The Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of Czech Republic has issued a contract for the provision of spare parts for its fleet of BVP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) valued at up to CZK 28.4m ($1.3m), with the programme due to run from February-October 2024. The Czech Army BVP-2 enables embarked personnel to conduct small arms fire during movement, which augments the platform’s kinetic capabilities of 30mm main gun and 7.62mm PKT machine gun. A contract notice listed on the EUTender site stated the deal would see the supply of spares to enable “routine and technical” maintenance on BVP-2 infantry fighting vehicles operated by the Czech Army.
The BMP-2 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty, infantry combat machine/vehicle) is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. The BMP-1 and BMP-2 share the same chassis and have almost identical road performance. The BMP-2 is heavier, but also has a more powerful engine to compensate. The BMP-2 is amphibious with little preparation, using hydrodynamic fairings to convert track momentum into water jets. The basic hull armor on the BMP-2 can be easily penetrated by any shaped-charge missile, from the 66 mm LAW on up.
The main armament is a turret with a stabilized 30 mm 2A42 autocannon with dual ammunition feeds, which provide a choice of 3UBR6 AP-T and 3UOR6 HE-T / 3UOF8 HE-I ammunition and 9M113 Konkurs ATGM. The gun has a selectable rate of fire, either slow at 200 to 300 rounds per minute or fast at 550 rounds per minute. A coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted to the left of the 30 mm cannon. 2,000 rounds of ammunition are carried for it. On the roof of the turret is an ATGM launcher. In addition to the main weapons, it can carry a man-portable surface-to-air missile launcher and two missiles, and an RPG launcher and five rounds.
BMP-2s were produced under license by Czechoslovakia (BVP-2). 2,252 ordered in 1973 and delivered between 1973 and 1989 (most produced in Czechoslovakia while the rest was imported from the Soviet Union). 200 BVP-2 infantry fighting vehicles right before the breakup of Czechoslovakia, passed on to the Czech Republic. One of the latest variants is the Shakal (Jackal), which is an upgraded version of the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, designed and developed by A joint team of Czech company EXCALIBUR ARMY and Slovak companies VOP Trencin, a.s., Slovak Republic, EVPU a.s. Nova Dubnica. BVP-M2 SKCZ was unveiled at IDET 2013, the Defence Exhibition in Czech Republic.
