BVP-40 Panter
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| BVP-40 Panter Igv 40 Panter | |
|---|---|
_065_ies.jpg) BVP-40 Panter of the Nikolian Royal Army | |
| Type | Infantry fighting vehicle |
| Place of origin | Nikolia, Noordenstaat |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2012-present |
| Used by |  Nikolia Noordenstaat |
| Production history | |
| Designer | NORNIK Group |
| Designed | 1997-2011 |
| Manufacturer | NORNIK Group |
| Unit cost | 9.7 million NSD |
| Produced | 2011-present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 31.4t (A variant) 43t (B variant) |
| Length | 7.6 m (25 ft) |
| Width | 3.9 m (13 ft) (With additional armour) |
| Height | 3.6 m (12 ft) |
| Crew | 3 + 6 |
| Armor | Modular composite armour |
Main armament | 30mm Filipovski AT mod.3040 autocannon with 400 rounds |
Secondary armament | 7.62mm LMP 2000SM 2,000 rounds Pijl R anti-tank guided missile 6-round 76mm grenade launcher |
| Engine | FMK-8011DV V10 diesel, 11.1 litres 800 kW (1,100 hp) at 4,250 r/min |
| Power/weight | 18.6 kW/t |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic |
Operational range | 460 km |
| Speed | 70 km/h (road) |
The BVP-40/Igv 40 Panter (Serbian: Borbeno vozilo pešadije ;BVP; Dutch: Infanteriegevechtsvoertuig ;Igv) is infantry fighting vehicle co-developed and built by Nikolian and Noordenstaatian joint venture company NORNIK Group.
The first production of the vehicle started in 2011 with the initial order of 400 units for Nikolia and 300 units for Noordenstaat, while additional orders were placed for a total of around 2,500 units to be produced.
The Panter is a result of a successful, long lasting partnership between Nikolia and Noordenstaat that produced several other military vehicles and hardware now in use by both armies. Thanks to its powerful 800kW (1,100hp) engine, providing for high power-to-weight ratio, the Panter is fitted with additional armour plates and state of the art protection systems, which makes it one of the most protected IFVs in the world.
Development
Design
The Panter employs a number of state of the art technologies in its design. In order to improve crew communication and easy mobility in the interior, the crew compartment is designed as monoblock, making it fairly compact, with the only exception being the driver station protruding forward, under the autocannon. The cabin is fully NBC protected, with nuclear and chemical sensors, whilst retaining two zone air conditioning for both crew and passenger compartments. The fire suppression system uses non-toxic agents in the cabin, while additional system is found in the engine compartment. In order to preserve a compact, monoblock design of the crew compartment, Panter hosts an unmanned, double-asymmetrical turret that is located on the left side of the vehicle, while the autocannon is mounted on the right side of the turret, making it aligned to the middle axis of the hull when facing forward.
Armament
The Panter is primarily armed with a 30mm Filipovski AT mod.3040 produced by the Nikolian Filipovski Weapons Systems with a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute and effective range of up to 3,000 meters. The designers opted for a smaller 30x173mm cartridge and a belt feed system to reduce weight and increase ammo loadout. The dual belt feed system supplies the autocannon with two types of ammunition: sub-caliber, fin stabilised APFSDS-T high penetration rounds and full caliber, multi purpose Kinetic Energy-Timed Fuse (KETF) rounds with air burst capability. The round type can be selected on shot by shot basis, thanks to the open bolt system of the autocannon.
Secondary armament is LMP 2000SM 7.62mm coaxial machine gun with ammo capacity of 2,000 rounds and an effective range of up to 1,000 meters.
In addition to the autocannon, the Panter is equipped with a turret-mounted Pijl R ATGM launcher with two missiles ready to fire and additional 4 in storage. The Pijl R has an effective range of 4,000 meters and is designed to defeat heavy armoured targets like tanks, bunkers and infrastructure. The missile can be launched in two modes: Fire and Forget and Fire and Observe.
For close-in defense, Panter is equipped with 6-round 76mm grenade launcher fitted at the back of the vehicle.
Protection
BVP-40 Panter offers two levels of protection: A variant, which is a base model that is ready for combat and weighs 31.4t, making it ready for air transport, and the B variant, an up-armoured version with additional armour plates on the sides and the hull top.
A variant offers protection against 14.5mm rounds to the sides, while the frontal armour offers protection against medium caliber projectiles and shaped charge projectiles.
B variant side panels are a mix of composite and spaced armour, which brings the protection level to the sides to the same level as frontal armour. The roof and turret armour offers protection against mortar and artillery shells.
The whole vehicle is protected against heavy blast mines (up to 10 kg) and projectile charges from below, while still retaining 450 mm ground clearance. Almost all equipment within the cabin, including the seats, has no direct contact to the floor, which adds to crew and technical safety. All cabin roof hatches are of the side-slide type, which make them easier to open manually, even when they are obstructed by debris. The exhaust is mixed with fresh air and vented at the rear left side. Together with a special IR-suppressing paint, this aims at reducing the thermal signature of the IFV.
The Panter employs a soft-kill system called MUPRAS (Serbian: Multifunkcionalni Protivraketni Sistem; Multifunctional Anti-Rocket System), capable of defeating ATGMs and RPGs. The system consists of the sensors, consisting of laser warner and a missile warner using ultraviolet sensors, the computer, and the electronic or pyrotechnic countermeasures. When the sensors detect an incoming missile or a laser beam aimed at the vehicle, the computer activates the countermeasures. MUPRAS can handle up to four threats at once, and provides 360° coverage and 70° elevation.
