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Uralvagonzavod Russia’s main tank producer posted a YouTube video showing the dispatch of a new batch of Terminator BMP-T armored combat vehicles to Russia’s armed forces on Wednesday.
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), the tank manufacturing subsidiary of Russia’s Rostec defense conglomerate said it had delivered an undisclosed number of its latest Terminator BMP-T armored combat vehicles to Russia’s armed forces on Wednesday, stating that the delivery was the final consignment of its contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
The YouTube video released by the company showed five new Terminator vehicles being moved out of a storage building on flatbed railcars.
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According to UVZ, the latest version of the BMP-T has incorporated enhanced protection based on combat experience in Ukraine, purportedly including additional explosive reactive armor, reinforced side protection, electronic warfare systems, and anti-drone measures. Additionally, the footage showed the vehicles fitted with front and rear mounted anti-drone mesh screens and metal spikes.
A spokesperson said, “UVZ designers are constantly working to improve the characteristics of the tank support vehicle, taking into account combat experience. The focus is mainly on enhancing protection. The 2025-series of vehicles differ from those delivered to the Russian Army before the start of the SMO [special military operation]. The amount of dynamic protection has been increased… with additional side protection, anti-drone grids, and electronic warfare systems.
The BMP-T (Боевая машина поддержки танков – Tank Support Fighting Vehicle) was first unveiled during the 2013 Russian Arms Expo defense exhibition. As the name suggests, it was designed to support tanks and other armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) in urban areas after Russian forces were hammered during the war in Chechnya.
It is built using the T-72, T-90, or T-14 Armata tank chassis, and is armed with four 9M120 Ataka missile launchers, two 30 mm 2A42 autocannons, two AG-17D grenade launchers, and one coaxial 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun (firing the Soviet-era 7.62x54mmR cartridge).
The total number of the vehicles that have been delivered under Uralvagonzavod’s original 2017 contract is classified secret, but it is known that a company of BMP-Ts, consisting of nine of the contracted 12 vehicles, were seen in a tank division of Russia’s Central Military District in December 2021. Several were seen operating during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the first sighting during the battle of Sieverodonetsk in the Luhansk region of Ukraine in 2022.
In July Uralvagonzavod said it was increasing its output of armored vehicles including the latest versions of the T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks, and BMP-T Terminators to reach “Soviet-era levels of production” over the next two years.
Despite the manufacturer’s marketing claims the Terminator has not excelled during combat in Ukraine proving particularly vulnerable to Ukrainian drones and artillery strikes – at least five have been destroyed or severely damaged by early 2025 – a significant portion of those that were deployed.
The first confirmed loss occurred in February 2023, when a unit from Ukraine’s140th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion incapacitated a Terminator with small arms fire near Luhansk before calling in an artillery strike to destroy it.
In August 2023, Ukrainian special forces used a swarm of kamikaze drones to disable and then destroy a second Terminator in the east of the Donetsk region.
Video published on social media of a Ukrainian drone attack which targeted a warehouse containing Russian vehicles and weapons, which were destroyed or damaged included a Terminator in February 2024
In October 2024, Ukrainian paratroopers from Ukraine’s 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade destroyed another BMP-T along with a dozen other Russian armored vehicles attempting to assault their position near Kurakhove in the Donetsk region after calling in artillery, strike drones, and missile systems.
The Director General of UVZ, Alexander Potapov, said, “Uralvagonzavod is fulfilling a large order for BMPTs: the demand for this vehicle is high. It has always been considered that the main strike force of the Ground Forces consists of tanks. Now it can be said that BMPTs have joined them as well.”
Based on the BMP-T’s performance to date Mr. Potapov should perhaps not be so upbeat.
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