BMP-2 special version for Russia's most elite division.
The Russian Ministry of Defense recently announced that the Taman Guards Motorized Infantry Division has been fully equipped with BMP-2M Berezhok B05S011 armored personnel carriers.
The statement said that the Taman Guards Division, tasked with protecting the capital Moscow, has completed the upgrade of its BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles to the BMP-2M Berezhok standard with the B05S011 modernization package.
The B05S011 equipment package is a product of the Konstruktoskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya (KBM) design bureau. First introduced at the Army 2015 military forum, it is a successor to the previous design of the KBP Design Bureau.
The most noticeable external feature of the B05S011 upgrade package is the addition of a thermal-infrared imaging sight similar to the Sosna-U installed on the T-72B3 and T-90 main battle tanks to the BMP-2M, along with a meteorological sensor mast, allowing for clearer target identification and more accurate firing.
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| BMP-2M Berezhok infantry fighting vehicle with equipment package B05S011. |
The BMP-2M Berezhok B05S011 infantry fighting vehicle's firepower, in addition to its traditional 30 mm 2A42 main gun, is further enhanced with two 9M120 Ataka anti-tank missile launchers.
The Ataka missile can destroy all types of modern or future tanks and armored vehicles, as well as bunkers, ships, and even low-flying aerodynamic targets traveling at speeds below 400 km/h in all day and night conditions.
Additionally, the vehicle has been fitted with side armor consisting of composite box-shaped armor plates along with cage armor surrounding the sides. Now, the BMP-2M can withstand RPG-7 shaped-charge anti-tank rounds while maintaining an acceptable weight, without significantly affecting its mobility.
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| Side view of the BMP-2M Berezhok B05S011 infantry fighting vehicle. |
It is known that this B05S011 upgrade package was developed after the B05YA01 package. With the old design, in addition to the main 2A42 gun, the vehicle was also fitted with an AG-30 30 mm automatic grenade launcher on the turret.
Overall, the firepower of the two upgrade packages is comparable, but the B05S011 offers significantly better protection, which is the main reason why the BMP-2M version with this upgrade package was chosen by the Russian Army for large-scale deployment.
The upgrade of numerous BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and in the future, the BMP-1, under the B05S011 equipment package, has the effect of saving a significant amount of budget for the Russian Army, while still fully meeting the requirements of modern warfare.
