BMP Development

The BMP series of infantry fighting vehicles were among the first production line Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Included in the series are the mainline BMPs, the airborne variant BMDs, and licensed modified (i.e. MLI-84) and reverse engineered versions (i.e. Boragh, Type 86). BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty (Russian: Боевая Машина Пехоты), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle"). They were initially developed in the 1960s in the Soviet Union.

World War II began with the concepts of armored warfare relatively undeveloped, particularly the use of combined arms teams. Tank and infantry units were often organized as separate units, which led to problems of command and coordination.

As the war progressed the doctrine of combined arms became better refined, and the need for specialist vehicles to keep the infantry in close contact with the armor became increasingly important. Most of these vehicles were half-tracks. There were expedient measures; the infantry of the Red Army often rode on the top of tanks. In 1944 the Canadians introduced the practice of converting self-propelled guns and tanks to carry infantry - known as "Kangaroos". The Kangaroo pointed the way forward, offering much better armor than half-tracks and able to keep up with the tanks on any terrain.

In the post-war era most armies started introducing fully tracked vehicles in the dedicated armored personnel carrier role, including the Soviet BTR-50, British FV432, and the US M113. These vehicles generally suffered in terms of range and speed, and many forces also adopted wheeled vehicles in addition to, or instead of the tracked versions. In general, these vehicles offered limited protection and were not expected to join in the actual fighting; they would keep the infantry in close proximity with the armor during movement, but upon enemy contact they would unload their infantry before retreating to safer areas - a practice that led to them being called "battlefield taxis" or "battle-taxis". The German Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30 was an exception as it carried a 20mm cannon for support of its infantry and against light vehicles.

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