Vehicle Identification

Correctly identifying vehicles is very important. It helps your leadership decide how to proceed and what asset to divert to deal with said vehicle. This section of the wiki will be dedicated to screenshots of vehicles to help familiarize yourself with their traits.

Russian vehicles

Russian vehicles are by far the most commonly seen vehicles. They made millions of everything and sold them to anyone they could. This results in not only Russian forces using these vehicles, but also many other countries and even militias or insurgent forces. Russian can be hard to ID sometimes - particularly the main battle tanks, as they are all very similar in appearance but vastly different in functionality and threat level. It is recommended that you spend some time on this section. Under here will be the main Russian vehicle families.

Light Armor

BRDM Family

BRDM's are light scout cars. They are often mistaken for BTRs. The fastest way to tell the difference is the number of wheels. BRDM's have 4, BTRs have 8. The armor on these things is paper thin. MMG, HMG, 40mm, and at most light AT are all you need for these.

BTR Family

BTR's have extremely light armor, they can be taken out with HMG fire or in the case of the early varients, even 7.62 AP can effect them. Shooting out their tires is an effective way to render them immobile. They are personel carriers and can fit a squad of infantry inside and more on top. Later model BTRs are not to be underestimated. BTR-80 and onwards had much thicker armor than previous models.

BMP Family

BMP's are Infantry Fighting vehicles. They can carry a small team of infantry. They have heavy enough armor to require light or medium AT. Some of the newer varients come with ERA panels that can prevent AT from doing its job if you do not aim for a weak spot.

BMD Family

BMD's are Essentially smaller BMP's that were designed for airborne units. They are Infantry Fighting Vehicles with smaller crew compartments than their BMP counterparts. The early BMD's can be ID'd by their trademark "U" shaped bow. The BMD-3 and newer are basically up to par with BMPs. They have heavy enough armor to require light or medium AT. Distinguishing between BMPs and BMDs is largely unimportant, as they pose the same threat on the battlefield.

ZSU Family

The important Anti air is in the middle. That is a ZSU-23-4 AKA "Shilka". They are pretty unique looking, and you will definitely know when one is shooting at you. They can depress the guns low enough to be a threat to infantry and light vehicles. They have armor strong enough to take some punishment. Hit the sides or rear with Light AT, ideally use medium AT if its available. The same devastating 23mm tandem gun is standard as an emplacement, and is often found mounted on the backs of Ural trucks.

SPGs and Rocket launchers

The 2S25 "Sprut" is a self propelled anti tank gun. It is lightly armored and based on the BMD3. Light or medium AT will knock it out. Easily identified by its long gun and unique turret.

Left to right, 2S3M1 "Akatsiya" 152mm Self propelled howitzer, BM-21 "Grad" 133mm Multiple rocket launcher, 9K79 "Scarab" Tactical Ballistic missile launcher. I'm including these because they can be pretty high value targets, but generally pose little direct threat to infantry as they're much longer range assets. If you can see them, they probably can't easily hurt you.

2S3M1: Hit it with well placed light AT or medium AT.

BM-21 "Grad": Its an unarmored truck loaded with explosives, do what you must.

9K79: Can be armed with nuclear warhead. Lightly armored, HMG, 40mm, or Light AT.

Heavy Armor

T-72 Family

T-72 Tanks Are one of the most popular post WW2 tanks in the world. They have a diesel engine. They can be taken out by well placed light AT, but medium or heavy is recommended to ensure fewer hits. Newer variants have ERA. Driver only has 1 para-scope

T-80 Family

The T80 was the first Main battle tank in the world to use a turbine engine. This is the easiest way to tell them apart from a T-72 if you are close enough. T-80s have 3 para-scopes for the driver. Other than that, they can be very difficult to differentiate. Like the T-72 they call for medium or heavy AT to ensure fewer hits to kill. Most T-80 variants have some form of ERA aside from earlier models. T80's are smaller and slightly boxier, with more evenly rounded, somewhat squatter turrets. Consider T-80s to generally be somewhere in between a T-72 and a T-90.

T-90 Family

T-90s are basically just super modern versions of the T-72. The best way to differentiate is the new turret. It it a slightly different shape, and covered in ERA. t-90s also have 2 Spotlights on the front whereas t-80s and t-72s only have 1 spotlight. T-90s can be extremely hard to take down. Recommend medium or heavy AT

Notes on Vehicle Neutralization

All Russian main battle tanks concentrate their armor in the turret. As such, turret hits are rarely fruitful. Aim for sides and rear armor in this situation. If the tank has reactive armor on any portion of it's body, aim elsewhere as that ERA will easily defeat most AT.

BTRs can easily be destroyed with .50 cal fire more often than not. If you can't penetrate the armor, you can probably de-mobilize the unit by attacking it's weak point - the tires - for massive damage.

Other Russian vehicles such as UAZs (5 seat transport jeep built by the Reds), GAZs, and vodniks are all lightly armored (if armored at all) and can be taken out by any competent infantry unit.

Be aware of what weaponry you have, don't use your last javelin on an infantry transport if you're not 100% certain there won't be a T-90 around the corner. Use the right weapon for the right vehicle, you usually do not need AT for things like Urals and UAZs as the drivers can be shot out, or the wheels disabled long before the infantry inside can become a threat.

Helicopters

Mi-8 "Hip"

The Mi-8 can be unarmed Transport helicopters, or come loaded for bear. Even Transport variants can have door gunners. Late versions have a gunner in the nose with the pilots. They can carry Fuel air bombs, rockets, and gun pods. Mi-8s are lightly armored and can be taken out with small arms. It is important not to call them a Hind since a Hind is basically a flying tank.

Mi-24 "Hind"

Mi-24s can be a huge threat. They are strictly attack choppers. They also have heavy armor as far as aircraft go. It is recommended to use Anti Air if possible, .50 cal can take them down but not in small amounts. They can carry Fuel air bombs, rockets, gun pods, and can have a gun in a turret under the cockpit. They can also be armed with air to air missiles. They have a very distinct and very loud sound. They also have a very distinct double bubble cockpit.

Mi-28 "Havoc"

The havoc is Russia's most destructive helicopter. With multiple weapons loads including fuel air bombs, gun pods, rocket pods, ATGMs, and the ever present all seeing 30 mm chain gun on the nose, the Havoc can lay down fire in any direction and destroy almost any target you could imagine. The havoc is also very heavily armored as helicopters go. The smallest rated threat for the Mi-28 is .50 caliber API-T rounds, but expect to only see positive results using 20mm or more. This armor is largely due to the fact that the Mi-28 does not contain a crew compartment. While the Mi-24 can more often than not deploy a full squad to the battlefield, essentially making it an aerial BTR, the Mi-28 is better compared to an aerial T-90.

Ka-60 "Kasatka"

The Kasatka is a transport helicopter capable of carrying light armament, similar to what you would expect to see on US littlebirds. It is best described as an effective hybrid between transport and light attack craft. Like most Russian vehicles, it has a somewhat broader combat role than equivalent US military vehicles.

Ka-52 "Alligator

The Ka-52 is the big brother of the Ka-50 "Blackshark". A high speed stacked main rotor allows for the helicopter to maintain a relatively skinny rotor span, meaning the helicopter can take off and land effectively in tight spaces, and it can carry greater armament than other helicopters with similar rotor spans. The double main rotor design aids in reducing down wash, as well as increasing collective responsiveness (thus increasing combat survivability through superior auto rotate abilities. The downwash from the first rotor can keep the second one spinning faster for longer, which means a more controllable glide if power is lost). Of course, none of the flight specifics of the Alligator are terribly applicable to ARMA, even with AFM enabled.

The KA-52 has a forward mounted 23 mm cannon with no opposability. It carries a tremendous amount of long range rocket propelled armament, including a variety of rocket pods, bombs, and ATGMs. The Ka-52 is a much greater threat to vehicular assets due to it's reduced radar plane and comparatively long engagement range. As infantry, the Ka-52 is not necessarily the biggest threat you can face from the air, but it still a formidable and dangerous opponent with just as much armor as the above mentioned Mi-28. Exercise caution when engaging and exposing yourself to a Ka-52, especially if it's pointed towards you.