The BMP series of infantry fighting vehicles were among the first production line IFVs. Included in the series are the mainline BMPs, the airborne variant BMDs, and licensed modified (i.e. MLI-84) and reverse engineered versions (i.e. Boragh, Type 86). BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty (Russian: Боевая Машина Пехоты), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle"). They were initially developed in the 1960s in the Soviet Union.

Background

World War II began with the concepts of armored warfare relatively undeveloped, particularly the use of combined arms teams. Tank and infantry units were often organized as separate units, which led to problems of command and coordination.

As the war progressed the doctrine of combined arms became better refined, and the need for specialist vehicles to keep the infantry in close contact with the armor became increasingly important. Most of these vehicles were half-tracks. There were expedient measures; the infantry of the Red Army often rode on the top of tanks. In 1944 the Canadians introduced the practice of converting self-propelled guns and tanks to carry infantry - known as "Kangaroos". The Kangaroo pointed the way forward, offering much better armor than half-tracks and able to keep up with the tanks on any terrain.