Greece to donate 40 BMP-1 tracked armored IFVs to Ukraine in exchange for Marder IFVs from Germany.

According to information published by the "Greek Reporter" on September 16, 2022, Greece will donate 40 BMP-1 tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) from its military inventory and will receive in exchange 40 Marder tracked armored IFVs from Germany.
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Greek army BMP-1P tracked armored IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicles. (Picture source Russian VK social network)

This delivery of tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) to Ukraine was negotiated by the Greek National Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht in the framework of support by Greece and Germany to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian troops.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Greece has already donated to Ukraine 40,000 AK-47-type assault rifles and unspecified amounts of small arms ammunition, 815 RPG-18 anti-tank rocket launchers, 122 rockets for the RM-70 multiple rocket launcher, 3,200,000 7.62 mm rounds, 15,000 73 mm rounds, 2,100 122 mm rockets, 60 MANPADS FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defense missile, 17,000 155 mm artillery rounds, and 1,100 RPG-18 anti-tank rockets.

Before the war in Ukraine, the Greek army had 69 BMP-1P IFVs which are an improved version of the Soviet-made BMP-1 that was developed in the middle of the 1970s. The BMP-1 used by the Greek army was modernized to respond to the NATO standard. The Soviet-made missile launcher system was removed and one 12.7mm .50 machine gun is mounted on the roof of the turret.

The Greek version of the BMP-1, called BMP-1A1 keeps the original one-man turret armed with a 73 mm Model 2A28 smoothbore, low-pressure, short-recoil gun which weighs 115 kg. This is fed from a 40-round magazine to the right rear of the gunner.

The troop compartment of the BMP-1A1 is located at the rear of the hull and can accommodate up to eight infantrymen seated back-to-back, four down each side of the hull. They enter and leave through two doors in the rear of the hull which have integral fuel tanks (60 liters in the left door and 70 liters in the right) and are hinged on the outside.

The BMP-1A1 is powered by a type UTD-20 6-cylinder in-line water-cooled diesel developing 300 hp at 2,000 rpm coupled to a manual transmission with 5 forward and 1 reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 600 km.

German army Marder 1A3 tracked armored IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicle. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The Marder 1A3 is an upgraded version of the Marder family of tracked armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). The A3 upgrade program began in 1988, with Thyssen-Henschel being awarded a contract to upgrade 2,100 Marder 1 A1/A2 series vehicles to A3 standard at a rate of 220 vehicles a year.

The Marder 1A3 is fitted with a two-man turret with the commander on the right and the gunner on the left. The commander has a single-piece hatch cover that opens to the right while the gunner has a similar hatch cover that opens to the rear. The main armament of the vehicle consists of one 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 automatic cannon mounted externally which has an elevation of +65º, depression of -17º, and 360º turret traverse.

The general layout of the Marder 1A3 IFV is very similar to the previous version with the driver seat at the front of the hull on the left side, the engine compartment to the right of the driver, a two-man turret mounted in the forward part of the roof, and the troop's compartment at the rear. The six infantrymen are seated in the troop compartment at the rear of the hull, three down each side facing outwards. One more seat is available at the rear area.