Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1281650
Nonetheless, in 1981 the BMP-2 solutions were quite impressive. Currently, the TKN-3B is primitive, lacks in the ergonomics department and it does not have any sensible night capabilities, as the passive night vision systems had maximum range below 400 meters while the active solutions immediately made the carrier platform visible. The fixed 5x magnification and 10 deg FOV (3x/8 deg in night setting) have not been a state-of-the-art solution back in the 1980s, not to mention the contemporary context. The sight had an elevation from –5 to +10 degrees. TKN-3B also allows for determining the target range with the use of a primitive crosshair with a scale corresponding with 270 cm of target height. However, despite its simplicity, the sight had two major advantages. First, it was moving within the azimuthal range (as the commander hatch was not fixed and the sight was mounted on top of that hatch). This turned the TKN-3B into a primitive panoramic system. Secondly, a button under the right thumb allowed the commander to align the gunner sight (and the turret itself) with his sight. This has turned the Soviet solution into a primitive Hunter-Killer system. However, there was one significant difference. In the Soviet MBTs, the TKN sights had an electric motor that drove the optical system in an opposite direction as opposed to the turret movement, automatically keeping the TKN designator on target, when aligning the gunner sight at the same time. In BMP-2 this was done manually, by the commander. On the move this was a challenge, to say the least. TKN-3B had no stabilizer system whatsoever. And when on the move, the instrument was virtually unusable (similarly as in case of the Soviet MBTs). On the other hand, however, the NATO vehicles did not even feature an H-K system so primitive. Meanwhile, the 1PZ-3 sight did not play the role of an anti-aircraft sight alone. In case of high elevation angles, it could be used with the 2A42 gun as well. This has proven to be useful in the Afghan theatre. The BPK-1-42 gunner sight also seems to be obsolete now. In the 1980s the sight was obsolete as well, with its tech being an equivalent of the standards that would have www.fragoutmag.com