BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1 (Russian: Боевая Машина Пехоты 1; БМП-1), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle, 1st serial model".

The Red Army's mechanized infantry tactics during the 1950s were similar to World War II methods, in which APCs were used as "battle taxis".

[15] The requirement for the BMP, which was first drawn up in the late 1950s, stressed speed, good armament, and the ability for all squad members to shoot from within the vehicle.

The armament had to provide direct support for dismounted infantry in the attack and defense, and to be able to destroy comparable light armored vehicles.

[1] The tracked Ob'yekt 764 (codename Object 764) was chosen because its front-engine design provided a convenient and fast way of mounting and dismounting through two rear doors.

In the mid-1970s, after analysis of the use of light AFVs during the Yom Kippur, Angolan and Vietnam wars, a modernization program was begun that resulted in the BMP-1P (Ob'yekt 765 Sp4).

[20] It was located on a special pintle mount on top of the turret roof, that could fire the SACLOS guided 9M113 and 9M113M Konkurs-M ATGMs,[20] which increased armor penetration to 670 mm (26 in) and had an extended range of 4,000 m (4,400 yd).

Firing ports were added into the top hatches of the troop compartment and a stowage box was placed on the roof at the rear of the hull on some vehicles.

The BMP-1 is a fully amphibious tracked vehicle, with a front-engined chassis developed especially for it, a welded steel hull with a sharp, sloping front with a conspicuously ridged surface, a centrally located, flat, truncated cone turret and a troop compartment at the rear.

[2] Besides possessing such advantages as interference immunity and simple control equipment, wire-guided ATGMs are also hampered by significant disadvantages such as a relatively low flight speed, response delay, the inability to load a new missile until the previous one has reached its target and a very long minimum range (500 m (550 yd)).

Those BMP-1s still in Russian service that were not modernized to the BMP-1P standard, can now use 9M14-2 Malyutka-2 (NATO: AT-3D Sagger D) ATGMs (developed in 1995), which have either a tandem shaped-charge or high-explosive thermobaric warhead.

Nevertheless, the strong anti-tank focus of its armament didn't provide sufficient firepower against enemy unarmored vehicles, infantry and light fortified positions, especially during mountain battles (mostly due to the low elevation angle of the main gun).

[citation needed] The 300 horsepower (224 kW) UTD-20 six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine is located in the centre of the front hull, behind the transmission, with the cooling system to the right and radiator above.

[14] The very high angle of the hull frontal armor increases the probability of ricochets, and the trim vane in the traveling position adds little additional protection.

[citation needed] The side, rear and top armor protect the BMP-1 from 7.62 mm small arms fire from most distances as well as smaller artillery shell fragments, but do not protect the vehicle against 12.7 mm heavy machine gun fire from close distances or larger artillery shell fragments.

Ground tests demonstrated that rear doors with their fuel tanks filled with sand withstood hits from standard 12.7 mm rounds.

[8] In Afghanistan and Chechnya, armor-piercing 7.62 mm rounds fired from general-purpose machine guns at ranges of around 30–50 m sometimes penetrated the rear doors and hatches.

[42] During the First Persian Gulf War, the armor protection of the BMP-1 proved vulnerable to the armor-piercing rounds of the US M2/M3 Bradley's 25 millimetres (0.98 in) M242 Bushmaster autocannon.

It seats its driver and commander in a tandem layout, on the left side of the hull front, alongside the diesel engine.

The driver's and engine compartments could be equipped with additional bottom armor for improved protection against landmines filled with up to 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb) of explosives.

Ammunition is stored near or even inside the fighting compartment, which makes them more vulnerable to a hit from an anti-tank round or a missile across the side arc.

Some military analysts support the idea of returning to the concept of open-topped APCs, as the armor of light AFVs cannot protect the crew from anti-tank weapons.

The burning fuel would move into the crew compartment, resulting in the death or injury of the infantrymen (if they are unable to leave the vehicle via the roof hatches), and a possible explosion.

However, the rear door tanks are almost always empty when the BMP goes into combat, as they are only meant to increase the road travel range of the vehicle.

This was not practiced by some BMP-1s crews during a number of local conflicts, e.g., in Chechnya, which resulted in frequent attempts by the enemy to hit the rear doors of the BMP-1s.

Its crew members and passengers suffer heavily in hot climates as its air filtration system and exhaust-ventilation fans cannot provide any comfort at high temperatures.

The exhaust system helps to eject gases together with hot air from the engine compartment through the grille located on the right side of the hull roof in front of the turret.

Currently, the major BMP-1 operators, each with over a thousand vehicles in active service, are Russia, India, Poland, and the People's Republic of China.

Its appearance created a stir in the West,[citation needed] where lightly armed APCs were still the norm for transportation and infantry support on the battlefield.

[55][56] Other BMP operators have included Poland, Egypt, Syria, the People's Republic of China, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, North Korea, East Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Sweden, Cambodia and Vietnam.