BRDM-2

BRDM-2: Recconnaisance and Command Vehicle

Statistics

HMG: 14.5mm KPVT
Ammunition Stowage: 500 ready/0 stowed
Default Ammunition: 500/0 14.5mm AP

Coaxial MG: 7.62mm PKT
Ammunition Stowage: 2000 ready/0 stowed
Default Ammunition: 2000/0 7.62mm

Armour Protection:
Frontal Turret Armour: Thin. Protected vs small-arms and shell fragments
Frontal Hull Armour: Thin. Protected vs small-arms and shell fragments

Combat Mass: 7tonnes
Engine Power: 140hp
Height: 2.3m to turret roof.

General

The BRDM-2 is a lightly armoured Russian scout truck, first produced in 1962, and has since seen service in a large array of armies, and is still used by several countries today. The BRDM-2 turret is operated with hand cranks, and the gunner has a single-magnification pp-61AM sight, with 2.6x magnification. The TC is seated in the hull front, besides the driver, and has a forward facing window, several vision blocks, and a TKN-3 periscope, with 5x magnification. It was reported in the 1980 Afghan war between Russia and Afghanistan, that the Mujaheddin were capable of penetrating the armour behind the wheel wells of the BRDM-2 with AK-47 bullets.

Thermal Signature

Crew Positions

Tank Commander's Position F7

In Steel Beasts the tank commander's (TC) position on the BRDM2 is crew-able. The TC's position is accessed by pressing F7.

From this position the user can raise and lower their perspective (and exposure level) by holding the Q key (to go up) and the Z key (to go down). The TC can also button or unbutton (close and open the TC's hatch) by pressing the B key (toggle). While unbuttoned, the TC may also wish to use binoculars to get a closer view on a distant area by pressing the N key (toggle). Pressing the Shift-B key combination will close the ballistic doors in front of the wind shield, in that case the vision blocks have to be used!

Note that with the hatch open the gunner cannot slew the gun, so it is advisable for the TC to use the vision blocks instead!

TKN-3 Commander's Periscope

The TKN-3 commander's periscope is used for target acquisition, range estimation, directing the gunner onto a target. The periscope has a limited 5x zoom. The periscope also has night vision capability. However, the periscope has only a very limited range of movement in elevation.

The TC can access the TKN-3 periscope by pressing F3.

TC's TKN-3 periscope view

Once the user is at the TKN-3 periscope view, the user can traverse and elevate the cupola using either the mouse or joystick.

TC's TKN-3 periscope, reticle

The sight on the TKN-3 is a simple reticle with lead and elevation lines. The reticle also has a series of marks used for range estimation similar to the M1 tank's GAS sight. The numbers along the bottom of the scale represent the range in hundreds of meters. To estimate range to a typical sized tank target, place the range scale so that the bottom horizontal line is where the bottom of the tracks of the vehicle is, and the top part of the scale is at the top horizontal hash mark of the turret. When the target fully fits between the two, then the range is estimated at the value above the appropriate has mark.

The TKN-3's night vision can be turned on by pressing the + key on the num pad, however, this cannot be activated during daylight.

Gunner's Position F6

Gunner's Primary Sight (GPS)

The PP-61AM periscopic sight is used by BRDM-2 and BTR gunners to aim their 14.5mm KPV-T and 7.62mm PK-T guns. It is a simple static sight with a fixed 2.6x magnification.

Note that there is no thermal channel, and no light amplification available. In other words, even at night the gunner has to use his eyesight!

Sight Symbology

On the left side of the sight are the markings for the 14.5mm gun, while on the right side are the superelevation offsets for the 7.62mm gun. The numbers denote distanced in hundreds of meters. Across the top of the sight is a series of vertical lines used for range determination. The long central line is four mils high, while the short lines to either side are two mils high. The space between the lines is one mil each. All mil measurements are in Russian mils.

Note that there is no compensation for parallax so at extremely short ranges the sight markings will be inaccurate!

Driver's Position F9

The driver sits to the left of the TC. By pressing the F4 key he can enter the vision block view.

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