100 km/h Meets BMP-3 Firepower as War Thunder Unleashes the AMV in Desert Predator

Take one of Finland’s most successful 8x8 armored platforms, lengthen the hull and install one of Russia’s strangest infantry-fighting-vehicle turrets on top. War Thunder’s new Desert Predator event turns that real Emirati experiment into the AMV (BMP-3), a Rank VI event light tank for Sweden capab

The event runs from October 1 at 11:00 GMT until October 19 at 11:00 GMT, with players earning mission score in Ground Battles to clear nine two-day stages. The vehicle itself requires eight completed stages, while going one step further adds an exclusive two-tone desert camouflage and four random modifications. UAE Armed Forces decals, a dedicated loading screen and reward trophies fill the progression between them.

It is an unusual addition even by War Thunder standards. The AMV (BMP-3) combines the road performance of a modern wheeled armored vehicle with the dual-caliber firepower associated with the BMP-3, creating something built to arrive quickly, attack from unexpected positions and relocate before heavier armor can react.

Finland Built the Chassis, Russia Supplied the Firepower

The basic Patria AMV was developed as an 8x8 modular armored vehicle capable of accepting different weapons and mission equipment. High payload capacity and modular construction were central to its design, allowing the same basic platform to function as a personnel carrier, command vehicle, reconnaissance platform, mortar carrier or heavily armed combat vehicle.

The United Arab Emirates wanted something more specific: the mobility of the Finnish chassis combined with the combat system already familiar from its BMP-3 fleet. Patria therefore demonstrated an AMV fitted with the Russian BMP-3 weapon system at IDEX 2007 in Abu Dhabi, providing technical assistance for the integration.

Installing that turret was not simply a matter of cutting a hole into the roof. The AMV hull had to be lengthened to accommodate the larger combat compartment, creating the distinctive configuration represented by Gaijin’s event vehicle.

This Was More Than an Exhibition Mock-Up

The 2007 vehicle led to actual cooperation with the UAE Armed Forces. Patria’s own retrospective documentation records an agreement for five vehicles in November 2007, followed by a much larger agreement for 40 AMVs in November 2015. The company publicly confirmed the new UAE order in January 2016, describing the country as an existing operator satisfied with the platform’s performance in demanding conditions.

Those later vehicles were manufactured through Patria’s Polish industrial partner on a compressed schedule. Exact configurations and many contractual details remained classified, but the BMP-3-equipped AMV had already demonstrated one of the platform’s defining strengths: the ability to accept a much heavier weapon installation than a conventional wheeled APC.

Gaijin notes that AMV (BMP-3) vehicles remain in service with the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, which is why Desert Predator’s secondary rewards are built around Emirati military insignia rather than Finnish or Russian markings.

The Turret Carries Two Very Different Guns

The centerpiece is the familiar BMP-3 turret and its unusual pairing of weapons. A 30 mm automatic cannon handles rapid engagements against lightly armored vehicles, exposed components and other vulnerable targets, while the 100 mm gun-launcher provides a completely different level of firepower.

The larger weapon can fire conventional high-explosive ammunition as well as two types of anti-tank guided missile, allowing the AMV to threaten armored opponents that its 30 mm cannon would struggle to defeat frontally.

That combination gives the vehicle flexibility few ordinary wheeled light tanks possess. The autocannon is suited to rapid close-range work, flanking shots and disabling tracks, barrels or other modules, while the 100 mm system gives the crew a heavier answer when a main battle tank appears.

The price is that players need to manage two very different ballistic systems rather than relying on one high-velocity cannon for everything.

100 km/h Is Where the Vehicle Becomes Dangerous

Gaijin lists a maximum speed of 100 km/h, which immediately establishes the AMV’s battlefield role. This is not a vehicle intended to trade shots from the same position as a conventional tank. Its most dangerous weapon may be the speed with which it can reach positions before opponents expect anyone to be there.

Wheeled mobility should make it particularly effective on maps with substantial road networks, where the AMV can exploit hard surfaces to capture early positions, attack from the side and relocate after firing. A 100 mm missile launcher becomes much more threatening when the vehicle carrying it can rapidly change the angle from which the missile arrives.

That speed will need to compensate for the obvious limitation of the concept. The AMV is still a wheeled armored vehicle rather than a heavily protected main battle tank. Getting detected in an exposed position is likely to end much more quickly than it would in something designed around armor.

This Is a Light Tank Built Around Positioning

Gaijin classifies the AMV (BMP-3) as a Rank VI Swedish light tank, placing it in the same broad battlefield role as other fast scouting and flanking vehicles rather than as an infantry carrier in the strict game-mechanics sense.

Sweden is the logical research-tree destination because Patria is Finnish, and War Thunder’s Swedish ground tree already represents Finnish military hardware alongside Swedish vehicles. The Emirati configuration consequently adds another international branch to a tree that has steadily broadened beyond equipment designed exclusively in Sweden.

The combination should appeal especially to players comfortable with light-tank fundamentals: arrive first, gather information, exploit flanks and avoid remaining stationary once the enemy understands where the threat is coming from.

Desert Predator Uses Nine Two-Day Stages

Earning the vehicle follows War Thunder’s familiar score-based event structure. Each stage requires 35,000 mission points, and a new stage begins every two days. The rotations occur at 11:00 GMT on October 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17, with the overall event ending on October 19.

Mission score can be earned in Ground Arcade, Realistic and Simulator Battles using Rank III or higher vehicles. Multipliers vary according to game mode and the highest vehicle Rank used in the battle, meaning the raw score displayed during a match does not necessarily translate one-to-one into event progression.

Older Rank I and II vehicles can also qualify when they are themselves previous event vehicles. Gaijin identifies eligible machines through the event name shown on their stat cards.

Importantly, points are credited only after the battle ends, so leaving a match early does not immediately update Desert Predator progression.

Eight Stages Unlock the AMV

The reward structure gradually builds toward the vehicle. Stage 1 grants a random-reward trophy, while Stages 2 and 4 provide the two UAE-themed decal rewards. Stages 3 and 5 add more trophies, Stage 6 unlocks the dedicated “Patria AMV BMP-3” loading screen, and Stage 7 provides the final random-reward trophy before the main prize.

Completing Stage 8 awards the non-tradable AMV (BMP-3) coupon. Activating that coupon immediately adds the Swedish Rank VI vehicle to the account.

Stage 9 is optional for anyone interested only in owning the AMV, but completing it grants the vehicle’s unique bicolor desert camouflage plus four random modifications, reducing some of the initial stock grind while also providing the event’s most appropriate visual configuration.

Players need to remember that rewards are not automatically collected. After finishing a stage, Gaijin requires players to open the Desert Predator event panel and manually claim the corresponding reward.

The UAE Decals Give the Event Its Historical Identity

The two cosmetic rewards are the UAE Presidential Guard Emblem and UAE Armed Forces Emblem. Together with the desert camouflage, they reinforce that this is not simply a generic Patria receiving a BMP-3 turret for gameplay variety.

Its identity comes from the Emirati requirement that produced the real machine.

That historical specificity is useful in a game where international vehicle development can otherwise become difficult to follow. Finnish hull, Russian armament, Emirati customer and Swedish technology tree may initially sound like four unrelated pieces, but they all belong to the same vehicle story.

Desert Predator turns that strange procurement history into the theme of the entire event.

The Reward Trophies Can Contain Useful Account Items

Stages 1, 3, 5 and 7 award reward chests containing one item from a broader pool. Potential prizes include 50,000–100,000 Silver Lions, Silver Lion or Research Point boosters, random wagers and orders, one to three Universal Backups, a random camouflage for an owned vehicle or one day of Premium Account.

These are secondary rewards rather than the reason most players will grind the event, but they give the intermediate stages some practical value instead of making the first week a completely empty climb toward Stage 8.

The random nature of the trophies also means two players completing identical event progression may receive very different supplementary rewards.

Partial Stages Can Be Finished With Golden Eagles

Gaijin is again allowing incomplete stages to be purchased with Golden Eagles, but the cost decreases significantly according to how much progress has already been made.

At roughly 85% completion, the stage purchase price is reduced by half. At around 95%, the price can fall to one-fifth of the original amount. Gaijin’s official example places a stage at 349 GE after reaching 30,000 of the required 35,000 points, while reaching 33,500 points reduces the remaining cost to 139 GE.

That makes partial purchasing potentially useful for someone who misses the final few thousand points of a two-day window. Players do not necessarily need to pay the same price as somebody who skipped the stage completely.

Individual stages remain purchasable until October 23, providing a short grace period after normal mission-score progression ends.

Selling the Vehicle Requires a Much Bigger Grind

The eight-stage AMV coupon is initially non-tradable. Players who want to sell it through the Gaijin Market rather than activate the vehicle need an additional Upgrade for Coupon item.

That upgrade is earned separately by accumulating 600,000 mission points during the October 1–19 event period. Unlike the individual stages, it progresses continuously in parallel with the normal Desert Predator grind.

Once earned, the upgrade can convert the AMV coupon into a tradable version. The resulting coupon can be listed on the Market six days after it is created.

The Upgrade for Coupon remains valid until October 23 at 11:00 GMT. After that deadline it disappears, although players can exchange it for War Bonds before expiration if they decide not to use it.

600,000 Points Is Deliberately Far Above the Vehicle Requirement

The normal vehicle grind is substantial but considerably smaller. Eight stages at 35,000 points each represent 280,000 stage points, assuming each one is completed entirely through gameplay.

The tradable-coupon requirement more than doubles that workload to 600,000 points. That difference is intentional: Gaijin makes obtaining the vehicle for personal use much easier than farming a coupon specifically for resale.

Players interested only in adding the AMV to their Swedish lineup therefore have little reason to pursue the market upgrade unless they naturally accumulate enough score while playing heavily during the event.

For collectors and Market traders, however, the extra target creates a second progression race running alongside the first.

The AMV Was Designed to Carry Heavy Weapons

The real-world configuration illustrates why Patria marketed modularity so heavily. The company’s AMV architecture was designed around high payload capacity, protection and integration of heavy weapon systems, allowing customers to configure the same basic vehicle for very different missions.

The BMP-3 turret is an extreme demonstration of that flexibility. Combining a 100 mm gun-launcher, 30 mm autocannon and the associated combat compartment requires considerably more internal volume and structural support than installing a machine-gun remote weapon station.

Lengthening the hull provided the necessary space while preserving the core 8x8 platform.

That engineering compromise is visible even before examining the armament: the UAE vehicle has proportions that distinguish it from more conventional AMV variants.

The UAE Became an Early Export Customer

Patria’s relationship with the Emirates goes back almost two decades. The company displayed the BMP-3-equipped vehicle at IDEX 2007, then signed the first five-vehicle agreement later that year. The same weapon-system demonstrator returned to subsequent IDEX exhibitions in 2011 and 2015.

A larger 40-vehicle deal followed in 2015 and was publicly announced in January 2016. Patria emphasized that the UAE’s previous experience with the AMV had demonstrated its suitability for demanding operating conditions, while the new hulls were produced in Poland through the company’s established industrial partnership.

This history makes the vehicle considerably more interesting than an experimental prototype that existed only on an exhibition stand. The Emirati AMV relationship became a real procurement program, and its distinctive BMP-3 integration is the version War Thunder has chosen to represent.

The Combination Should Create a Very Different Swedish Light Tank

From a gameplay perspective, Desert Predator brings together two properties that are already dangerous individually: very high wheeled mobility and missile-capable BMP-3 firepower.

The 30 mm cannon gives the vehicle a rapid response against light armor and vulnerable flanks. The 100 mm launcher provides HE ammunition for soft targets and ATGMs for opponents that cannot be handled through autocannon fire. Meanwhile, 100 km/h mobility creates the opportunity to choose where those weapons are used.

The obvious weakness is survivability. A large wheeled hull carrying a substantial turret is not difficult to notice, and aggressive early positioning can quickly become a liability if opponents anticipate the route. Successful AMV players should therefore benefit more from map knowledge and timing than from attempting to absorb return fire.

It is a predator because it can arrive quickly.

Not because it can survive being caught.

Desert Predator Begins October 1

The event starts October 1 at 11:00 GMT—13:00 CEST for much of continental Europe—and continues until the same time on October 19. Eight completed stages secure the AMV (BMP-3), while the ninth adds the unique camouflage and four modifications. Players can also collect both UAE decals, the vehicle loading screen and several random-reward trophies along the way.

The reward itself is one of those military vehicles that appears almost designed for War Thunder: a Finnish 8x8 modified for an Arab customer, carrying a Russian turret whose two-gun arrangement already behaves unlike most conventional armored vehicles.

On paper, it should offer speed, autocannon pressure and missile firepower in the same package.

Getting it requires 280,000 points across eight stages.

Getting caught by it on a flank may take considerably less time.