The Russian Ministry of Defence plans to acquire more than 200 BMP-3 Infantry Fighting Vehicles by the end of 2017. According to Alexander Klyuzhev’s, the Executive Director of Kurganmashzavod, statement at TASS news agency, the contract was signed in the previous months.

In May, the Vice-President and Co-owner of the Tractor Plants consortium, Albert Bakov, had stated at TASS that an agreement had been reached for the supply of these vehicles under a three-year contract. He also added that the company would continue providing the BMP-3 until the completion of the Kurganets-25 development and the beginning of its production.

It is estimated that the contract for the BMP-3 will allow the withdrawal from service of the legacy BMP-1 and BMP-2, in anticipation for the Kurganets-25. As of September 2015, only a handful of pre-production vehicles had been delivered to the Russian Army due to inadequate funding. Therefore, it is highly probable that the full-scale production could be pushed towards 2016.

The new BMP-3 will increase the total fleet in Russian service to 920. More than 1,500 vehicles of the type have been produced and sold worldwide. They feature a strong set of armament, which includes the 2A70 100 mm gun/launcher capable of firing the 9M117 anti-tank missile, a 2A72 30 mm cannon and three PKT 7.62 mm machine guns. It can carry a crew of three and an infantry team of seven soldiers.