BRDM-2 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle
| Specifications |
| Crew |
4 |
| Lenght |
5,75 m |
| Width |
2,75 m |
| Hight |
2,31 m |
| Weight |
7,7 t |
| Armor and Armament |
| Armor |
7 - 14 mm |
| Main weapon |
14,5 mm heavy machingun KPVT |
| Secondarz weapon |
1× 7,62mm machingun PKT |
| |
| Engine |
GAZ-41 gasoline V-8
140 hp (104 kW) at 3400 rpm
|
| Suspension |
4x4 leaf springs with hydraulic shock absorbers |
| Max. speed |
100 / 10 km/h
street / water |
| power / weight |
13,5 kW/t |
| Operational range |
750 km |
The BRDM-2 (Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina, Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle" is an amphibious armoured patrol car used by Russia and the former Soviet Union. It was also known under designations BTR-40PB, BTR-40P-2 and GAZ 41-08 SPW-40. This vehicle, like many other Soviet designs, has been exported extensively and is in use in at least 38 countries. It was intended to replace the earlier BRDM-1 with a vehicle that had improved amphibious capabilities and better armament. BRDM-2 has a crew of four, a driver, a co-driver, a commander, and a gunner. It has two pairs of chain-driven belly wheels lowered by the driver which allow trench crossing just like its predecessor and a centralized tire pressure regulation system which can be used to adjust the tire pressure of all four tires or individual tires while the vehicle is in motion to suit to the ground conditions. The engine is larger than the BRDM's (it is a 140-hp V-8 instead of a 90-hp 6-cylinder). The BRDM-2 has an IR spotlight and four IR driving lights, as well as an over pressure collective NBC filter system. The IR spotlight is located on top of the commander's periscope. There's also a winch mounted internally at the front hull with a 30 m cable and capacity of 4 tonnes. The winch is intended to used, among others, for self-recovery when stuck in difficult terrain. Just like its predecessor, BRDM-2 is amphibious. The GAZ-41 gasoline V-8 engine supplies power to the circular water-jet, equipped with a four bladed propeller at the rear of the vehicle, which is covered with an armoured shutter while on land. The water-jet allows amphibious travel with a speed of 10 km/h for 17 to 19 hours. The armament is the same as the BTR-60PB armoured personnel carrier, a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun with a coaxial 7.62 mm PKT general purpose machine gun as a secondary weapon both in a small conical BPU-1 turret mounted on the hull in a central position above the belly wheels. The 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun has a practical rate of fire of 150 rounds per minute and cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute. It has an effective range during day time operations of 2,000 m. The 7.62 mm PKT coaxial general purpose machine gun has an effective range during day time operations of 1,000 m while the vehicle is stationary and from 400 m to 500 m while the vehicle is on the move. It is fired in 2 to 10 round bursts and has a practical rate of fire of 250 rounds per minute and cyclic rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute.
