Editing Infantry fighting vehicle (section)

===Early Cold War===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F027418-0012, Schützenpanzer HS-30 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|West German troops aboard a [[Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30]], the world's first well-known IFV. (1965)]]

The infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) concept evolved directly out of that of the [[armored personnel carrier]] (APC).<ref name="MICV" /> During the [[Cold War]] of 1947-1991 armies increasingly fitted heavier and heavier weapons systems on an APC chassis to deliver [[suppressive fire]] for infantry debussing from the vehicle's troop compartment.<ref name="MICV" /> With the growing mechanization of infantry units worldwide, some armies also came to believe that the embarked personnel should fire their weapons from inside the protection of the APC and only fight on foot as a last resort.<ref name="MICV" />{{refn|During the [[Six-Day War]], for example, [[Ba'athist Syria|Syrian]] motorized infantry used their [[BTR-152]] and [[BTR-40]] APCs as firing platforms and rarely debarked to fight on foot.<ref name=Campbell>{{cite book |last= Campbell|first= David|title= Israeli Soldier vs Syrian Soldier: Golan Heights 1967–73|date=2016|pages=1–61|publisher= Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4728-1330-5}}</ref>|name=ASK|group=note}} These two trends led to the IFV, with firing ports in the troop compartment and a crew-operated weapons system.<ref name="MICV" /> The IFV established a new niche between those combat vehicles which functioned primarily as armored weapons-carriers or as APCs.<ref name="USMC">{{cite journal |last= Besch |first= Edwin |title= Infantry Fighting Vehicles: Their Evolution and Significance |journal=[[Marine Corps Gazette]] |pages=50–60 |publisher=[[Marine Corps Association]] |location=[[Marine Corps Base Quantico]] |date=July 1983}}</ref>

During the 1950s, the Soviet, US, and most European armies had adopted tracked APCs.<ref name="USMC" /> In 1957, however, France's {{Lang|fr|[[Ministère des Armées]]|italic=no}} adopted the [[AMX-VCI]] (VCI for ''Véhicule de Combat d'Infanterie,'' literally ''Infantry Fighting Vehicle''), which resembled a small, conventional tracked APC but carried a turret-mounted 20&nbsp;mm autocannon that enabled it to engage other armored vehicles.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tanks and armored fighting vehicles |date=2012 |publisher=Chartwell Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-7858-2926-3 |page=300 |edition=visual encyclopedia |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/785874088}}</ref> The AMX-VCI was the first purpose-built IFV, renamed from ''AMX-VTT'' in 1957, One year before German SPz-12-3, the second true IFV.<ref name=Guardia>{{cite book |last= Guardia|first= Mike|title= Bradley Versus BMP: Desert Storm 1991 |date=2016 |pages= 8–29, 30–32 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-4728-1520-0}}</ref><ref name="Coffey">{{Cite thesis |last=Coffey |first=Rod |year=2000 |title=Doctrinal Orphan or Active Partner? A History of US Mechanized Infantry Doctrine |type=Master's thesis |location=Fort Leavenworth, KS |publisher=Army Command and General Staff College |id={{DTIC|ADA384122}} |oclc=465212839}}</ref>

The {{lang|fr|Ministère des Armées}}'s doctrine called for mounted infantry to fight and maneuver alongside tank formations rather than the previously well-known heavy armor doctrine.<ref name="AMX-VCI">{{cite web |title=AMX-VCI (1957) |url=https://tank-afv.com/coldwar/France/AMX-VCI.php |website=tank-afv.com |publisher=Tank Encyclopedia}}</ref> AMX-VCI could carry ten troops in addition to a three-man crew.<ref name="Pint-Sized Battle Taxi">{{cite news |last1=Garden |first1=David |title=Pint-Sized Battle Taxi |url=https://www.keymilitary.com/article/pint-sized-battle-taxi |work=David Garden Pictures |agency=Key Publishing Ltd |publisher=Key Publishing Ltd |date=2020-03-19}}</ref>

As the AMX-VCI and SPz-12-3 were being inducted into service, the Austrian army adopted new APCs which possessed firing ports, allowing embarked infantry to observe and fire their weapons from inside the vehicle.<ref name="USMC" /> These were known as the [[Saurer 4K 4FA|Saurer 4K]].<ref name="USMC" /> Austria subsequently introduced an IFV variant of the Saurer 4K which carried a 20&nbsp;mm autocannon, making it the first vehicle of this class to possess both firing ports and a turreted weapons-system.<ref name="USMC" />

In the early to mid-1960s, the [[Swedish Army]] adopted two IFVs armed with 20&nbsp;mm autocannon turrets and roof firing hatches: [[Pansarbandvagn 301]] and [[Pansarbandvagn 302]], having experimented with the IFV concept already during WWII in the [[Terrängbil m/42 KP]] wheeled machine gun armed proto-IFV.<ref name="ointres">{{Cite web |title=Terrängbil m/42 KP |url=http://www.ointres.se/terrangbil_m_42_kp.htm | access-date=2021-11-15 |website=ointres.se }}</ref> Following the trend towards converting preexisting APCs into IFVs, the Dutch, US, and Belgian armies experimented with a variety of modified [[M113 armored personnel carrier|M113s]] during the late 1960s; these were collectively identified as the [[AIFV]] (Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle).<ref name="USMC" />

The first US M113-based IFV appeared in 1969; known as the XM765, it had a sharply angled hull, ten vision blocks, and a cupola-mounted 20&nbsp;mm autocannon.<ref name="USMC" /> The XM765 design, though rejected for service, later became the basis for the very similar Dutch YPR-765.<ref name="USMC" /> The YPR-765 had five firing ports and a 25&nbsp;mm autocannon with a co-axial machine gun.<ref name="USMC" />

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-1007-009, Berlin, 39. Jahrestag DDR-Gründung, Parade crop.jpg|thumb|An East German [[BMP-1]] with eight passengers (1988)]]

The [[Soviet Army]] fielded its first tracked APC, the [[BTR-50]], in 1957.<ref name=Guardia /> Its first wheeled APC, the [[BTR-152]], had been designed as early as the late 1940s.<ref name=Guardia /> Early versions of both these lightly armored vehicles were open-topped and carried only general-purpose machine guns for armament.<ref name="USMC" /> As Soviet strategists became more preoccupied with the possibility of a war involving [[weapons of mass destruction]], they became convinced of the need to deliver mounted troops to a battlefield without exposing them to the radioactive fallout from an atomic weapon.<ref name=Guardia /> The IFV concept was received favorably because it would enable a Soviet infantry squad to fight from inside their vehicles when operating in contaminated environments.<ref name=Guardia /> [[BMP development|Soviet design work on a new tracked IFV]] began in the late 1950s and the first prototype appeared as the ''Obyekt 765'' in 1961.<ref name=Guardia /> After evaluating and rejecting a number of other wheeled and tracked prototypes, the Soviet Army accepted the ''Obyekt 765'' for service. It entered serial production as the [[BMP-1]] in 1966.<ref name=Guardia />

The BMP-1 was heavily armed and armored, combining the qualities of a [[light tank]] with those of the traditional APC.<ref name=Russia>{{Cite book |last=Rodgers |first=Russell |date=2014 |editor-first=Timothy |editor-last=Dowling |title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |publisher=ABC-CLIO, Publishers |pages=135–137 |isbn=978-1-59884-947-9}}</ref> In addition to being amphibious and superior in cross-country mobility to its predecessors, the BMP-1 carried a [[2A28 Grom|73mm smoothbore cannon]], a co-axial [[PK machine gun|PKT machine gun]], and a launcher for [[9M14 Malyutka]] anti-tank missiles.<ref name=Guardia /> Its hull had sufficiently heavy armor to resist .50 caliber armor-piercing ammunition along its frontal arc.<ref name="USMC" /> Eight firing ports and vision blocks allowed the embarked infantry squad to observe and engage targets with rifles or machine guns.<ref name="USMC" /> The BMP-1's use of a relatively large caliber main gun marked a departure from the Western trend of fitting IFVs with automatic cannon, which were more suitable for engaging low-flying aircraft, light armor, and dismounted personnel.<ref name="USMC" />

The Soviet Union produced about 20,000 BMP-1s from 1966 to 1983,<ref name=Russia /> at which time it was considered the most widely adopted IFV design in the world.<ref name="USMC" /> In Soviet service, the BMP-1 was ultimately superseded by the more sophisticated [[BMP-2]] (in service from 1980) and by the [[BMP-3]] (in service from 1987).<ref name=Russia /> A similar vehicle known as the [[BMD-1]] was designed to accompany Soviet airborne infantry and for a number of years was the world's only airborne IFV.<ref name="USMC" />

In 1971 the {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}} adopted the [[Marder (IFV)|Marder]], which became increasingly heavily armored through its successive marks and – like the BMP – was later fitted as standard with a launcher for anti-tank guided missiles.<ref name="USMC" /> Between 1973 and 1975 the French and Yugoslav armies developed the [[AMX-10P]] and [[BVP M-80]], respectively – the first amphibious IFVs to appear outside the Soviet Union.<ref name="USMC" /> The Marder, AMX-10P, and M-80 were all armed with similar 20&nbsp;mm autocannon and carried seven to eight passengers.<ref name="USMC" /> They could also be armed with various anti-tank missile configurations.<ref name="USMC" />