The power of Vietnamese combat vehicles that can launch missiles
Although produced during the Soviet era, the Vietnamese BMP-1 is still powerful, capable of delivering devastating blows from a distance of up to 3km.
The BMP-1 is the main infantry fighting vehicle in Vietnam's current mechanized infantry regiments. When it was introduced in the 1960s, the BMP-1 caused a big surprise to the West.
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| Vietnamese BMP-1 combat vehicle fires anti-tank missile. |
The main armament of the BMP-1 is the 73mm 2A28 Grom smoothbore gun, which fires the same ammunition as the SPG-9 Kopye recoilless anti-tank gun. For foot (portable) infantry, the SPG-9, or other recoilless anti-tank guns (DKZ) in general, are the firepower of infantry battalions and regiments.
But with mechanized infantry, each squad has a BMP-1 vehicle carrying a 2A28 gun. It can be said that the power and combat strength of mechanized infantry on the BMP-1 vehicle is very high.
In addition to the above weapons, Vietnam's BMP-1 is also equipped with 9M14 Malyutka or 9K11 (NATO designation AT-3 Sagger) - the most powerful anti-tank missile at that time produced by the Soviet Union.
During the period from 1962 to 1970, the number of missiles produced and put into use by the Soviet Union reached a peak of 25,000 missiles per year. Many copies of the AT-3 Sagger were produced under different names in a number of countries.
Produced based on the experience gained from AT-1/2, Malyutka has many advantages such as more compact size but still guaranteed penetration power. According to the Soviet Union's payroll, each AT-3 Sagger platoon has 2 teams, each team has 2 guns.
In each battery, in addition to the main gunner controlling the missile, there is also an assistant gunner using an RPG-7 anti-tank gun to control the 500m distance where the missile cannot be effective. However, when entering Vietnam in 1972, this type of organization was abolished without reducing the combat power of the AT-3 Sagger.
The AT-3 Sagger missile can be carried or installed on infantry fighting vehicles such as the BMP-1, BRDM-1/2... When carried, the missile is placed in a suitcase which, during combat, is the 9P111 launcher. The gunner will use the 9S415 controller to steer the missile to the target by transmitting signals via wire.
The missile has a range of 0.5 - 3.0 km. Although it was born in the Soviet era, the AT-3 Sagger's penetration power is still very impressive as this missile can easily penetrate homogeneous armor up to 400mm thick.
In particular, the AT-3 Sagger destroyed a series of invulnerable tanks at that time, the M48A3. Although Russia has replaced the AT-3 Sagger with more modern anti-tank missiles, in Vietnam this missile continues to be upgraded and becomes an extremely powerful anti-tank weapon.
