The ZSU-23-4 entered service in 1966, as a replacement for the much less effective ZSU-57-2. The ZSU-57-2 mounted a pair of 57mm autocannons in an…
Military history and RPG books
Category: AFV
Military vehicles are often mis-identified as tanks, even by respected media outlets. The caption for this Reuters video states that it “appears to show Syrian…
This interactive quiz has been created as a companion to my “A Tank by Any Other Name” article. Using the information given there, you should…
This article has also been published in the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers Journal.
The BMPT ("Tank Support Fighting Vehicle"), sometimes known as the Terminator, is designed to provide support to tanks, APCs and IFVs. During the urban fighting in Grozny in 1995, the Russian army found that the limited elevation of the armament fitted to its armoured vehicles led to difficulty engaging the enemy, and so suffered heavy losses. Self-propelled AA guns such as the ZSU-23-4 Shilka were used as a stop-gap solution, but the very light armour on these vehicles made them vulnerable. The BMPT was developed largely as a solution to these problems, although it is also used in more open environments.
This article has also been published in the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers Journal.
Background
In the late 1960’s, helicopters with anti-tank missiles started to be deployed, and a new tactic known as a “pop-up” was developed. The helicopter would hover behind cover, then climb just high enough to fire a missile, before dropping down behind cover again. Newer missiles such as the American TOW allowed the helicopter to perform such a manoeuvre quickly, limiting it’s exposure to enemy fire. By 1977, the Soviets had introduced the 9K114 Shturm missile (known to NATO as the AT-6 Spiral), which had a range of 5km.