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Russian military trains cohesion between tanks and BMPT fire support vehicles – Part 1

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense’s photos and footages depicting a combined team of T-72-family main battle tanks and BMPT "Terminator" tank-based fire support vehicles at a range in the Chelyabinsk Region, the military is trying to practice cohesion between MBTs and BMPTs, writes the Independent Defense Review newspaper.
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BMPT-72 Tank Support Vehicle (or Fire Support Vehicle) displayed at Army-2019 defense forum near Kubinka (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The BMPT "Terminator" is a unique Russian-designed vehicle that has no foreign analogues. However, both domestic and foreign military experts pay specific attention to this vehicle due to its extraordinary design. There are two variants of the system, which are based on the T-72 and T-90 MBTs, respectively. The basic turret of the tanks is replaced by an unmanned combat module with two 30mm automatic cannons, four ready-use Ataka containerized missiles, and a fire-control-system. The Russian military has selected a variant of the BMPT with two bow-mounted AG-17D automatic grenade launchers and a five-strong crew.

The tests of the BMPT in Syria and the declared intentions of some Arab countries to procure the vehicle spark foreign interest in the platform; however, the BMPT has yet to be largely exported — only Russia and Kazakhstan operate a few platforms.

The Russian military begun receiving the vehicle after several years of delays. In 2017, the MoD ordered the initial batch of the vehicles, which is now being delivered. The Popular Mechanics magazine said that BMPT had a poor concept that was unrequired. According to the magazine, there were 30 years between the introduction of the vehicle’s design and its adoption by the MoD.

One could find three decades enough to define how to use the new system in combat. At the same time, very few commanders know how to establish any cohesion between the BMPT and MBTs. Therefore, neither military nor industry can fully solve this task.

Nevertheless, the military seems to be answering the questions in this field. On December 1, the press department of the Central Military District reported that several BMPTs had been delivered to the 90th Vitebsk-Novgorod Guards Tank Division stationed in the Chelyabinsk Region. The crews of the new vehicles are now being trained, with the Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) concern (a subsidiary of state corporation Rostec) providing any necessary assistance.

Therefore, the troops have begun mastering the BMPT. The crews are believed to spend several months to practice cohesion with tank, artillery, and infantry units.

The UVZ now produces the globally renowned T-90-family MBTs (including the cutting-edge T-90M Proryv-3 (Breakthrough III) tank) and readies the next-generation Armata MBT for its adoption by the military. The concern had been trying for a long time to embed the BMPT in the state defense order (Gosoboronzakaz) in order to compensate its development costs. The only actual foreign customer, Kazakhstan, procured only ten vehicles, which are used to cover heavy flame-throwing systems (TOS) that have a relatively short range of fire.