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

Show in game

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. On technical level, can be viewed as a BMP-3, but with less armour 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 okay-ish 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 happends 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:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	32 mm	20 mm Top 20 mm Bottom	10 mm	10 - 12 mm
Turret	40 mm Turret front 40 mm Gun mantlet	20 - 40 mm	20 mm	10 - 12 mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

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 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°

BMD-4 has two main weapons - the 30 mm and 100 mm. Currently, unlike with BMP-3, 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 only carries ATGM, the only way to swap scope or 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.

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 - slow. 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.

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	__._	__._	__._	__._	__._	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic						__._	__._	__._	__._	__._

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 BMP-3.

Gun itself can load two ammunition types at once.

The ammunition types are: Slow HE, super slow HE, Normal ATGM and Tandem ATGM. It is only possible to take 4 ATGM of each type (with total of 8). Overall, it is same as with 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 play in AB mode. Unlike with 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 very small and will often squeeze inbetween ERA bricks and hit the enemy tank roof, causing overpressure damage and destroying the tank. Overall, they can be used to weed out other tanks out of cover (including other ATGM carriers) or fired along with the autocannon to blow up light tanks in general melee range (although it is far more awkward than with the BMP-3).

Bug note: If you take 30F32 HE shell, and only load one of your autocannon belts, the game will give you a second 30 mm belt anyway and its icon will be replaced with a 100 mm shells icon. This is only a visual bug, it will not deal the damage listed in the card.

ATGMs are the 9M117 and 9M117M1.

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 trickshots of any kind. Even default missile is powerful enough to annihilate ERA-covered tanks if it manages to hit the cracks between ERA platings, tandem modification usually does not even require user to aim any more than in the enemy tanks direction. Both missiles have huge area of the blast wave, like IT-1, 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.

Ammo distribution combinations:

ATGM+ATGM = tank runs out of ammo fast, but can dominate in close range combat until it does. BMD-4 can get away with this loadout unlike BMP-3, because it does not have a reload penalty.

Best ATGM + HE = tank can fight at close range with ATGM and autocannon. If there is a problem, user can swap to 100 mm and bombard enemy campers with HE. HE can also be used to fight light tanks, 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 faster HE might be a better choice.

HE+HE = Not recommended, as 100 MM HE cannot deal with most of medium tanks directly, and they definitely will storm BMD-4 thinking it is disrespecting them and trying to style on them with HE. They will also show no mercy, as most BMD-4 are likely carry at least one ATGM pack, so they will shoot to kill.

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
9M117	ATGM	600	600	600	600	600	600
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°
9M117	ATGM	370	18.8	0.05	0.1	4,620	80°	82°	90°
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

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

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
• Can carry up to 8 (4 x 9M117 + 4 x 9M117M1) ATGMs
• 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
• Can swim

Cons:

• Low armour protection, hull 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

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

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