Russian Airborne Troops receives 42 BMD-4M AIFVs ...the most formidable Airborne IFV in service today...

via Army Recognition.

The Russian Armed Forces have received forty-two BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicles from Kurganmashzavod plant, which failed to deliver them in 2018 after France had refused to supply some of the components, Russian Vice-Premier Yuri Borisov said on Friday.

Earlier, Borisov told a conference in Kurgan that Kurganmashzavod had not executed a number of state contracts but had not specified what vehicles were in question. "In 2018, the enterprise broke the deadlines on a number of state contracts but BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicles were an exception. Due to force majeure circumstances (France’s refusal to supply thermal imaging modules) the time of delivery of forty-two BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicles was put off until 2019. At present, the aforesaid contract has been executed," the Russian vice-premier said when asked about the situation with the Kurganmashzavod plant. "There are no preconditions for disrupting the program in 2019," he added.

The BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicle weighs 14 tons. It is armed with a 100mm gun, which also serves as a launcher for the Arkan anti-tank guided missiles (the ammunition load consists of 34 shells and 4 missiles); a 30-mm automatic gun (the ammunition load is 500 shells) and a 7.62mm machine-gun. The BMD-4M can reach 70 km/h and float at a maximum speed of 10 km/h. The crew consists of three men. The vehicle can carry up to five paratroopers.

Story here.

Love them or hate them, the fact remains that the Russians have cracked the code when it comes to giving their airborne forces a capable air droppable, infantry fighting vehicle.

Yes.  We can rig up a first gen LAV to perform the same job.  Problem?  Even in its smallest form factor the LAV family is big in comparison.

The 82nd Airborne has been forced to use militarized ATVs that you'll see in the backwoods of America (used by farmers, hunters and outdoorsmen for recreation) to transport their forces from the drop zone.

Even now the interim solution is to provide them with a Humvee light to get the same mobility (only over terrain favoring wheeled vehicles) while having less protection,  and most definitely less firepower.

The Army is working on an Airborne tank.  Is it time to work on a proper Airborne IFV too?