The BRDM-2 is still an indispensable armoured reconnaissance vehicle.
But, its low ballistic protection and firepower have caused an endless debate since the beginning.
But, this vehicle managed to make its mark in history and become a legend.
Now we are investigating the BRDM-2, the scouting cavalry of the Eastern Bloc armies.
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The BRDM-2 takes its name from the initials of the Russian words, "Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya
Dozornaya Mashina”, which means “Combat Reconnaissance Patrol Vehicle”.
Its hull has also been used for many other missions, such as the anti-tank guided missile
or air defence missile carriers.
The BRDM-2 has fought nearly all corners of the world for the last 60 years, which undoubtedly
makes it one of the most recognizable Soviet/Russian military vehicles.
To better understand the BRDM-2, we should closely look at the history and geography
of Russia.
Russia has been located on vast steppes extending from the European borders from northwest to
southeast and the Asian borders from west to east.
Controlling this extensive land has always been a challenge for the Russians.
The Experiences of the 1904 Russo-Japanese War made the staff of the Tsar's Army realize
how helpful armoured cars could be in solving this problem.
But, the infrastructure of the Russian Empire was not sufficient to design and produce this
type of vehicle.
So, Saint Petersburg initially decided to supply armoured cars from abroad.
The production of domestic models, like the Russo-Balt Type M, started just before the
First World War.
Yet, the amount of production was still too low.
Following the founding of the USSR, Stalin, who came to power in 1922, quickly industrialized
the country.
Thanks to increased industrial capabilities, Moscow decided to mechanize the Red Army with
Five Year Plan in 1927.
As part of this plan, the production of the BA-27, the first Soviet-designed armoured
car, began in the same year.
It was just the beginning.
From 1927 to the German invasion in 1941, the Soviet engineers designed around 30 new
armoured cars.
Still, the most notable Soviet armoured car was the BA-64 entered into service in 1942.
The Red Army frequently and successfully used it in reconnaissance and road security missions
during the Second World War.
As the iron curtain raised in the middle of Europe, the USSR began to work on a new armoured
reconnaissance vehicle that would replace the BA-64 and incorporate new technologies.
The first prototype of this vehicle, called BRDM, was designed based on the BTR-40 and
completed in 1956.
With the introduction of the BRDM-2 in 1962, it was renamed the BRDM-1.
The first production models had an open top.
The later variant had a fully closed hull.
But, the 7.62mm machine gun of the vehicle was not still under armour protection.
The BRDM-1 did not have a night vision system, and it was not suitable to fight in the NBC
environment.
So, the Soviet Army requested a new armoured reconnaissance vehicle to replace the BRDM-1
in 1959.
It would have improved amphibious capabilities, better armament, better observation capability
under the armour, NBC protection, and night vision equipment.
The first prototype of the BRDM-2 presented for testing in 1960 had a very distant resemblance
to the current vehicle.
This vehicle had one 14.5mm KPV machine gun without armour protection and a five-person
crew.
The second prototype was completed in 1962.
Different from the early vehicle, it had the same turret as the BTR-60, a pressurized hull,
and a four-person crew.
The result was satisfactory.
So, Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, shortly GAZ, began the serial production in 1964.
But in that years, the company was also preparing for the serial production of the BTR-60PB.
The Soviet Army was giving priority to this wheeled armoured personnel carrier.
As a result, the initial production rate of the BRDM-2 became extremely low.
In 1965, GAZ could only build 80 vehicles.
The Soviet Army had planned to have 600 BRDM-2 until 1965.
But, the company could produce only 440 vehicles.
Later, the production rate increased, and Arzamas Machine-Building Plant also began
to build the armoured car in 1982.
In addition to licence production variant, over 9,000 BRDM-2s were delivered until 1989.
The early variant of the BRDM-2s had two air intake hatches with trapezoidal shapes covers
that opened backwards, similar to the BTR-60.
The later models had air inlets with a rectangular shape, covered with shutters.
The late version of the BRDM-2, produced in the 1970s, had six convex mushroom-shaped
caps above the air inlets, similar to the BTR-70.
This design prevented the ricocheting bullets and shell splinters from entering the engine
compartment.
During the First Cold War, all Soviet motorized infantry divisions had 28 BRDM-2s, twelve
in the reconnaissance battalion and four in each tank regiment.
Also, all tank divisions had 28 BRDM-2s, twelve in the reconnaissance battalion, four in the
motorized infantry regiment, and four in each of the three tank regiments.
The vehicle was cheap, easy to operate, and reliable.
These features helped the BRDM-2 to be accepted into the inventory of nearly 40 countries
close to the Soviet Union quickly.
The four-person crew of the BRDM-2 consists of a commander, a driver, and two reconnaissance
crew, one of whom acts as the gunner.
The vehicle is 5.75 meters long, 2.35 meters wide, and 2.31 meters high.
The combat weight is 7 tons.
The 140 horsepower GAZ-41 petrol engine provides a maximum speed of 100 kilometres per hour.
The range is 750 kilometres.
The BRDM-2 can negotiate 0.4-metre vertical steps and 1.25-metre trenches.
It is amphibious with a water speed of 10 kilometres per hour.
The BRDM-2 has one 14.5mm KPVT and one 7.62 mm PKT machine guns.
The ballistic protection of the vehicle is weak.
The front arc of the BRDM-2 is only resistant to standard 7.62mm NATO ammunition.
The 7.62mm armour-piercing munition can penetrate the front armour from a distance of 200 meters.
The side armour of the BRDM-2 is even weaker.
The 12.7x99 ammunition of M2, widely used on armoured vehicles of NATO, can penetrate
the front armour from a distance of 500 meters and side armour from a distance of 2,000 meters.
So, why did soviet engineers choose such weak armour?
The answer is in the vehicle's mission definition.
The BRDM-2 was designed to locate the position of the enemy units in a possible Third World
War, not combat them.
The numerous rivers and water canals were dividing the European battlefield.
So, the high speed and amphibious capability preceded ballistic protection.
The BRDM-2 was armoured enough to escape from the area when faced with resistance.
Keep that in mind, the fire control and stabilization systems were still primitive in the 1960s.
Hitting a fast-moving BRDM-2 was not as easy in those years as today.
According to the military doctrine of the Eastern Bloc, this vehicle was neither the
primary nor only element of the reconnaissance battalion.
In the Soviet Army, the reconnaissance battalion of a division was also an individual spearhead
assault force.
This battalion consisted of 300 to 400 soldiers, six armoured command and control vehicles,
12 armoured infantry fighting vehicles, six main battle tanks, 12 armoured reconnaissance
vehicles, electronic reconnaissance vehicles, and many support and radar vehicles.
Also, six pieces of armed helicopters were supporting the reconnaissance units.
This battalion advancing 100 kilometres in front of the main forces had its kitchen and
water treatment equipment.
So, when the BRDM-2s encountered strong enemy units, they would leave the task of fighting
them to the battalion's other heavily armed and armoured vehicles.
The Soviet BRDM-2s gained real combat experience in Afghanistan.
The vehicle generally carried out convoy escort duties instead of reconnaissance missions
in this war.
However, its ballistic protection was inadequate against the RPGs and landmines.
The Afghan Mujahidin managed to destroy a large number of BRDM-2.
The Soviet soldiers had preferred to sit on the vehicle, not inside, during the convoy
escort missions.
This preference, created by real combat experience, increased the possibility of casualty caused
by small firearms but also increased the chances of survivability, especially against landmines.
Another handicap of the BRDM-2 was its petrol engine.
A hit vehicle easily caught fire.
The BRDM-2s used by the Angolan and Cuban in the Angolan Border War had no chance against
the 90mm guns of the South African Elands.
The South Africans did not hesitate to fire the ZT-3 missiles from the Ratel-based anti-tank
vehicles to destroy the BRDM-2s.
But, hitting this fast vehicle was not an easy task.
So, the Angolan and Cuban casualties were relatively low.
Even the Soviet advisors, who operated in the region, preferred to travel with the safer
BRDM-2s.
Nevertheless, the BRDM-2 was a well-armed vehicle of their time.
The main gun, the 14.5mm KPVT heavy machine gun, has a practical rate of fire of 150 rounds
per minute.
Its armour piercing capability is better than the 12.7mm M2 machine gun and nearly equal
to 20mm cannon.
It has an effective range of 2,000 metres and can penetrate 20 millimetres of armour
at a range of 1,000 metres.
The turret allows the KPVT to be elevated and depressed between −5 and +30 degrees.
Yet, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it was observed that the angle of elevation
of 30 degrees was ineffective against the Afghan Mujahidin lying in ambush in the higher
position.
So, the later model BRDM-2s were equipped with a slightly modified turret that can elevate
the gun to +60 degrees.
A Soviet military advisor serving in Angola in the 1980s wrote in his memoirs that the
South African Eland crew was afraid of the 14.5mm main gun of the BRDM-2.
However, we could not find any information that the Elands was knocked out by these vehicles.
The BRDM-2 has two chain-driven belly wheels located between the front and rear wheels
on each side.
These wheels lowered and raised by the driver improve cross-country performance significantly.
The trench width of the BRDM-2 is 1.25 metres, while the usual distance for a typical 4x4
vehicle is about 0.5 metres.
Besides, the BRDM-2 has a central tire inflation system, which improves off-road manoeuvrability.
The vehicle can carry supplies for several days of reconnaissance missions deep behind
enemy lines.
It has a self-recovery winch with a towing capacity of 4 tons.
The USSR also developed many BRDM-2-based vehicles for different missions.
There are several radiological-chemical reconnaissance versions of the vehicle, such as the Russian
BRDM-2RKh, BRDM-2RKhb, the Czech BRDM-2ch, and the East German SPW-40P2 (Ch), the Hungarian
VS BRDM-2, and the Polish BRDM-2RS.
Its command variants, such as the Russian BRDM-2UM, the Czech LOT-VR, and the East German
SPW-40P2UM have no turret.
The BRDM-2 hull is used for anti-tank missile carriers.
The 9P122 and 9P133 have distinct versions of the 9M14 Malyutka missiles, whose NATO
reporting name is AT-3 Sagger.
The 9P124 and 9P137 carry the different versions of the 9M17 Fleyta, whose NATO reporting name
is AT-2 Swatter.
The 9P148 is the anti-tank variant of the BRDM-2 with the 9M113 Konkurs missiles, whose
NATO reporting name is AT-5 Spandrel.
The 9P31, whose NATO reporting name is SA-9 Gaskin, is the air defence missile variant
of the vehicle.
Some users of the BRDM-2 modified them for other missions.
For example, Cuba developed the mortar carrier variant of the vehicle.
Numerous armies and guerrilla groups have installed 14.5mm ZPU series or 23mm ZU-23-2
anti-aircraft guns onto the BRDM-2s.
These improvised models are still used frequently in wars in Iraq and Syria.
Many countries are modernizing the BRDM-2 to increase its firepower and armour protection.
Some users are replacing the petrol engine of the vehicle with a diesel engine.
Belarus has even developed a personnel carrier called Kajman by placing a new armoured hull
on the automotive component of the BRDM-2.
It is a widespread and valuable adversary in the current potential conflict zones.
So, the USA uses modified HMMWVs, which have a similar appearance to the BRDM-2, in OPFOR
training.
The BRDM-2s are actively used in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.
But, based on the available video footage, they are performing poorly due to their low
ballistic protection.
The users of the BRDM-2 do not intend to give up this 60-year-old veteran.
Maybe, this vehicle is not a super-weapon that incorporates cutting-edge technologies,
but it can do the job at a low cost and without complexity.
With minor upgrades, the BRDM-2 remains effective in today's low-intensity conflicts.
This vehicle, which has fought for more than a half-century, is still a preferred warrior,
which makes the BRDM-2 a true legend.
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