Old soviet vehicles with modern/unusual upgrades.

Hi all, looking at older soviet vehicles and how over time various countries have modernised them into something much better or even to some of the more unusual upgrades done by other countries. I am looking for people views and to share any info on any vehicle which has been upgraded in any way and with pictures if you have them.

I will start a with few:

BRDM-2 Azerbaijan ZKDM armed with 7.62mm, 30 mm AGS-17, twin 23mm cannons, four 57 or 80 mm rocket launchers and two smoke grenade launchers mounted on each side of the vehicle, which is a massive upgrade on the original model.




BRDM-2  gurcu Azerbaijan anti air armed with 23mm cannon and 7.62mm.



BRDM-2 Afghanistan upgrade with 57 mm rocket pod originally for a helicopter or aircraft.


BRDM-2 with BM-14-16 believed to be Afghanistan upgrade.


BRDM-2 Turkish upgrade with OMTAS anti tank missile system.


BRDM-2 with TOW missile system.


BRDM-2 Belarus upgrade Caiman


BTR-70M Azerbaijan upgrade with 23mm gun, and 7.62mm


BTR-50S Serbian upgrade armed with 30mm canon, 7.62mm, two 9M14 Malyutka(AT-3).



PT-76E Russian upgrade with a 57mm gun instead of the 76mm gun.

BTR-40 modernized (with the installation of an armored roof and armored turret) in service in Indonesia. It is believed that at least 96 BTR-40 remains in the armed forces of Indonesia.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3208348.html

George1 wrote:BTR-40 modernized (with the installation of an armored roof and armored turret) in service in Indonesia. It is believed that at least 96 BTR-40 remains in the armed forces of Indonesia.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3208348.html

Still capable for patrolling and UN missions stick a 12.7mm gun on it your sorted. If you go to Vietnam ground forces thread see what they did with the BTR-152 for there UN missions they did a cracking job and the vehicle is highly upgraded and we'll suited for the job. I am a firm believer that old equipment has a use even if it's a different role.

I always thought a BTR -50 could be ideal mortar carrier with its large roof hatches and large space to store ammo. Also could be used as ammo carrier where trucks are either not mobile enough to go or you need armour to protect ammo in a hostile environment or threat of shelling/mortars

Cuba has many upgrades I posted pics on this forum of some but can't remember which threat likely Cuba threat

The BTR-50 is not a bad vehicle, but the wheeled vehicles would be much more mobile over roads... sealed and gravel, and also it would be much cheaper to buy and to operate and much simpler to operate too...

I agree though with this throw away society perfectly good vehicles are considered obsolete well before they actually are...

GarryB wrote:The BTR-50 is not a bad vehicle, but the wheeled vehicles would be much more mobile over roads... sealed and gravel, and also it would be much cheaper to buy and to operate and much simpler to operate too...

I agree though with this throw away society perfectly good vehicles are considered obsolete well before they actually are...

Majority of equipment can still useful it could be an upgrade or role change I think syria is a perfect example that older equipment can still get the job done just look at use of sagger, T-55, bmp-1, 2S1, mig-21, su-22, mig-23 to name a few.

As for waste and throw away most items these days are designed to be thrown away hence we are now paying for it waste problems and plastics in the sea etc. 99% of all cars owned have been 20-35years old and they get me from A-B just fine.

Aselsan Turkish anti-aircraft missile module IGLA with the missiles of the Soviet portable Igla-1 missile system on the chassis of MT-LB. KADEX-2018 photo

BVP-M for Slovakia Army, modernized BMP-1 fitted with Turra 30 fighting module(produced in Slovakia factory ZTS Special) which is armed with a 30-mm cannon and coaxial 7.62-mm or 12.7-mm machine gun.





https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3241746.html

Iraqi armored car BMTLP-1 - a hybrid of the MT-LB armored tractor with the BMP-1 combat compartment installed on it with a 73-mm 2A28 gun.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3247625.html

George1 wrote:Iraqi armored car BMTLP-1 - a hybrid of the MT-LB armored tractor with the BMP-1 combat compartment installed on it with a 73-mm 2A28 gun.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3247625.html

I like it. This is one of the reasons I like the MT-LB platform very versatile only thing I'd add to this is caged armour as mt-lb armour isn't the thickest and simple caged armour helps for a cheap cost.

I've always thought that a MT-LB mounted with grad launcher (BM-21) would be useful for mobility. I've seen one mounted with BM-14 & a T-55 with the same. Could even mount multiple S-8, S-5 pods etc I remember an afghan variant of brdm-2 mounted with a rocket pod but still keeping main gun.

Option MLRS "Grad" Transnistrian production

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Ministry of Defense of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika (PMR) transmitted to the RG unique photos of the variant of the 122-mm rocket system BM-21 Grad created by the industry of this republic. The first thing that catches your eye is the presence of 4 blocks with guides for launching 122-mm rocket projectiles. As a result, the installation in one salvo can bring down 48 ammunition instead of 40, as in the usual Grad.


Made on the KAMAZ-4310 chassis, the 48-charge combat vehicle of the 122-mm multiple launch rocket system produced by the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) (c) Ministry of Defense of the PMR / rg.ru

Transnistrian BM-21 is installed on the chassis of the three-axle all-wheel drive "Kamaz-4310". Behind the car cab there are visible places for calculation. For stability, the MLRS is equipped with powerful outriggers. The maximum range depends on the ammunition used. As a rule, it is about 20 km.

For the first time, this installation was openly demonstrated on September 2 during celebrations related to the celebration of the Day of the Republic.

Also in the PMR in the 90s. The VV-21 Grad combat vehicles were made on the basis of the ZIL-131 all-terrain vehicles with 20 guides, they were put into service with the local army, where they remain until now.







https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3365340.html

BM-21 "Grad" on elongated chassis "KAMAZ-43118" in the army of Ecuador

The adaptation project of the artillery unit "Grad" on the KAMAZ chassis was made independently by the Ecuadorian Ground Forces. The chassis has been transferred to Ecuador’s army by the official representative of KAMAZ PJSC in Ecuador by ADVANCECORP SA.

Preserving the classic layout with placing the artillery unit in the stern of the launcher allowed the installation of racks for 40 missiles between the cockpit and the artillery unit in order to reload the launcher without using a transport-charging vehicle and thus reduce the time to prepare for the second volley.









https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3562088.html

Yeah, there was an eastern european model that did that too with the reloads on the launch vehicle for a quick reload...


The problem with that is that you can't hide the launch location of a rocket artillery battery... it is clearly seen and heard from great distances, so after firing off a volley of rockets even if it only takes 3 minutes to reload you wont be reloading... you will be driving to the next prepared launch position where new calculations are made for different targets... you have plenty of time to load the new rockets and fire another volley and then move again.

The key giveaway of your position is launching rockets so when you do you have to move as soon as possible... staying to launch a second volley is totally stupid... there is no time to find out if your volley was effective or not so even if the enemy allow you to reload and fire again what are you going to fire at? The same target again assuming you didn't hit it hard enough... a second volley on a target is never as effective as the first because everyone has found cover and wont stray far from it for a while...

If you sit in the same position and reload you are asking for counterbattery fire so every second you remain in the area you launched from the closer you are to death...

What they should have done, if they are extending the chasis for extra rockets... put them on a launcher also ready to launch and fire 80 rockets instead of 40 followed by another 40 3 minutes later.

You could either use half as many vehicles, or just fire 40 and have radio contact near the target and move out but if it is reported the target was not effectively taken out then a short stop and the other 40 rockets could be used to try to finish the job... otherwise get to the new launch position and reload the empty 40 tubes and fire the other forty at the new target and move out and repeat...

Myanmar Light Tank

As reported on the Myanmar Defense Weapons page on Faceebook.com, the Myanmar army built a prototype light tank, which is a hybrid of the Soviet 122 mm self-propelled howitzer 2S1 Gvozdika (in the chassis publication was mistakenly identified as MT-LBMSH) installed on a turret with a 105-mm cannon from a Chinese wheeled (6x6) armored vehicle WMA301 (PTL02) tank destroyer.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3588222.html

Self-propelled anti-tank system with Brimstone missiles on the chassis of the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle

At the international defense industry exhibition, which these days opened in the Polish city of Kielce, the Polish defense holding Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa together with the leading European missile system developer and manufacturer MBDA presented a self-propelled anti-tank system on the chassis of the infantry fighting vehicle BWP-1.

The new anti-tank complex is equipped with a 12-pack launcher of upgraded Brimstone anti-tank missiles (“shot and forgot”) with a range of target destruction of up to 12 kilometers manufactured by MBDA and a 12.7 mm remotely controlled weapon module.








New Polish BMP Borsuk






https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3762331.html

Tests of modernized equipment based on "Initiative Ideas" of the Minister of Defense of Uzbekistan

Upgraded "Nona" 120-mm self-propelled gun on the BTR-60 chassis


122-mm self-propelled rocket artillery mounted on model GM-21 MK "Sturm" [meaning the upgraded MLRS BM-21 "Grad"].


https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4051493.html

Algerians converting their T-62 fleet into "Mini terminators" using Berezhok turret that has worked well for their BMP-1MA and BMP-2MA modernization programs

https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/algerian-t-62/#respond