It could, and has been, argued that by out-surviving Nazi Germany in the short but destructive war of 1993, the Soviet Union emerged as co-victors alongside NATO. However, for the victors, and particularly the Soviet Union, that accolade was won at considerable cost. The destruction in men and material even before the final nuclear exchanges was shocking enough but the death toll in the annihilation of the majority of her European cities was too much even for the stoic peoples of the Soviet Union. In the years that followed the war, soviet communism would evaporate as the individual member states of the Union sought independence. Unable to afford the luxury of maintaining its military forces to pre-war scales, and unable or unwilling to contemplate further military adventurism, Russia rapidly demobilised. Whilst maintaining a relatively small core of professionals, the majority of her army was stood down and the bulk of her equipment mothballed. Little of worth was left west of the Urals and with the capital relocated to Novosibirsk, Siberia with its vast reserves of natural resources was Russia’s passport to economic recovery.
However, Russia’s plight had not gone unnoticed and envious eyes looked upon those same strategic reserves; the opportunity for easy pickings and the potential to boost the People’s Republic of China’s standing as the new global superpower was just too tempting.
As Chinese sabres started to rattle in the winter of 2007/2008, Russia, realising that war was once again inevitable, did all that it could to prepare for the impending storm. Realising that its fixed defences and Machinegun Divisions along the Amur River would, at best, only slow down the Chines advance, Russia needed to rapidly increase its mobile anti-tank defences. Whilst as many tanks as possible were brought out of storage and crews recalled to active service, the need was still pressing. The 125mm 2A45M Sprut-B towed anti-tank gun was a good gun but its lack of mobility would severely hamper its usefulness in the coming conflict. Kurganmashzavod JSC, the maker of the BMP series of AFVs and one of the few remaining military manufacturing facilities in Russia suggested taking some of their stored BMP-2 and adapting them to carry the 2A45M Sprut-B gun. Taking a leaf out of the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 (S-Tank) book, the design they came up with was elegant, effective and, most importantly, quick to produce.
The BMP-2S Vagyar (Viking) as it became known in homage to its Scandinavian roots was a standard BMP-2 with its turret and UTD-20/3 diesel engine removed. The 125mm 2A45M Sprut-B with modified recoil system and fume extractor was fitted centrally in a fixed mounting through the upper glacis plate. An autoloader system was strapped to the breach and a large magazine fitted in the now redundant crew compartment. The Commander and Gunner sat either side of the breach/autoloader and with dual day and thermal fire control systems were able to duplicate each other’s functions. The Driver’s position remained unchanged, although a rear mounted camera system allowed him to drive the Vagyar effectively in reverse without assistance from the Commander. The engine was replaced by a smaller but more powerful SG-1000 gas turbine and the 2 forward and 2 rear road wheels attached to a basic gas-hydraulic hydro-pneumatic suspension to allow for accurate laying of the main gun in elevation. For local defence, the Vagyar carried the X3 (7.62mm) RWS with its own integral day/thermal sights. The X3 was, in essence, a copy of the German Marder IFV RWS mount and was heavily based on the experiences and a grudging respect gained during the 1993 war. Two 9-barrelled directional smoke dischargers were also fitted. Given the size of the BMP-2 chassis, the Vagyar was still also able to carry 2 infantrymen in the rear compartment when additional local force protection was required . This extra space also proved extremely useful for the carriage of additional ammunition/fuel/stores, etc or for the extraction of injured personnel.
The end result of the Vagyar conversion was a highly mobile, light weight, all weather anti-tank system at a fraction of the cost and production time of an MBT. An excellent operational extract of the performance of the Vagyar in the field can be found at Chapter 7 of Alexander Kamarov’s book ‘Heroes of Irkutsk’.
The model depicts vehicle 234, 180th Anti-Tank Battery, 56th Mech Bde and comprises parts from an old Italeri BMP-2, an Italeri T-72, a Tamiya Marder IFV, some plastic card and a few bits and pieces from the spares box.
