According to information published by the “24UR” website on June 21, 2022, Slovenia has donated to Ukraine 35 BVP M-80A tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) that have already been sent by train to Ukraine.
Following the donation of these BVP M-80A tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) to Ukraine; Slovenia has already received a promise from the United States to receive new modern weapons.
According to the Military Balance 2021, the Slovenian army has a total of 46 BVP M-80A, 14 of which are in service and 32 in stock. Citing information from the “24UR” website, Slovenia gave Ukraine the 32 tracked armored IFVs that had been stored for several years in military depots near Pivka, a city located near the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
On April 21, 2022, Slovenia offered to give its old M-84 main battle tanks (MBTs) to Ukraine in exchange of German armored vehicles. The donation of the 35 BVP M-80A IFVs to Ukraine was announced by the Minister of Defense of Slovenia Marjan Šarec during the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that was held in Brussels on June 15, 2022.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Slovenia has already provided automatic rifles, ammunition, helmets, and an undisclosed number of M-84A MBTs. Slovenia also sent to Ukraine 200 sleeping bags, 200 pairs of rubber boots, 10 diesel generators, 250,000 latex gloves, 250,000 nitryl gloves, and 600,000 facemasks.
The BVP M-80 is a Yugoslavian-made tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle), produced from the 1980s until the country’s collapse in the 1990s. The BVP-M80A is an improved version of the M-80 version. The layout of the vehicle is very similar to the Russian BMP-1 with the driver seated at the front left side of the hull and the powerpack on its right, a turret in the middle of the top hull, and the troop’s compartment at the rear. The vehicle has a crew of three including a driver, commander and gunner, and can accommodate up to seven infantrymen.
The BVP M-80 is fitted with a one-man turret armed with one 20mm automatic cannon, one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and two Sagger anti-tank guided missile launchers mounted on the right side of the turret. Standard equipment of the vehicle includes an NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) protection system, fire suppression system, heating, and water ejecting system. It is fully amphibious and can perform crossing of any water barrier without previous preparations at a maximum speed of 7 km/h.
The BVP M-80A is powered by a Daimler Benz OM-403 engine developing 320 hp. It can run at a maximum road speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.
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