A completely different BMP
Appearance of a hypothetical infantry fighting vehicle with external placement of troops. Drawing by A. Sheps
... and behold, a pale horse,
and on it is a rider,
whose name is death.
Revelations of Saint John the Evangelist
and on it is a rider,
whose name is death.
Revelations of Saint John the Evangelist
Technology of tomorrow. When the first infantry fighting vehicles were created, the concept of war was very different from the modern one. It was believed that the war would be nuclear, with the use of nuclear weapons directly on the battlefield, and tanks will have to wade through the "atomic jungle". Naturally, to escort tanks, combat vehicles of equal cross-country ability were required, capable of finishing off what was left after the tanks with their weapons, and at the same time transporting a certain amount of infantry.
This is how the BMP-1 appeared, armed with a 73-mm Thunder cannon and a Malyutka missile, and its paratroopers could fire through the embrasures on the sides. And, most likely, such a machine would do just fine with the task of finishing off the surviving enemy equipment after nuclear strikes. But it had to be applied in completely different conditions.
New conditions - new car. This is how the BMP-2 appeared with a 30-mm automatic cannon, which is also capable of firing at high-lying targets.
Well, today we see the result of the entire previous period of development of the BMP - the BMP-3 and the T-15 and Kurganets vehicles. Both are heavily protected, since the price of a soldier’s life has grown significantly since that time, hung with containers of dynamic protection, all kinds of sensors and KAZs. But, as before, the paratroopers are located inside these vehicles, they land through the aft door and ... now they cannot shoot at the enemy through the side embrasures.
It is quite obvious that the next step is the creation of a fundamentally new BMP that meets the requirements of today - very well protected both from mines and from the fire of heavy enemy infantry fighting vehicles, and as comfortable as possible for the paratroopers riding on it.
So let's fantasize a little on this topic and imagine a fundamentally new infantry fighting vehicle, not at all the same as those that were before ...
Let's start with the fact that the creators of the new "heavy BMP" should keep in mind that one of the ways to increase the security of any combat vehicle is to reduce its internal volume. Then less heavy armor will go on it, or with the same weight it can be made correspondingly thicker. But ... people inside the BMP breathe! Moreover, a person inhales about eight liters of air per minute, and exhales no less, only his exhalation contains a lot of carbon dioxide.
Meanwhile, only 1% of CO2 in the air is enough to lead to a loss of crew performance, and its concentration of 10% is fatal for a person! This means that the requirement for frequent air exchange in the tank and BMP conflicts with the speed of its flow supplied to the workplace - a draft in the car guarantees pneumonia and other colds, as well as allergies. But after all, it also receives combustion products from expendable ammunition, which is why their timely suction is very important, otherwise there will be nothing to breathe inside at all!
A sufficient internal volume is also needed, even at the cost of some reduction in security.
And another important point, but where to put the feces? After all, if in the tank they accumulate from three people, then there are much more people in the BMP! And the fact that a tired and exhausted person is unlikely to be able to act as effectively as one who is not tired and has at hand everything necessary for his life is obvious.
Therefore, maybe it would be worth thinking about ... not putting the BMP crew inside the vehicle at all, because no armor will save them there anyway ?! After all, the experience of local conflicts has already shown that infantry is often located on armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles! And it is obvious that she has every reason for this. Well, let's just build such a machine!
It can be arranged as follows: there are only three people in the car body - the driver, commander and weapons operator, located in the body and the turret. The bottom is a powerful three-dimensional platform with a V-shaped armor plate inside against anti-bottom mines. In front of and behind the commander's and driver's seats, the entire space of the car is, again, a volume filled with polyurethane foam and fuel tanks - a structure. The engine and transmission are located on the platform, that is, in an elevated position above the bottom.
A rising ramp is installed above the tower, and on it is a fully automated module with weapons, which can be raised and lowered with its help. Armament can be quite traditional: a 30–35 mm cannon and two containers for rockets, while the magazine for it can be placed not in the combat module itself, but in the same ramp, which will significantly increase its capacity. The module can then be raised and lowered. When raised, the tower can rotate 360 degrees. Being fully lowered, fire at 180 in the forward hemisphere.
Thanks to such an installation of weapons, the new BMP will be able to conduct effective fire from behind shelters, ravines, thickets and fences, while hitting the vehicle itself will be completely impossible. That is, in this way the main contradiction of any combat vehicle is solved: it must be high in order to see and hit the enemy from afar, and at the same time extremely low so that ... they don’t hit it.
However, the main thing in the BMP is still its landing force. So what about him?
And it will be located on both sides of the engine and the turret ramp, and will be located ... in individual armored capsules at the level of the fenders. Each such capsule will be a real “armored nest” with a double-leaf door made of massive armor plates that reliably protect the fighter from all types of small arms fire. The shooter himself fires from it over this armored shield, as if from behind the parapet of a trench, so that only one of his helmets is visible. Above the head is an armored roof with a visor. Instead of ventilation, there is a curtain of air that is supplied from under this roof. And in winter - the air is always warm!
No observation devices that limit the field of view, special loopholes for firing and fans for removing powder gases are no longer needed in this case. The seat is equipped with a container for ... waste. So a paratrooper will be able to stay inside such a vehicle for a very long time and he will not need any screens (which are now offered by designers in order to fence off a place for a toilet bowl in an infantry fighting vehicle)!
Everything simple and natural is always very reliable and effective! At the same time, each fighter sees the other, does not lose the "feeling of the elbow" and, if necessary, can provide assistance to a comrade. Four such fighters from each side will be able to bring down a shower of fire on the enemy, while it will be almost pointless to shoot at them in response: you won’t get into the engine, and to disable the fighters of this BMP one at a time with the help of RPGs - so there won’t be enough ammunition!
Well, how then to land? Open the door and jump?
No, because in heavy equipment, an extra burden on a soldier should be avoided! It's just that all four seats on both sides are connected together on one beam, and in this case, a hydraulic manipulator lowers it directly to the ground along with the fighters. All at once and at the same time, so the time for alternately leaving the car through the back door is not spent at all! Naturally, each of them has a “button” for controlling this manipulator, so that at any time all the capsules can either be lowered or raised so that the fighters do not have to make unnecessary tiring body movements.
The layout of the crew and troops in a hypothetical infantry fighting vehicle. Added two seats in the back to bring the total number of troops transported to 10 people. Drawing by A. Sheps
This design of the machine provides it with almost 100% protection against anti-bottom mines. It turns out that it is absolutely impossible to disable it at one time, while it can fight not only in the field, but also in the city, fire on the upper floors of buildings, and shoot over fences and barricades!
The only question is how much such an innovative design may appeal to the military and designers, and whether the latter will be able to embody it in metal, and the former ... overcome the conventionality in views and judgments that is usually characteristic of all military?!
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