Serbian army plans to modernize its fleet of BVP-M80A, a tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) that enters in service with the Serbian Army in 1982. The BVP-M80A is an improved variant of the M-80 IFV which was seen for the first time in public during a parade in Belgrade in May 1975.

A modernized version of Serbian BVP M-80A tracked armored IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicle during a demonstration in December 2019, Serbia. (Picture source Serbian MoD)

At the end of December 2019, Serbian Center for Weapons and Military Equipment Testing has presented a modernized version of the BVP M-80A during a live demonstration that was attended by the Serbian Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin.

The BVP-M80A is a backbone of the Mechanized Infantry Units of the Serbian Armed Forces, and its modernization is a priority for the Military Technical Institute’s development along with the Serbian Defense Industry.

One of the basic requirements for modernization is to significantly increase the level of ballistic protection of this device and to increase the firepower – Miloradović explains, adding that in order to increase the ballistic protection of the armored body, a complete reorganization of the interior space and elements for the accommodation of the crew of the vehicle was carried out and to compensate for the increase in the vehicle mass, the engine power was increased.

The modernized version of the BVP-M80A has new ballistic protection and new firepower including a new 30mm automatic cannon and new anti-tank launcher systems able to fire modernized 2F and 2T Malyutka anti-tank guided missiles. The roof of the turret is also equipped with a new optoelectronic system with a long-range thermal imaging camera. The previous version of the BVP M-80 is armed with a Hispano-Suiza HS.804 20mm automatic cannon that has an effective range of about 1500 meters and a twin launcher for the Yugoslav-built Sagger ATGM Anti-Tank Guided Missile.

Colonel Zvonko Marić of the Planning and Development Department of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces points out three main reasons why the Serbian Armed Forces submitted a request for modernization of the BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicle to the Military Technical Institute.

The first reason is that there is a respectable number of such assets with the Land Forces and the Land Forces have high hopes for these assets in the future. The second task is to significantly improve the combat capabilities of this vehicle, thus widening the technological gap between the generational armaments, and we are witnessing that the surrounding countries are also arming themselves with or modernizing such or similar assets, which would be the third reason why all this is happening – says Colonel Marić.