The conventional configuration of the American Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) is significantly less capable than the Russian BMP-3, according to Evgeny Chistyakov, Deputy Head of the Marketing Department at JSC “NII Stali,” a “Kalashnikov” group company.
Evgeny Chistyakov told TAS that the BMP-3 equipped with explosive reactive armour would not be lacking in any way in terms of protection, and he added that the Bradley, in its basic configuration, is much weaker. In response to the question that was brought up, he stated that the Bradley is not protected against grenades but that BMP-3 will be protected against all types of grenades, including cumulative grenades.
According to Ruslan Dyshekov, Director of Foreign Economic Activity and Civil Products at JSC “NII Stali,” the explosive reactive armour system will be delivered to the Russian Army for use with the BMP-3. During the interaction with the TASS correspondent, Dyshekov mentioned that the BMP-3 will be outfitted with this technology before the end of the year and will function as intended once it is operational.
He stressed that the mechanism considerably improves the vehicle’s protection, which is the vehicle’s advantage. He said the system protects against all existing single-stage RPGs and ATGMs with armour penetration of up to 500 mm. Because it is all-round, the vehicle can be defended from all angles against these threats. Furthermore, the system guards against fire from small guns, boosting the vehicle’s defence against penetration by firearms of various calibres due to the vehicle’s metallic design, Dyshekov explained.
Earlier, Alan Lushnikov, the president of the “Kalashnikov” corporation, indicated that it is planned for all infantry battle vehicles BMP-3 that are produced to be outfitted with next-generation explosive reactive armour.
Kalashnikov’s New ERA for BMP-3
In September 2022, “Kalashnikov” released video documentation of testing on the next generation’s explosive reactive armour system for the BMP-3. This new system improves the protection of thinly armoured projections against single-stage cumulative ammunition, single-stage RPGs, armour-piercing bullets like B-32, 23mm armour-piercing incendiary tracer projectiles, and 30mm calibre armour-piercing projectiles. It weighs 4.2 tonnes and is based on 4S24 explosive reactive armour elements. The protection system extends its coverage to 62% of the BMP-3’s hull around the sides, 36% of the front, and 70% of the turret. The protective component maintains its operational capability in temperatures ranging from -50 degrees Celsius to +55 degrees Celsius.
The Russian media previously reported that the explosive reactive armour system based on the 4S24 element will also protect the armoured repair and recovery vehicle based on the potential infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) “Kurganets-25.”
