The photos have appeared on the network indicating that the newly created parts of the russian Airborne Forces receive combat vehicles – the BMD-3 infantry fighting vehicles. The BMD-3 vehicles were essentially removed from the inventory until recently and were not even listed in the russian army’s storage facilities, according to Military Balance 2023.
The russian industry produced a total of 137 vehicles of the BMD-3 type, and production was paused at that point. Although the initial plans had envisioned manufacturing as many as 700 BMD-3 units per year.
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The BMD-3 project might have been hindered by the difficulty of manufacturing and maintaining such vehicles in operational units, which proved to be excessively challenging for russia in the 1990s. For instance, there are references indicating that the production complexity of the BMD-3 vehicle was 1.1 times higher than that of vehicles from the BMD-1 – BTR-D family, and the production of the BMD-3 engine was 1.5 times higher than that of the BMD-1 – BTR-D.
The BMD-3 infantry fighting vehicle has the following specifications:
- Crew and troops: 3 crew members and up to 5 passengers;
- Armor: bullet-resistant armor made of aluminum alloy;
- Maximum road speed: up to 70 km/h on land, up to 10 km/h in water;
- Range: up to 330 km;
- Armament: the 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon (with 500 rounds), two machine guns (7.62 mm and 5.45 mm caliber with a total of 4,000 rounds), the AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher (with 290 rounds), and the Konkurs anti-tank guided missile system (8 missiles in stock).
The reactivation of BMD-3 vehicles in the fall of 2023 suggests that the russian army may have undisclosed stockpiles of armored vehicles in storage. These could be utilized when they decide to launch offensives against positions with high expectations of loss.
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