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ZKDM: The Ultimate Scout Car
History:
The BRDM-2 (Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина-2, lit. "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle-2) began life in 1962 under the initial designation of BTR-40P. An improvement upon and replacement for the BRDM-1. Designed by V.K. Rubtsov and manufactured by GAZ, it corrected many of the flaws the BRDM-1 possessed, such as a lack of a turret, weak armament, no night vision equipment, no NBC protection, and weak optics. The BRDM-2 also improved the mobility with an improved 120HP V8 engine. Other elements remained the same, such as the amphibious abilities, belly wheels for trench crossing and offroading, and small size. The armament was upgraded from 1-2 7.62mm SGMB machine guns to a turret housing a 14.5mm KPVT heavy machine gun plus a coaxial 7.62mm PKT. This turret would go on to be mounted to a number of other Soviet and successor state vehicles, such as the BTR-60 and 70 or the OT-64.Spoiler
Approximately 7,200 of these vehicles were manufactured, with over 50 countries using them. It also became a vehicle ripe for variation, with dozens of specialized vehicles being developed using the same chassis. Everything from missile carriers to engineering vehicles to radar to transport to command vehicles and more. The highly customizable nature of the BRDM-2 made it appealing to many countries, each experimenting with it and developing their own unique adaptations for their own specific needs.
Azerbaijan acquired around 88 of these vehicles over the years. They have become a valuable asset to their military and remain in service to this day. However, the Azeri military recognized in 2008 that the BRDM-2, along with several other vehicles, needed some modernization if it was to keep up with the times and remain useful. These modernizations would be carried out by the Baku Instrument Engineering Plant and would be revealed in 2014 at the 11th Azerbaijan Defense Expo. The brand new BRDM-2 modification is known as the ZKDM, and it has received a complete overhaul!
Description:
The ZKDM has been modified in nearly every element, from nose to tail. Starting with the vehicle chassis, it has been completely reworked. Most noticeably it is no longer amphibious, the sole waterjet having been removed entirely. The retractable belly wheels have also been deleted, possibly limiting its abilities on intensely rough ground. However, this has allowed for a brand new mine-resistant V-hull and extra armor plating around the vehicle (though I have not been able to find any sources detailing the thickness of this armor - I will update this if I manage to find it or if anyone can share that with me).The next component to be upgraded was the engine. The ZKDM is powered by a D-245.30E2 156HP inline-4 diesel engine from the Minsk Motor Plant in Belarus. This gives it a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) on-road and 60 km/h (37 mph) off-road. This was needed in order to prevent the heavy additions from reducing mobility.
Finally (and most exciting) is the new remote-controlled turret, featuring no fewer than 4 unique weapons!
Spoiler
The main armament is the twin-barreled 23mm GSh-23L autocannon. This should be familiar to anyone who has flown the later MiG-21s, MiG-23, Yak-38, or Mi-35M. While the penetration isn’t the greatest compared to other similar options, it makes up for that with an incredible fire rate of 3000 RPM or higher. It has API-T and HEI-T ammo available, which gives the ZKDM the ability to destroy both light ground targets and airborne targets. The next weapon system is the PKT 7.62mm machine gun. Fairly standard, nothing extreme here. The third weapon is the 30mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, something which should be familiar to players of the BMP-2M. While not extremely effective due to the low muzzle velocity and short range, if equipped with the improved VOG-30D grenade, that issue would be fixed somewhat.
There is one more weapon system. Perhaps the most conspicuous of all, and the most exciting: a quad-tube rocket launcher! This rocket launcher is capable of using either 57mm S-5 or 80mm S-8 unguided aircraft rockets, giving it amazing armor penetration power. These rockets should be familiar to all pilots playing Soviet-bloc aircraft, and with a maximum possible penetration of over 400mm of armor, these rockets are not to be messed with! The vehicle, if introduced, would start with the 57mm rockets, having access initially to the S-5K with 130mm of penetration. This would be followed by the S-5KP, which has an improved 250mm of penetration. Then you can research the S-8 rockets, starting with the basic S-8, which has 350mm of pen. Next would be the S-8KOM, with 400mm of pen, and finally the tandem-warhead S-8T, with 360-400mm after ERA or 440mm against RHA only. While these penetration levels are quite high, they are offset by the fact that they are unguided, require precise aiming, and a low ammo count of 4.
In terms of additional equipment, it possesses NVDs standard, with optional thermals. Four smoke grenade launchers are present on the turret. I believe this would make an awesome and unique scout car for War Thunder!
Specifications:
Spoiler
Main Armament: 23mm GSh-23L autocannon, 57mm/80mm rockets
Secondary Armament: 7.62mm PKT machine gun
Tertiary Armament: 30mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher
Armor: Unknown, but it is claimed to be able to stop 12.7mm API-T with steel core. Base model BRDM-2 has a maximum of 14mm and a minimum of 2mm, but as mentioned above additional armor has been added, as well as a mine-resistant V-hull.
Ammo Count: 300 23mm rounds, 2000 7.62mm rounds, 300 30mm grenades, 4 57mm/80mm rockets
Engine: MMV D-245.30E2 inline-4 diesel, 156HP
Speed: 100 km/h (62 mph) on-road, 60 km/h (37 mph) off-road
Gun Movement: Remote controlled, electro-hydraulic turret. -5/+30 elevation
Sights: BPK-2-42 day/night sight, optional thermals. Same sight used on the BMP-2.
Crew: 2+1 (Driver, Commander/Gunner, optional passenger)
Smoke: 4x smoke grenade launchers
Gallery:
Spoiler
