufacturer went bankrupt and Kurganmashzavod continued work on the vehicle. During the modernization, an improved version of the IFV was created, which entered service with the Russian army under the name BMD-4M.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] Summer marathon vehicles: BMD-4