Difference between revisions of "BMP-3"

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(Survivability and armour)
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== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''
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The BMP-3 is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and has comparable armor to other IFVs. It uses special alloys in its construction, which are not equivalent to Rolled Homogeneous Armor (this is the type of armor that ammunition displays penetration against on stat cards). The front of the BMP-3 has about 50mm of armor with an additional fuel tank behind this armor. This protects it against any machine gun and some small cannon rounds such as 20mm, but it will be penetrated by any IFV auto cannon that it might face. The front turret armor has similar levels of protection. The side armor is even worse, at only about 20mm RHA effectiveness, it will be penetrated by .50 caliber ammunition.
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The survivability on the BMP-3 is very low. It has only 3 crew members who are closely spaced together. This means that most penetrating rounds will kill the BMP-3 in one shot. Additionally the BMP-3 is subject to the hullbreak mechanic, so it will often be destroyed instantly when any component is hit by a large round. There are some empty spaces in the BMP-3 like the fuel tank in the front or the area in the back above the engine (where infantry would sit), but these would only be hit when directly side on with an enemy. This means that if you are going to be shot, it is best to be side on, trying to bait the enemy to hit one of these areas.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===

Revision as of 22:08, 25 May 2020

Rank VII | Premium | Golden Eagles
Challenger DS Pack
ussr_bmp_3.png
BMP-3
AB RB SB
8.7 9.0 9.0
Class:
Research:190 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:520 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage BMP-3.jpg


The BMP-3 is a rank VI Soviet light tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB) and 9.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack".

General info

Survivability and armour

The BMP-3 is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and has comparable armor to other IFVs. It uses special alloys in its construction, which are not equivalent to Rolled Homogeneous Armor (this is the type of armor that ammunition displays penetration against on stat cards). The front of the BMP-3 has about 50mm of armor with an additional fuel tank behind this armor. This protects it against any machine gun and some small cannon rounds such as 20mm, but it will be penetrated by any IFV auto cannon that it might face. The front turret armor has similar levels of protection. The side armor is even worse, at only about 20mm RHA effectiveness, it will be penetrated by .50 caliber ammunition.

The survivability on the BMP-3 is very low. It has only 3 crew members who are closely spaced together. This means that most penetrating rounds will kill the BMP-3 in one shot. Additionally the BMP-3 is subject to the hullbreak mechanic, so it will often be destroyed instantly when any component is hit by a large round. There are some empty spaces in the BMP-3 like the fuel tank in the front or the area in the back above the engine (where infantry would sit), but these would only be hit when directly side on with an enemy. This means that if you are going to be shot, it is best to be side on, trying to bait the enemy to hit one of these areas.

Mobility

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 23 18.7 775 954 41.44 51.02
Realistic 71 21 442 500 23.64 26.74

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: 2A70 (100 mm)
100 mm 2A70
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
48 -6°/+60° ±180° Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior +
Full crew
Prior +
Expert qualif.
Prior +
Ace qualif.
Arcade  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??
Realistic  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior +
Full crew
Prior +
Expert qualif.
Prior +
Ace qualif.
 ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??

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 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)
Normalisation at 30°
from horizontal
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
3OF32 HE 250 15.6 0.1 N/A 2602.6 +0.0° 79° 80° 81°
3OF70 HE 355 15.8 0.1 N/A 3542 +0.0° 79° 80° 81°
9M117 ATGM 370 18.8 N/A 0.1 3000  ?.?° 80° 82° 90°
9M117M1 ATGM 370 18.8 0.2 0.1 3000  ?.?° 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
48  ?? (+??)  ?? (+??)  ?? (+??)  ?? (+??)  ?? (+??)  ?? (+??)  ??

Additional armament

Main article: 2A72 (30 mm)
30 mm 2A72
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
500 -6°/+60° N/A Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior +
Full crew
Prior +
Expert qualif.
Prior +
Ace qualif.
Arcade  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??
Realistic  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior +
Full crew
Prior +
Expert qualif.
Prior +
Ace qualif.
 ??.??  ??.??  ??.??  ??.??

Ammunition

  • 30 mm HE (Default): HEF-I · AP-T
  • 30 mm HE: HEF-I · AP-T · HEF-I · HEF-T
  • 30 mm AP: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF-T
  • 30 mm HVAP: HVAP · HVAP · HVAP · HVAP · 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
30 mm APT 64 62 50 38 29 22
30 mm HE (Default) 64 62 50 38 29 22
30 mm HE 64 62 50 38 29 22
30 mm HVAP 100 95 80 72 62 50
Shell details
Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Normalisation at 30°
from horizontal
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
AP-T 970 0.4 N/A N/A N/A -1.0° 47° 60° 65°
HEF-I 960 0.389 0.2 0.1 49 +0.0° 79° 80° 81°
HVAP 1,120 0.304 N/A N/A N/A +1.5° 66° 70° 72°
HEF-T 960 0.385 0.2 0.1 11.6 +0.0° 79° 80° 81°

Machine guns

Main article: PKT (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm PKT
Coaxial mount
Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
2,000 (250) 700 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Stock:

When stock the BMP-3 will face many challenges. Many of the strongest tools the BMP-3 has available are locked behind modifications. Most importantly, the Thermal sight and APDS 30mm ammunition belt. Stock BMP-3 commanders have two options available to them: Stay in the back line and use the ATGM or try and brawl up close with the 30mm. Unfortunateley, the 30mm only has 65mm of penetration when stock, so up close brawling is not the ideal strategy. Additionally, the ATGM reload is rather slow. These will be a challenge to overcome when spading this vehicle.

Spaded:

When spaded the BMP-3 has access to a variety of powerful tools. The tandem warhead ATGM has excellent speed and penetration, although it still has a slow reload. The tandem warhead can easily penetrate even vehicles protected by ERA bricks. The APDS belts on the 30mm can easily penetrate the sides of most western MBTs. Additionally, the BMP-3 has access to commander and gunner thermals in high resolution, an advantage few 8.7 tanks have. The thermals can even see through the ESS that the BMP-3 can lay down, so this may be used against vehicles without thermals. Despite these advantages, BMP-3 commanders should play carefully, as the ATGM reload still means that engaging more than one target at once will likely end in a quick trip back to the hangar. This is not helped by the fact that the BMP-3 has little in terms of armor and survivability. The two strategies that will be most effective for the BMP-3 are to either try and flank enemies and take them on one by one up close, or use the thermal binocular and tandem warhead ATGM to engage at longer ranges. However long range engagements will not result in many kills, because enemies may have a chance to move to cover before the ATGM has reloaded.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive NVD Laser rangefinder
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire Airstrike 9M117M1
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade 30 mm APT
IV Transmission Engine ESS Artillery Support Improved optics 30 mm HVAP

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • High maneuverability
  • Quick followup with 30mm armament
  • Amphibious
  • ATGM rounds with tandem warheads
  • Currently the best (highest resolution) thermal sight in the game
  • High gun elevation (60°)
  • 4 second autoloader when using HE

Cons:

  • Large profile
  • HE rounds have little penetration
  • HE rounds have low muzzle velocity
  • Reload rate for ATGM is slower than HE rounds
  • Susceptible to Hull Break

History

Development

The Object 685 light tank design was created in 1975. It was an amphibious light tank armed with a 100 mm cannon. The Object 685 never received any production orders, but the chassis and engine from the Object 685 would become the basis of the Object 688 infantry fighting vehicle. The Object 688 would become the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle.

Design

The hull has a similar shape to the BMP-1 and BMP-2 but the internal layout is different. The engine was placed at the rear right side of the vehicle, the driver sat at the front center, two infantry behind him, then the two man turret, and then the crew compartment at the rear. To dismount the vehicle, the infantry had to climb over the engine and out the rear doors. The armor protection is against 30 mm autocannon rounds at the front and 12.7 mm machine gun rounds on the sides and rear, when add-on armor kits are added. There are ERA kits that can be equipped as well. Main armament consists of a 2A70 100 mm gun - which can fire ATGM's - and a co-axial 2A72 30 mm autocannon. Secondary armament consists of a co-axial 7.62 mm machine gun. The armament is housed in a round, centrally mounted, turret. Power is provided by a UTD-29 450 hp engine, while later in production it received a UTD-29M 500 hp engine. The BMP-3 is also amphibious, propelled by its spinning tracks.

Service and Production

Over 2,000 BMP-3's have been produced, seeing combat in several conflicts. The BMP-3 has seen significant export, and has many modifications and variants. It is intended to be replaced by the Kurganets-25 in service.

Devblog

In the late 70s, the Kurganmashzavod factory started developing a new infantry fighting vehicle to replace the BMP-1. The vehicle got a new experimental light tank chassis. The first models were supposed to be equipped with a 30mm cannon as its primary weapon, as well as grenade launchers, machine guns, and ATGM launchers. The military considered the vehicle’s armament to be insufficient and said that it offered no real advantage over the BMP-1. In order to correct the situation, the Tula-based engineers suggested a new turret with the following armament: a rifled 100mm semi automatic cannon (also an ATGM launcher), a 30mm automatic cannon, and a PKT machine gun.

The vehicle successfully underwent testing in this state, and in 1987, was accepted into the Soviet Army with the designation BMP-3. Since then, this combat vehicle has been used by the Russian Army and over ten other countries, with especially large quantities being purchased by the United Arab Emirates where the vehicle was chosen over the Bradley and Warrior. The BMP-3 is constantly being upgraded and is still considered one of the best combat vehicles of its class in the world.

- From Devblog

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.

Bibliography

External links


USSR light tanks
T-26  T-26 · T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-26-4 · T-26E
BT  BT-5 · RBT-5 · BT-7 · BT-7 TD · BT-7M · BT-7A (F-32)
T-50  T-126 · T-50
T-70  T-70 · T-80
PT-76  PT-76B · PT-76-57 · Object 906
BMP  BMP-1 · BMP-2 · BMP-2M · BMP-3
BMD  BMD-4
2S25  2S25 · 2S25M
Wheeled  BA-11 · BTR-80A
Other  T-60 · Object 685 · 2S38
China  ▂Type 62