- Yes
- Maybe
- Unsure
Background & History
The BRM-1K was a reconnaissance vehicle designed by the Soviet Union in the 1970’s and was later exported to a number Warsaw pact countries including east Germany in 1988. The BRM-1 itself was based off the BMP-1 hull as the in the 1970’s the Soviet Union found that while the vehicles they had in service for the reconnaissance role such of the as the PT-76 and BRDM-2 were still capable of fulfilling the role the fact was that their ability for reconnaissance would be much more limited for the time and as such they began to look into a new vehicle which could incorporate modern electronic systems suited to the modern battlefield.
In the end the BMP-1 was chosen to be used as the basis of the new vehicle due to it existing abilities however in order to achieve the ability to fill the role of a modern reconnaissance vehicle they had to make major modifications, the most notable and recognizable feature of this was the turret as it was made much larger to allow accommodate the change to a new two man turret and a ground radar which was located at the rear of the turret which could be retracted into the turret, the vehicle would be accepted into service as the BRM-1K with the Soviet Union following trials in 1972 and production starting in 1973 and would last until at least 1988 with a total of 1,200 to 1,500 being produced. The vehicle was only used by the Soviets themselves until they decided to export a number of them to Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany.
One of the other noticeable difference with the BRM-1K was also the deletion of various machine gun ports as only 3 of them were retained as the turret being moved to the rear saw the removal of half of the troop compartment however due to the role of the vehicle these positions were used as well with one being an extra radio operator and the other operating the vehicles equipment, the vehicle also no longer carried any ATGM and the amount of ammo carried for the main gun being reduced to 20 rounds however the vehicle now had a laser rangefinder, the vehicles also carried the log on the left side of the vehicle as at the rear of the vehicle just above the rear doors was a large foldable antenna.
Due to the modifications the BRM-1K series reduced the amount of troops carried in the rear to 2 in order to make space for the turret. When it comes to the role of the BRM-1K the vehicle itself would not primarily utilize any dedicated observation devices as the vehicle came not only with it’s radar which itself was already capable of search and track but had a variety of tools such as a ERRS-1 radio direction finder, a PPChR radiological-chemical detection device, a WPChR military chemical detection device, and IMP-1 mine detector. The vehicle itself also had an AB-1-P 1 kW box-shaped portable petrol-electric generator, various day/night observation devices, various navigation equipment including a TNA-3 gyroscopic apparatus, a 1G11N gyro-compass and a 1T25 survey device. Originally these vehicles in Soviet service didn’t have any smoke grenade launchers however in service newer models and older models at some point gained 81mm smoke grenade launchers. Something ironic about the design of the BRM-1K is that the design while resembling in a variety of aspects the later BMP-2 which had a enlarged turret as well the two designs were unrelated.
Due to the advanced equipment the vehicle had, they were intended to be used at a distance rather than the traditional form of reconnaissance which was instead provided by Bmp-1’s, these vehicles would be assigned alongside at least 3 BMP-1’s to work alongside them. Each reconnaissance company of a motorized rifle or tank regiment would have at least 1 BRM-1K assigned to them, and 3 of them assigned to the reconnaissance battalion of a motorized rifle or tank division. In the end very few BRM-1K’s would enter service with east Germany with a total of just 12 making them more uncommon than even the BMP-2 in East German service and after Germany reunited the BRM-1K seems to have not been carried over into service as they did not receive modifications which would indicate it being used following reunification like other former east German tanks which would have been required by the Bundeswehr to accept them into service. Today at least 2 examples of ex-east german BRM-1K’s are still around (from what I have found) with one still in East German markings in the Panzer museum in Munster and one in Canadian War Museum, Ottawa which is no longer in East German markings.
Specifications
Weight - 12.5 - 13.2 tons
Crew - 6
Engine model -
UTD-20
Engine type -
15.8 liter 6-cylinder 4-stroke water-cooled diesel
Power output -
300 hp at 2,600 rpm
Transmission -
Manual, 5 forward, 1 reverse
Max speed -
65 km/h on road
45 km/h off road
7 km/h in water
Power to weight ratio -
22.7 hp/t
Fire control -
1PN22M gunsight
Radios -
R-123M
R-130
R-148
Observation radar -
PSNR-5K / 1RL133-1 “Tall mike” radar
Navigation -
TNA-3 Kvadrat-1
Range finder -
DKRM-1 laser rangefinder with 8 km range
Radiological chemical reconnaissance device -
PRChR GO-27
Chemical detection device -
WPChR
Mine detector -
IMP-1
Radio direction finder -
ERRS-1 with 60 km range
Main armament - 73mm 2A28 Grom (20 Rounds) (Same ammunition as the BMP-1)
Gun elevation - +30/-4
Coaxial machine gun - 7.62mm PKT machine gun (2,000 Rounds)
Smoke grenades -
6 x 81mm 902V Tucha smoke grenade dischargers
Armor -
Hull armor
19 mm hull front
16 - 18 mm sides
16 mm rear
6 mm top
Turret armor
23 mm front
13 mm sides and rear
6 mm top
Sources
Spoiler
https://weaponsystems.net/system/346-BRM-1K Korshun
List of BMP-1 variants - Wikipedia
Raketen- und Waffentechnischer Dienst (RWD) - Aufklärungspanzer BRM-1K
https://www.alternatewars.com/WW3/DDR_AFV/DDR_AFV_1950-1990.htm
Image Sources