Saturday, February 24, 2007

Boragh - Iran's Indigenous APC

Posted by newsonline at 1:04 PM 0 Comments

The Boragh, also known as the Cobra, is an indigenously designed APC based around the shell of the Soviet BMP-1. Its changes include, weapon, armor, movement.

Power Pack:
The original 300 hp 6 cylinder engine was replaced by a stronger 320(or 330 depending on the source) hp V-8, presumably the HD BF8L413F air-cooled diesel engine from the type-86, Chinas version of the BMP-1. This increases the power-to-weight ratio from 22.7 hp/ton to 25 hp/ton although the road speed of 65 km/h stays the same. This is located in traditional layout, front and to the right. However in the picture below, you will see what appears to be periscopes located directly above where the engine would be, this presents an interesting question of whether the position was reversed. Of course we should remember that in all the pictures of the Boragh under movement, there is a traditional layout.




Armor
The original BMP-1's were striken with extreme armor weaknesses in several key areas that made them vulnerable to even assault rifle fire through the rear door. This was fixed through the use of applique armor, although there is very little information on this, and none of the models that do not possess distinct structural changes (like the command and troop transport variety) do not show this at all. The only apparent change is to redo the rear hatches to the style of the BMP-2.

Different Versions

-Anti-Air - In this version, the 73 mm low pressure gun was replaced with a ZU-23, 23 mm AAA gun. Two versions of this exist, the first model is a radical departure from the BMP-1, the body of the APC was lowered very close to the ground and the ZU-23 was attached directly to the APC body.

The second model is more traditional, it has the base modular Boragh body. And the ZU-23 is bolted directly onto the deck, complete with a protective cuppola for the gunner. Extra ammo cans are attacked the the rear.

-30 mm cannon
This is the IFV version, leading many to confuse it with the BMP-2. The way to tell the two apart is via the roadwheels. the BMP-2 has classic russian ones, with "spokes", whereas the Boragh has wheels from the M113 APC, without "spokes". It is believed that this turret is literally just lifted from the BMP-2 onto the Boragh chassis with the only modifications being the addition of optics (see first picture) that are absent on Irans regular BMP-2's.

-DsKH
This is the most frequently seen version of the Boragh, the main gun turret is replaced by a 12.7 mm DsKH maching gun, surrounded by an armored cuppola. The reason for this change is most likely to provide a low cost, easy to manufacure APC with interchangable parts that doesn't have to do double duty as an IFV. The replacement of the 73 mm gun most likely allows the interior to be used more efficientlly as a transport, less cramped conditions and allowing more troops to fit in.

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