Russia deploys two new and very special weapons to Syria

Russia's Heavy Tractor Manufacturing Company, Uralvagonzavod, unveiled a new air defense system and an upgraded Soviet-era infantry fighting vehicle on September 3.

They were among the company's standout products at the Army 2018 exhibition held outside Moscow in late August.

Basurmanin

The company's first new product is an upgraded version of the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle codenamed Busurmanin, which means “Superman” in Russian.

The Uralvagonzavod plant was tasked with transforming the Soviet “dinosaur” into a modern “monster” to fight alongside the next-generation combat vehicles of the Russian Army. This task will be evaluated after the machine is tested in Syria. In the meantime, let’s explore the new features of the upgraded version of the infantry fighting vehicle.

First of all, the vehicle has a new turret based on the BTR-82A prototype. The turret includes a 30mm 2A72 automatic gun, a 7.62mm PKTM machine gun and a TKN-4GA-01 precision anti-aircraft targeting system, which can operate in all weather conditions.

It is also equipped with a fire stabilizer and the PTRK 9K115 Metis anti-tank guided missile system. Basurmanin's new 30mm gun is also used on the Ka-52/Mi-28 attack helicopters.

Designers reduced the rate of fire from 500 to 330 rounds per minute to improve accuracy and save on ammunition costs.

Thanks to the new turret, the Basurmanin can be effectively used against infantry and light armor at a distance of up to 2 km, as well as low-flying helicopters.

New anti-aircraft defense system

In fighting in the Middle East, Russian and NATO troops often face a variety of deadly homemade weapons used by terrorists, mainly drones equipped with conventional bombs.

You might wonder how dangerous a homemade “helicopter” the size of a loaf of bread could be, and how Russian equipment would take down such a threat?

Each Tor-M2 or Pantsir-C1 missile costs millions of rubles, and the Pantsir's 30mm cannon can fire 5,000 rounds per minute, but these weapons are intended for larger targets, such as fighter jets and low-flying missiles... Cheap, homemade drones could deplete the ammunition of Russia's high-tech air defense systems and eventually pave the way for a larger attack.

So military engineers quickly had to come up with a way to deal with this problem. Uralvagonzavod has created a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system, called the 2C38 Derivatsia-PVO, to destroy small targets, but it can also be used against cruise missiles and conventional air-to-ground missiles.

Particularly combat-ready soldiers can use this system against light armored vehicles and enemy infantry hiding in brick buildings or other fortifications.

The plant describes the new artillery system's ammunition load as unique. In addition to the classic 57mm armor-piercing, tracking and fragmentation shells for the S-60 automatic gun, it also uses several new types of ammunition: multi-purpose guided shells with timed fuses.

The combined anti-aircraft artillery and missile system can operate at any time of day or night, and can counter optical or electronic jamming measures deployed by the enemy. It can detect, track and destroy targets on its own or based on data from the central command post.

Furthermore, to destroy each target, the “smart” weapon system will automatically select the most suitable ammunition.