Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1281650
been valid in the 1960s. Dual-axis image stabilization has been the only advantage of that system. The sight had 5.6x magnification in the daytime setting. In 1986 it was replaced with the BPK-2-42 that had a 6x magnification and 10 deg FOV. When introduced, the BMP-2 optics were a good solution. Even the primitive H-K system with the TKN- 3B device that was almost unusable, when on the move, was an advantage. However, NATO quickly introduced sights that have been better than TKN-3B and BPK-1-42 - both when it comes to the stabilizer system, as well as in the area of daytime/night capabilities. The BMP-2 turret crew is almost blind when the vehicle is on the move. The gunner has 10 degrees FOV, while the commander only has the TKN-3B viewing unit at his disposal. Two auxiliary periscopes for each of the crew members in the turret ultimately resulted in 120 degrees FOV. Commanders of the Marder 1 or Bradley had several periscopes at their disposal. Hence, despite the BMP-2's firepower and the ammunition quantity, the actual effectiveness was greatly reduced by the deficiencies in the crew situational awareness domain (when the hatches were closed) and by the primitive sighting systems. The Russians quickly realized what the disadvantages of the BMP-2 were. They were trying to rectify some of them in the avant-garde BMP-3 (also creating several new deficient features). The modernization of the BMP-2 firepower was put aside, until the recent period, even though two relevant solutions have been developed within that scope during the preceding decade. The new Bakhcha-U turret was the first solution here. It ultimately was integrated into the BMD- 4. It features armament that is identical to the BMP-3, however, the FCS is far more modern. For many reasons, this has not been an optimal solution for the BMP-2 that ultimately featured the BO5Ya01 Berezhok turret. The turret in question has become a part of the BMP-2 upgrade program in Russia that concerns 586 vehicles, 327 of which are to be fitted with a new turret. 340 Berezhok turrets are also subject to a contract that had been concluded between Russia and ANALYSIS