Rare sighting of Ukrainian BMP‑1TS highlights battlefield innovation

A very rare Ukrainian BMP-1TS Infantry Fighting Vehicle was spotted near Pokrovsk. We present the performance of this interesting modernization of old vehicles, of which Ukraine has several units.

The situation near Pokrovsk is difficult, and in recent weeks, units fighting there for months have been reinforced with new forces. This has led to the appearance of interesting vehicles on the front, including an intriguing modernization of the now 60-year-old BMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV).

In the photos below, you can see one of the several existing BMP-1TS IFVs. Despite their weak armour, they feature a modern turret with strong armament, making them a formidable opponent.

In Ukraine, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and parts of Donbas, work on designing new weapons and upgrading already used equipment began or significantly accelerated.

One example is the modernization of the archaic BMP-1, where a new turret with stronger armament and a better fire control system was planned. The fruit of this work was first shown in 2021, and according to reports, the Zhytomyr Armoured Plant produced several vehicles until the outbreak of full-scale war with Russia.

The heart of the modernization is the unmanned BM-5 Spisa turret, which weighs only 1.7 tons. However, it contains a powerful set of armaments: a 30 mm ZTM-1 automatic cannon with a fire rate of up to 330 rounds per minute, a 30 mm AG-17 grenade launcher, a 7.62x54R mm machine gun, and two Barrier anti-tank guided missile launchers.

The latter enables hitting tanks at a distance of up to 4.7 miles and can penetrate at least 31.5 inches of armour steel protected by reactive armour. The missile guidance is carried out through a laser beam. Additionally, the turret is equipped with a drone jammer, creating a disruption bubble with a diameter of about 1,300-1,600 feet, in which FPV drones stop working. The exception is cable drones or those using computer vision supported by artificial intelligence, but these solutions are difficult for the Russians to access.

This, combined with two-person stabilization and the Kazhan-3K15 fire control system, which includes a thermal camera and laser rangefinder, creates a deadly combination. Unfortunately, the BMP-1 hull has not been changed, so the side armour only protects against small arms fire and artillery fragments.

For this reason, large-calibre machine guns like the DSzK, Browning M2, or NSV pose a huge threat to the crew, a non-issue in western designs such as the M2A2 Bradley or Marder 1A3.