BMD-1

BMD-1
BMD-1 on display in Kiev, near the Great Patriotic War Museum, before 4 September 2005.
Type	Airborne infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1969–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	See Service history and Combat history
Production history
Designer	Volgograd Tractor Plant
Designed	1965–1969
Manufacturer	Volgograd Tractor Plant
Produced	1968–1987
Variants	See Variants
Specifications (BMD-1)
Weight	7.5 t (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) 8.3 t (8.2 long tons; 9.1 short tons) (combat weight)
Length	5.41 m (17.7 ft)
Width	2.53 m (8.3 ft)
Height	1.97 m (6.5 ft)
Crew	2 (driver, gunner) + 6 troopers (including commander and machine gunner seated next to the driver and 3 men in the troop compartment)
Armor	welded aluminium alloy 26–33 mm gun mantlet 23 mm at 42° turret front 19 mm at 36° turret side 13 mm at 30° turret rear 6 mm turret top 15 mm at 78° upper hull front 15 mm at 50° lower hull front 10 mm rest of the hull
Main armament	73 mm 2A28 "Grom" low pressure smoothbore short-recoil semi-automatic gun (40 rounds) ATGM launcher (three 9M14M or 9M113 or 9M111M ATGMs)
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKT coaxial tank machine gun (2,000 rounds) 2×7.62 mm PKT bow tank machine guns (4,000 rounds)
Engine	5D-20 6-cylinder 4-stroke V-shaped liquid cooled 15.9 litre diesel 241 hp (180 kW) at 2,600 rpm
Power/weight	32.1 hp/tonne (24 kW/tonne) 18.1 hp/tonne (13.5 kW/tonne) (loaded with equipment)
Suspension	hydraulic independent torsion-bar
Ground clearance	Adjustable 100 mm to 450 mm
Fuel capacity	300 l (79 US gal)
Operational range	600 km (370 mi) (road) 116 km (72 mi) (water)
Speed	80 km/h (50 mph) (road) 45 km/h (28 mph) (cross country) 10 km/h (6.2 mph) (swimming)

The BMD-1 is a Soviet airborne amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, which was introduced in 1969 and first seen by the West in 1970. BMD stands for Boyevaya Mashina Desanta (Боевая Машина Десанта, literally "Combat Vehicle of the Airborne"). It can be dropped by parachute and although it resembles the BMP-1 it is in fact much smaller. The BMD-1 was used as an IFV by the Soviet Army's airborne divisions. An improved variant of the BMD-1 was developed, the BMD-2. The BMD-1 also provided a basis for the BTR-D airborne multi-purpose tracked APC.

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 the early 1960s, the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle was being developed. Before the BMP-1 entered service in 1966, the 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 13 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 began in 1967. A limited production began in 1968. After operational trials, it was commissioned on 14 April 1969 and serial production started in 1970, although the vehicle weighed 500 kg more than what the requirements stated (7.5 tonnes and 13.3 tonnes when loaded with equipment).