Editing BVP M-80A (section)

==History==
Class: Infantry Fighting Vehicle</br>
Developed: 1969-1980</br>
Service: 1982+</br>
Vehicles Built: cca 600</br>
Operators: Yugoslavia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Slovenia

At first glance, the Yugoslavian BVP might seem like a slightly different copy of the Soviet BMP series but, under the surface, the vehicle was very different and had little to do with its Russian counterpart. It was, however, inspired by the BMP-1's success. At the time, Yugoslavia had strained relations with the Soviet Union and thus simply purchasing the BMP-1 was not an option, which is why they opted for indigenous research.

The development of the M-80 IFV started around 1969 and the first prototype was ready in 1974. A year later, the vehicle was first shown to the public during the May military parade in Belgrade, but the actual mass production did not start until 1979. Only a few vehicles of the initial pattern were produced before it was replaced in 1980 by a slightly larger variant with a different engine called the M-80A.

The vehicle is made of steel with the sloped front being approximately 14mm thick, providing enough protection to withstand the fire of 20mm autocannons. Propulsion was provided by a Yugoslavian copy of a Mercedes Benz engine, the FAMOS 10V003 15.95 liter V10 diesel. The original version was, however, only armed with a 20mm cannon along with Malyutka launcher.

Despite this handicap, the M-80A (officially entering service in 1982) was a rather potent AFV that was produced until the collapse of Yugoslavia. It was never exported, although after the country’s split, many were passed down to the successor states with most of them ending up in Croatia and Serbia. It did participate in much of the Yugoslav Wars fighting and, although its performance is a bit hard to track, it seems to have performed on par with the BMP-1.

The Armored Warfare version features three turrets. The first option is the M-80/98A turret with a combination of a 30mm Zastava M86 L/70 autocannon (similar in performance to the Russian 2A72) and a Malyutka missile launcher. With this weapon system, the vehicle is sometimes referred to as M-80A1 Vidra.

The second option is the Foka turret, which is an anti-aircraft turret with two 30mm Zastava autocannons. This M-80A variant is also sometimes called SPAT 30/2.

The third version is a rare anti-tank version of this vehicle (M-80A LT, also called M92), featuring the M83 turret with six Malyutka missiles. All three of these turrets were used on the BVP M-80A chassis, but were produced either in low numbers or remained experimental.