Hybrid combat vehicle Humvee fitted with BMP-1 73mm turret used by Houthi militia in Yemen

Houthi militia in Yemen continues to manufacture hybrid combat vehicles as an American-made HMMWV (Humvee) High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle fitted with a Soviet-made BMP-1 73mm turret mounted on the roof of the vehicle. The conflicts in Syria or Libya saw also rebel forces using captured military equipment to make combat vehicles offering more mobility and firepower.

Combat vehicle manufactured by the Houthi militia in Yemen based on HMMWV 4x4 light tactical vehicle fitted with a BMP-1 one-man turret armed with one 73mm cannon. (Picture source Twitter)

Other nations have already use BMP-1 turret mounted on wheeled combat vehicles. In April 207, the Iranian army has unveiled its new Heidar-6, a Soviet-made BTR-60PB 8x8 armored personnel carrier fitted with a BMP-1 turret. During the Libyan war, the BMP-1 turret was mounted at the rear of Toyota pickup. Cuba also produces locally, a Soviet-made BTR-60 fitted with a BMP-1 turret.

The original Soviet-made BMP-1 is based on a tracked armored vehicle chassis fitted with a one-man turret armed with a 73 mm Model 2A28 smoothbore, low-pressure, short-recoil gun which weighs 115 kg. Due to its technical characteristics and its weight, the turret of the BMP-1 can easily be integrated into a wheeled vehicle.

The 76mm gun is fed from a 40-round magazine located to the right rear of the gunner. The weapon fires a fixed fin-stabilized HEAT round with an initial velocity of 440 m/s which increases to 700 m/s once the projectile has left the barrel and a rocket motor cuts in. It fires a fixed fin-stabilized HEAT round with an initial velocity of 440 m/s which increases to 700 m/s once the projectile has left the barrel and a rocket motor cuts in. The projectile is the same as that used in the SPG-9 infantry weapon and has a maximum effective range of 1,300 m.

The second armament of the BMP-1 turret includes one 7.62 mm PKT machine gun which is fed from a continuous belt of 2,000 rounds honeycombed in an ammunition box mounted below the weapon. A launcher for a Malyutka AT-3 Sagger wire-guided ATGW (Anti-Tank Guided Weapon) is mounted over the 76mm cannon. One missile is carried in the ready to launch position with a further two missiles in the turret, these are loaded via a rail through a hatch in the forward part of the turret roof. The Sagger missile has a minimum firing range of 500 m and a maximum firing range of 3,000 m.

The turret of the BMP-1 IFV is made of all-welded steel which provides ballistic protection against firing of small arms 7.62mm calibers and artillery shell splinters.