Russian off roaders: BMD-4M family aims for highly mobile firepower

Минобороны России

Russian off roaders: BMD-4M family aims for highly mobile firepower | Jane's 360

Samuel Cranny-Evans, London - Jane's International Defence Review

24 February 2020

Key Points

• The BMD-4M enables the VDV to perform roles that are not open to other airborne forces
• The design of the vehicle family is suited to off-road travel, which indicates it is intended to be deployed in any location to maximise surprise

The motto of the Russian airborne forces (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska – VDV) states 'Net zadach nevypolnimykh', or ‘There are no impossible tasks’. This partly encapsulates the nature of the VDV; for example no other formation in the world requires its personnel to parachute from an aircraft inside of an armoured vehicle.

Perhaps more importantly, the VDV is part of its own command and falls under the purview of the Air Assault Forces, rather than that of the ground forces, according to Catherine Harris and Frederick Kagan in their 2018 paper 'Russia’s Military Posture: Ground Forces Order of Battle'.

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