May be but that takes nothing from RPG-29 and T-90 duel which it could penetrate breaking K-5 ERA , thats really WoW , a mobile RPG could penetrate frontal protection of a good tank.
The RPG-29 is a very powerful individual weapon but it has the same limitation of the old Bazooka. It is a 105mm calibre tube so larger diameter warheads are simply not possible.
Multiple full calibre warheads are difficult due to weight problems... heavier rocket warheads need more powerful rocket motors or have shorter ranges.
There are small mechanical devices that are attached to the sight mount on an RPG-7 that adapts the original optical sight and increases its elevation so 105mm rockets can be fired to greater ranges. ie without the device the 105mm rocket similar to the round fired by the RPG-29 has a range of 200m. With the device fitted the range is 500m.
The thing is that in the disposable RPG rocket range the RPG-27 has the same warhead and rocket as the RPG-29 at 105mm with a large precursor charge for ERA.
The RPG-28 is a very big disposable rocket but fires a 125mm calibre warhead... the penetration of a HEAT is generally given as a ratio of the warhead calibre because along with the material used in the warhead lining the diameter determines penetration performance.
Personally I think the RPG-32 shows the most promise in being a multi calibre system using both 105mm and 72mm rockets. An RPG-33 hypothetical rocket system with sight and ballistic system that could use 72mm, 105mm and 125mm and larger rockets would be an extremely powerful weapon system that is flexible and capable. Being unguided it is fire and forget but with a decent range finder and ballistics system in the sight it could be reliably accurate if used properly.
Edit: I should add that they are working on guided rounds for the RPG-32 which would be interesting too. Perhaps a cheap diving top attack model analogue to Javelin?
I have herd of RPG-29 doing exceptionally well against Israel Merks , Do you know or have any performance figures of Merck versus RPG-29 ?
Not much really except that they were a real threat.
I think T-90AM assuming it cost around ~ $4 Million would still appeal to all those who seek to replace ( not upgrade ) T-72 , T-80 since this is the first tank that can take on any western heavy and have isolated the key problem of ammo and crew , plus many new stuff in there.
The problem is that most T-72 operators are not rich and previously relied on hand outs or freebies. I think for many a small purchase of T-90AMs and a much larger upgrade of existing T-72s plus more T-72s from Russia will likely be the most common transaction. For many operators facing new western tanks is rather unlikely and an upgraded T-72M1M has something like 80% of the performance for 20% of the cost.
I just hope they market it aggresively as logical replacement for T-72 and T-80 , but heck there are still many countries that would vouch for upgraded T-72 ,80 , 90 , BMP.
The issue is that if all goes to plan the Russian Army will have a lot of orders to keep UVZ busy, and the work UVZ does to build new and to upgrade existing vehicles will release a lot of vehicles that are no longer needed by the Russian Army. It might be a political decision to release thousands of T-72s for export, or to offer them for free to allies as rewards for orders of other products... with the potential for future sales of parts and support. By offering T-72s it means there is more to offer for upgrades and the effect locally will be minimised in terms of arms races. For instance Venezuela buying T-72M1M tanks doesn't sound as threatening as Venezuela buying T-90AM tanks... even though the T-72M1M is just an upgrade away from 90% of T-90AM performance.
Shame the Iraqis are getting Abrams as that would have been a huge market for T-72s... which would perform much better with Catherine thermals and newer ammo options.
Afghanistan could be the ideal place to donate a few thousand T-54/55s and T-62s with modest armour upgrade packages.
Yes its BMPT , I have a feeling they would port the existing BMPT configuration with improvement to the much bigger Boomerang Chasis and like Coaltion-SV the BMPT project will continue development and is not killed
I hope they change from the twin 30mm 2A42 cannon armament to something more substantial with a 100mm rifled or 120mm gun/mortar weapon in addition to a 30mm gun and proper front mounted gun turrets with better fields of fire.
The Ataka is a good missile but such a vehicle will need to deal with more than four point targets before reloading. The standard load of the 100mm gun on the BMP-3 includes 4 laser beam riding missiles plus about 34 HE shells.
If size is an issue then even an external mount with a belt fed automatic 82mm mortar like the Vasilek would do. The fact is that a target beyond about 5km that needs to be hit right away like an ATGM team or hard point even at the top of a building a 125mm HE frag shell from a tank will do the job. The real problem is threats that are much closer that the 125mm guns of tanks can't elevate to engage so an 82mm calibre externally mounted gun/mortar with a belt feed and perhaps 120 rounds in an armoured turret bustle loader could engage targets at very close range and high up in tall buildings or on steep cliffs nearby and with rounds in the 3-4kg range the hitting power should be good enough for most targets. The low velocity should be good for dropping rounds over frontal cover and hitting targets behind buildings and vehicles and structures.
The 12-14km range of the 120mm gun/mortar with gun rounds and mortar shells and guided missiles would be first choice, but the 100mm gun with HE Frag rounds to 7km and guided missiles to 6km would also be a good choice, and if they were not possible then the 82mm gunmortar would be lower because currently AFAIK there are no guided round programs for 82mm calibre weapons... perhaps it lacks payload for a reliable fuse, guidance and control surfaces to manouver the round onto the target AND a good warhead payload in that calibre.
I just think in the original design the 30mm calibre weapons are useful for what they are useful for (ie in the BMP-2) but not useful for other tasks that require heavier shell weight where rate of fire is not so important as shell weight (BMP-1/BMP-3).
I also see the 30mm grenade launchers in the front corners of the hull and I think of the tiny front claws of T Rex flailing around but not actually being useful for very much because of their limited range of movement. Ironically with the GPD-30 grenades they have a reach of 2.1kms so the lack angle of fire, not range of fire... but then to reach 2.1kms they would need to elevate to at least 45 degrees and I don't know if they can in the BMPT design revealed so far.
Not related to russia but found out there is IA RFI that would want to upgrade their existing BMP-2/2K TO BMP-2M standards and guess what the RFI asks for exactly what the two link shows you , So we would eventually have a BMP-2M upgrade
That is excellent news... I am very glad this model will see service.
The Kornet is a step above the AT-3 and AT-4 and AT-5 missiles previously used on BMPs.
With no trailing wire it can be fired on the move which greatly increases the survivability of the launching vehicle.
Also because it does not drag a wire the missile flys at significantly higher speed which greatly reduces the time the opposition has to dive for cover.
Will be interesting to see what sort of terminal seeker they are working on for the Kornet and Krisantema... your Army will likely be interested in at least buying a few fire and forget models in addition to the beam riding models.
This upgrade was proposed in the early 2000s and was included in a book I have from 2004 though it didn't have a name then.
Here is the manufacturers page on the subject:
http://kbptula.ru/eng/bron/light/bmp2.htm
Enemy helos will have a much more difficult time with this vehicle driving around with modern thermal sights it can fire its Kornet missiles on the move on the darkest night at targets 5.5km away.