BMD-4

BMD-4

BMD-4

USSR

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.3	9.3

Class:

Light tank

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Description

The BMD-4 is a Russian airborne infantry fighting vehicle developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union as a new entrant in the long-running BMD series. It uses the hull of the BMD-3, a limited production vehicle with a new chassis superior to the vintage BMD-1 chassis, and a new Bakcha-U turret with the same 100 mm + 30 mm cannon armament used by the full-size BMP-3 IFV, giving it an exceptionally heavy armament for its weight and role. Accepted into Russian service in 2004, BMD-4 production was stopped after a short initial production run due to economic difficulties. Years later, the streamlined BMD-4M with increased BMP-3 part commonality reentered production and service.

The BMD-4 was introduced during Update "Red Skies" as a reward for the 2021 Summer Landing event. In a simple comparison to its non-airborne relative with the same guns, the BMP-3, the BMD-4 has less armour, higher mobility, and a faster ATGM reload. It is extremely speedy in both forward and reverse and can easily make it to lucrative flank or overwatch positions, splashing multiple targets with its tandem ATGMs or hosing them down with its autocannon, but suffers from incredibly light protection: while the BMP-3 can often shrug off autocannon fire from the front, the BMD-4's front armour is not even proof to heavy machine guns. As such, it's best reserved for fearsome ambush attacks against unaware or distracted enemies.

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 %

The BMD-4 is very poorly armoured. The front has an adequate armour thickness, but the 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 mobility modules adds some of them to the front of the tank, which reduces likelihood of taking overpressure damage from ATGMs and increases chances of blocking autocannon rounds when they hit the hull.

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

There are 3 crew members, both 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 return fire 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

The 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 the suspension on the BMD-4, but only a bit. Suspension controls allow to slightly tilt the 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 other Soviet light tanks.

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

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 the BMP-3. There is only one rate of fire option for the cannon - which is relatively slow at 300 rounds per minute. Despite the low fire rate, it still fires faster than the one on the Warrior and if the player fires first, it can neutralize many light tanks at close to medium range before the BMD-4 is knocked out from their retaliatory fire.

The autocannon counts as the main weapon and 100 mm is fired with the "additional weapon" keybind. The aim assist and scope is, therefore, displayed for the 30 mm gun. While this is fine if the BMD-4 user uses an ATGM, but the only way to swap scope to acquire aim assist for the 100 mm gun to land precise hits with HE shells is to switch from the main weapon view to the secondary weapon view . This, unfortunately, breaks the weapon layout, and the 30 mm becomes unusable until the control scheme is reset.

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
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEF-T*	9	8	7	5	4	3
HEF-I*	8	7	6	5	4	3
AP-T	65	63	53	44	36	29
APDS	82	81	79	75	72	69

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEF-T*	960	0.39	0.1	0.1	17.86	79°	80°	81°
HEF-I*	960	0.39	0.1	0.1	75.46	79°	80°	81°
AP-T	970	0.4	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
APDS	1,120	0.3	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°

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 the 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 choices 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 ATGMs. 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. Just like the BMP-3, it is also need 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 armoured 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	Autoloader
38	-6°/+60°	±180°	Two-plane	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) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
3OF32	HE	250	15.6	0.2	0.1	2.6	79°	80°	81°
3OF70	HE	355	13.41	0.2	0.1	3.54	79°	80°	81°

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
9M117M1	ATGM (tandem)	370	5,500	18.8	0.4	0.01	4.77	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 PKTM
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,000 (250)	700	-	-

Usage in battles

Ground AB:

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).

Ground RB

The BMD-4 is quite similar to the BMP-3 in terms of armament, but its ATGM autoloader and lightweight chassis lend it to more aggressive playstyles. 33 hp/ton and 70 km/h top speed in forward and reverse allow it to outrun almost any other tracked vehicle and it is not uncommon to be nearly halfway across the map by the time other vehicles have left their spawn zones. The best situation is to launch a surprise attack against enemies who are distracted by teammates and looking in other directions. Powerful, rapid-fire ATGMs and good optics allow the BMD-4 to clean up multiple targets before they understand what is happening and the BMD-4 can reverse out of trouble just as fast as it came the moment it attracts any attention. The reliable 30 mm autocannon is an effective supplement for side shots and light targets and should not be disregarded, especially as self protection when the ATGM is reloading. Knocking out a MBT's tracks, damaging its barrel, and destroying pintle-mounted HMGs will allow the BMD-4 to take its time with a follow up shot.

Avoid incoming fire at all costs. This is common advice for IFVs but even more so for the BMD-4, whose armour is not even completely immune to rifle-caliber machine guns. Just about any vehicle with an autocannon or HEAT rounds can knock out the BMD-4 instantly. This makes it less suitable for defensive roles than the BMP-3, whose decent frontal armour allows it to more comfortably engage targets aware of its presence.

Another factor to note is that the BMD-4 only carries four ATGMs total, compared to the capacity of eight for the BMP-3, and these can be depleted in potentially no time at all. Make every shot count, as the BMD-4 is much less formidable without its 9M117M1s, and head back to a capture point to reload before engaging in heated combat again.

Like the BMP-3, the BMD-4 can also be used as an ad-hoc mortar vehicle by using its HE shells for long-range indirect fire with the assistance of the scout UAV. When controlling the UAV, use the squad marker or drone target designation UI features to point at a static target of interest, then switch back to controlling the BMD-4 to line up the crosshairs with the bearing of the marker. Obtain an estimate of the distance by studying the game map or comparing the target position relative to the objective markers, then fire off a few HE rounds (typically 3OF70 due to its higher muzzle velocity and explosive yield) and return to the drone view to observe the impacts; make corrections for the next salvo as needed. Use cases where this method could be worth the effort include taking down SPAA vehicles hiding in the enemy spawn and light tanks/ATGM carriers that are entrenched in tricky positions. It may also be cathartic to rain shells on contested or occupied objective points because most of the distance is already known. The BMP-3 is slightly more effective for bombardment because its autoloader can reload HE shells in just 4 seconds compared to the BMD-4's 5 seconds, but the BMD could use its enhanced mobility to sneak into better or closer positions.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Moves quite fast even when stock, can drive equally fast in either direction unlike BMPs
• Autoloader with a speedy 5 second ATGM reload, faster than most conventional tank cannons as well
• ATGMs are quick, powerful, and can be fired on the move
• HE rounds can overpressure turret roofs or be used to bombard static targets with indirect fire
• Commander has CITV with thermal optics, can still fire weapons even if the gunner was shot
• Amphibious, safe if not particularly fast travel 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
• Autoloader HE reload is slightly slower than BMP-3
• Only 3 crew members
• 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 100 mm 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

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the BMD-4 from live.warthunder.com.

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