Forbes writes that Russian forces in Ukraine are now losing as many BMP combat vehicles as Russian industry is able to produce or pull out from long-term storage.
BMPs in a way are even more important than tanks. They are basically the workhorses of the Russian mechanized war. They carry infantry into battle, support them during landings, and evacuate survivors if they are forced to retreat. Not surprisingly, in 2022, Carnegie Foundation analyst Michael Kofman wrote that he suspected that the main shortcoming of Russian armour is not in tanks, but in BMPs.
Destroyed BMP in Ukraine. Image credit: Олексій Мазепа / АрміяInform via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
It is noted that at the beginning of the war, Russia had about 4,000 BMP-1, BMP-2 and BMP-3 vehicles in active service. However, during 23 months of fighting in Ukraine, Russia lost about two thousand BMPs. A thousand infantry fighting vehicles a year! Mostly, of course, with a crew. This does not mean that Russia has only 2,000 of such machines left.
But even in a hurry, the Russian military industry manages to produce or pull from storage about the same number of BMPs as they lose in Ukraine. That is, the pace of their production and preparation coincides with the rate of destruction. And stocks in long-term storage sites will run out at some point. Especially since some vehicles stored there for decades are only suitable as donors of spare parts.
Russia produces about 400 BMP-3s per year. Another 600 older BMP types are being withdrawn from long-term storage sites by Russia.
The BMP-3 is being talked about as some kind of new weapon. It is a Soviet infantry fighting vehicle in service since 1987. It was used in both Chechen wars. It is an approximately 19-tonne tracked armoured infantry fighting vehicle with a crew of 3 and room for another 7-9 soldiers.
Most often, the BMP-3 is armed with a 100 mm automatic cannon, has anti-tank missiles, and machine guns on board. The BMP-3 is actually a heavily armed infantry fighting vehicle, but it is much loved by Ukrainian kamikaze drones. And aluminum armour of the Russian BMPs loves Ukrainian drones as well.
Formerly Russian BMP-3, it is now in the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Image credit: Kozubenko via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Infantry fighting vehicles are very important in modern warfare. There are always more of them than tanks and they accompany (or transport) infantry in assault operations. It is hard to imagine that such rates of BMP losses would not cause concern for Russia.
The main way to compensate for the losses is still BMPs from the long-term storage and that resource is going to be coming to an end soon. If Ukraine has such ability, it should increase its efforts to destroy as many Russian BMPs as possible in the shortest period of time.
Written by Povilas M.