1/ Updated BMD count. Let's how the Russian airborne IFVs in storage are looking after more than two years of peer warfare.
2/ First, the actual figures. After recounting prewar stocks, @HighMarsed and I found 637 BMDs or BMD-based support vehicles in Russian military depots. Now the number has been reduced to just 244 units, just over a third of the initial number, of which at least 58 are not actual combat vehicles.
3/ Two months ago I did a BMD thread where, will not disclosing numbers, I did provide some useful data. I recommend checking that one, as it already contains a lot of info also published in this thread:
4/ With that said, let's talk about the subject at hand. Only two storage bases hold actual BMDs: the 2544th and the 3018th/6018th.
5/ Let's see first the 2544th, as most BMDs were and still are stored there: in 2021 there were 514 BMDs there, mostly BMD-1s but possibly also some BTR-Ds (footage is too blurry to tell them apart).
6/ Now only 139 remain, possibly some are broken but I can't tell from @Vishun_military's footage. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures of said footage as I don't own it, so you'll have to believe me. Some could be broken too, but I can't prove it.
7/ Then there's the 3018/6018th. There were 65 BMD-1s there in 2021. Here too it's possible that there were also other types of BMDs, but I also can't tell for sure.
8/ Again, unfortunately I can't post Vishun's footage as the 6018th also didn't feature in their recent article. However, there are just 47 BMDs left, of which at least 8 are visually broken.
9/ Finally, while not actual AFVs, @ModernMicroArmy recently found 58 BMD 1V119 artillery fire command vehicles at the 120th arsenal while looking at a picture from HighmMarsed's thread on SPM 2S9 Nonas in storage.
10/ It makes sense that they're stored alongside 2S9s, considering they're designed to direct fire from said self-propelled mortars. And they also have been occasionally used in Ukraine by Russian forces.
11/ My reasoning to include them in the BMD count.
12/ Anyway, back to the main topic, stored BMDs were mostly BMD-1s, the oldest type which, according to TMB2021, most had been retired and there were mostly in storage. They probably have been slowly refurbished to BMD-2s, mostly at the 144th BTRZ.
14/ It's also worth noting that, although it looks like BMDs will also go extinct in storage by this year, BMD-4s and BTR-MDMs are in active production, manufactured by Kurganmashzavod, that also produces other armored vehicles such as BMP-3s.
15/ Vishun's estimates on their recent BMP article that the rate of production and refurbishment of BMDs in probably close to 150-300 units per year nowadays.
16/ So, in conclusion, considering that the VDV left their vulnerable airdroppable IFVs long ago for more conventional armor such as BMPs and tanks, the probable reduction in BMDs in the field once stocks are depleted and refurbishment is deduced from production lines, it won't be felt in the battlefield.
17/ IMHO for at least one year BMDs are actually delivered to cannon fodder formations that don't require survivable armor to carry out their assaults.
18/ And that's it from BMDs, hopefully I can deliver another thread today!
Also hopefully this time links actually show up, unlike in the MT-LB thread.
/19 As usual I always have to make a typo, the date of the 2544th footage is 02.12.2023.
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There clearly has been a huge movement of stored towed artillery pieces since late summer/early autumn 2025, but unfortunately we lack footage.
Just look at all those barrels cannibalized at artillery arsenals like Planovyi and compare them with the prewar situation or even just over a year before late 2025:
And also an increasing number of barreless pieces, like these 2A36s:
Just got another update from the 111th. Some interesting things: by now most tanks in this base are the ones in this spot (pics are from September on Google Earth):
Like in most bases, the scrapyard has been mostly cleaned out:
And most of the refurbed BMPs have been dispatched and are no longer in the 111th:
The pace at which these BMPs are being pulled out of this base is so unexpected. Most rows are already half empty, and it's only been 2 months since they started. I was never expecting this from the 111th, it's so noticable yoh don't even need high res imagery to see it.
Just to make it more clear, these were the rows of BMPs in the main area of the 111th base that didn't look (for the most part) like were missing structural components such as turrets or engines back in 2022:
1/ It's time to take a look at Russian tank productions and refurbishment rates! Long time delayed, I know, but finally here! This first part of the thread will be about T-54/55s, T-62s, T-64s and T-80s. T-72 and T-90s and specifics on the industry will come in the second part.
2/ Here’s the previous threads, first about APCs, where I also explained the fundamentals and methodology:
There's one fundamental reason for everything that we're seeing lately, and it's been in the making for 2 years already: Zelensky & co refusing to understand that this is a war of survival and not enacting a proper mobilization. Corruption, incompetence, political interests...
Call it whatever you want, but at some point it's not even Syrskiy's fault anymore. YOU CAN'T HOLD GROUND WITHOUT INFANTRY. Everything and everywhere is atrociously undermanned.
Since some people are wondering how many of the "poor" and "worse" tanks can ever be brought back to service, let me explain it once more: ALL OF THEM. It's just a matter of money and time, and how willing the Kremlin is to waste its assets.
Take for example the 2456th tank storage base. The main facility is the one already known, but to the right there's the old scrapyard. Right when the war started they were scrapping T-62s and 64s there, but they stopped for obvious reasons:
We included this tanks in our count, as explained by @CovertCabal in his video about the 2456th, because the ones remaning weren't yet scrapped, tho they're in a terrible state.