BMD-1 - Development

Development

In the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis the army was instructed to consider putting more emphasis on means to project power outside of the normal sphere of Soviet influence. As a result there was a major effort to develop the VDV (Soviet airborne forces) as a rapid deployment force. Soviet studies of airborne operations had shown that lightly armed paratroops were unable to deal with armoured forces. Also in early 1960s a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle was being developed. Before the BMP-1 entered service in 1966, Soviet Army high command decided to equip the newly created airborne divisions with similar vehicles.

The use of Antonov An-12 aircraft at the time of the BMD development allowed the transport of only light armoured vehicles for an airborne drop that weighed less than seven tons. Because the existing BMP-1 weighed thirteen tonnes, it was effectively ruled out of being considered for the VDV service. The task of designing the BMD fell to the Volgograd Tractor Factory, which had produced an unsuccessful competitor to the Ob'yekt 764 that eventually became the BMP-1 – the Ob'yekt 914. The BMD design, Ob'yekt 915, was basically a trimmed down version of the Ob'yekt 914 – smaller, lighter aluminium armour, while retaining the 73 mm 2A28 "Grom" low pressure smoothbore short-recoil semi-automatic gun. The compromise made is the extremely cramped crew compartment.

Development started in 1965 and trials started from 1967. A limited production began in 1968. After operational trials it was commissioned on 14 April 1969 and the serial production started in 1970, although the vehicle weight 500 kg more than what the requirements stated (7.5 tonnes and 13.3 tonnes when loaded with equipment).

Starting from 1977 a new modernized vehicle received a designation BMD-1P following adoption of the new 9P135M-1 ATGM launcher instead of 9S428 ATGM launcher, firing the 9M113 Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel) and 9M111M Fagot or 9M111-2 (standard load: two 9M113 and one 9M111M missiles). Most of older BMD-1s were subsequently modernized this way.

In 1983, based on the combat experience in Afghanistan a decision was made to produce a new variant of the BMD with a weapon capable of engaging targets such as those faced by the airborne troops in that conflict. This resulted in "Ob'yekt 916" which later became BMD-2.

A lengthened chassis of BMD-1 served as a basis for the BTR-D airborne multi-purpose tracked APC which itself served as a basis for many specialized airborne vehicles.