RBT's Defense Blog

An AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle) is the broad category for any armored combat vehicle; while APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers) focuses on transporting troops with light arms (like MGs) for basic protection, while IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) are an advanced type of AFV, designed to fight alongside infantry, boasting heavier armor, stronger cannons (20-40mm+), and anti-tank missiles for direct fire support, essentially merging transport and fighting roles.  armored personnel carriers mostly built out of modified tank hulls (sometimes literally old tank hulls). They usually carry the full squad of an APC, have the weapons fit of an APC (machine guns), but have tank level protection (proof against autocannons, MGs, highly resistant to RPGs and some ATGMs). Some armies use them for moving infantry into very dangerous areas (like Israel into the RPG/ATGM rich Hezbollah areas, or high-resistance Hamas zones) but the other use f...

    Russia Offers Upgraded BMP-3 Russia is offering its upgraded BMP-3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), manufactured by High Precision Systems, a subsidiary of Rostec, to export customers in the Asia-Pacific region including India. A spokesperson for Russiaʼs state-owned defence export agency Rosoboronexport, which is also a subsidiary of Rostec, has said Russia is offering the upgraded vehicle to India for supporting its efforts to modernise its armoured vehicle fleets. According to the spokesperson, the baseline BMP-3 IFV has undergone several enhancements, including the integration of a firmware suite enabling the vehicleʼs autonomous operation. The spokesperson said the BMP-3 has been modified after “taking into account the experience of combat usage” gained in Ukraine. The upgraded vehicle was first displayed at the Vietnam International Defence Expo (VIDEX) 2024, held in Hanoi in December 2024. The BMP-3 features a new chassis, engine, weapons system, and hydro-m...