Russian military blogger calls BMPs outdated 'disposable taxis'
A Russian military blogger has provided a blunt assessment of infantry fighting vehicles' capabilities and tactical use. We present his observations.
A Russian military blogger posted a comprehensive analysis on the VKontakte portal about the BMP family of infantry fighting vehicles and their tactical usage. His review is quite negative, highlighting that these machines are essentially used as one-time taxis for assault groups.
BMP infantry fighting vehicles — once revolutionary, now obsolete one-time taxis
The blogger notes that the BMPs received by soldiers as reinforcements after Izyum were of terrible quality, even after a two-month overhaul. His unit still only operated at 70-80% of its authorized strength, and of the reinforcements received, as many as 50% of the BMP-1/2s failed the control run.
Moreover, the weaponry in many units was non-operational, and anti-tank guided missiles (particularly the 9M14 Malyutka for the BMP-1) are reportedly rare. In practice, he mentions that only the BMP-2M "Berezhnok" and other versions with a major overhaul and the 2A42 automatic cannon are combat-ready.
Meanwhile, the rest of the vehicles delivered to the front are increasingly old, rusty wrecks, with actual performance significantly below declared levels. This decline affects aspects like gun accuracy and even engine power if it still functions. Combined with insufficiently trained crews, this spells disaster.
The blogger comments that the training of new crews is essentially limited to technical maintenance, with no tactical instruction, forcing soldiers to learn tactics at the front. This means combat use is largely reduced to near "cavalry charges" and dropping off troops at designated locations just after suppressive artillery fire concludes.
Additionally, Soviet-era vehicles were not designed to accommodate soldiers with modern protective equipment, as they offer too little space. The blogger also highlights the low level of protection, noting that even machine guns (loaded with armor-piercing ammunition) are dangerous, and FPV drones spell certain death.
"There are no jammers, and the ones that exist often don't work because of frequency changes by the Ukrainians. Only nets stretched over vehicles offer some meager protection." On his section of the front, this boils down to a tactic of "pedal to the metal and pray to reach the drop-off zone, which in itself is considered a success."
The blogger mentioned that the last stage—the return to pick up, for example, another assault group—was rare because BMPs were usually destroyed by drones on their return. Achieving a higher level of coordination, such as supporting disembarked infantry with onboard weapons fire, is impossible if the weapons are inoperable or there is simply no communication.
