The domestic one with an 8x8 wheel arrangement was put into service in 2013. Produced by the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant. It represents a thorough modernization of the BTR-80, which has been serving in our army since 1986. Originally from the USSR? This shouldn't be confusing. Compared to its predecessor, the “eighty-second” has a more powerful engine, higher cross-country ability, greater firing efficiency on the move, survivability, and service life.
Weapons, sighting devices, communications, surveillance and orientation equipment have become better. The anti-fragmentation and mine protection of the crew and troops has been strengthened, and an autonomous diesel generator has been installed in the parking lot to power the systems.
What about the competitor? It can hardly be called the latest fashion. The M1126 Stryker infantry armored personnel carrier was adopted by the US Army in 2003. Manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems. The Stryker is based on the Canadian LAV III, which entered service in 1999. But this is not the whole pedigree. The roots of the development are the MOWAG Piranha III H 8x8, a representative of the family of Swiss multi-purpose wheeled armored vehicles born in 1994. If you dig even deeper, you will find out that the sonorous name “Piranha” and the first-born of the family appeared already in 1972! That is, the battle of concepts has been going on since the days of our BTR-60/70. As you can see, there is no clear leader in terms of novelty of designs.
Swimming lesson
The Stryker's layout is considered classic for this type of military equipment. On the right front in the direction of travel is the engine and transmission compartment. It has a Caterpillar diesel engine and transmission is an Allison 6-speed automatic. To the left of the power plant is the control compartment with the driver's seat. Behind the driver on the right is the commander's seat. In the middle and aft part there is a troop compartment. The landing takes place through the aft doors and hatches in the roof of the hull. The weapons are located in a remotely controlled module above the commander's seat.
The BTR-82A is designed differently. The control compartment is located in the frontal compartment, the landing compartment is combined with the combat compartment in the middle, and the engine-transmission compartment is located in the rear part of the hull. The gearbox is a 5-speed manual, which in terms of cross-country ability and maintainability is better than the American version with an automatic transmission. The KamAZ diesel engine is slightly inferior in power to its US competitor. But in terms of specific power, the cars are very close. Troops disembark from a domestic armored personnel carrier through doors on the sides, and there are also hatches in the roof. The armament is mounted in a remote-controlled turret machine gun-cannon installation.
You can endlessly weigh the pros and cons of competing layout schemes, but the armored personnel carrier has a crowbar argument in the form of high cross-country ability. And it’s not just the mentioned difference in gearboxes. Our armored personnel carrier is equipped with a rigidly connected all-wheel drive and, most importantly, forced inter-wheel differential locks (the predecessor, the BTR-80, had only self-locking ones). The American M1126 is not equipped with such an off-road arsenal.
He also loses another nomination. The ford depth of the Stryker is 1.2 meters. Not bad. But our armored personnel carrier floats at a speed of 9 km/h using a water-jet propulsion device! Including by sea and even in slight waves. And overseas designers, in an attempt to better armor the car, sacrificed buoyancy. In vain!
Main caliber
Formally, the security of the Stryker crew is higher. In any case, the characteristics of the M1126 always emphasize this. But adding an additional MEXAS ceramic layer over the steel armor does not make the vehicle lighter and, alas, does not turn it into a tank - the protection does not become unconditionally bulletproof. And the tasks of a lightly armored transporter are not tank-related at all - delivery of motorized rifles to their destination and fire support. His strong point is mobility, speed, maneuverability, maneuverability, buoyancy. And it’s a sin for the sake of a slight increase in protection to deteriorate some properties and completely abandon others. A compromise is needed here. And our armored personnel carrier is closer to it. It is not overweight with armor - it was and remains bulletproof. And as additional protection, the sides are lined with anti-fragmentation Kevlar panels on the inside. And the floor inside is covered with powerful mats - this enhances mine protection.If we compare the weapons, then the BTR-82A will definitely beat the sides of the M-1126. The transporter from the USA has either an M-240 machine gun, a Browning M-2 heavy machine gun, or an Mk-19 automatic grenade launcher. The domestic weapons module is equipped with a coaxial PKTM machine gun and a rapid-firing 30-mm 2A72 cannon, stabilized in two planes. A solid set for a lightly armored transporter. With such weapons, you can not only successfully fight Stryker, but also heavier armored vehicles.
Characteristics of armored personnel carriers of Russia and the USA
| BTR-82A | M1126 Stryker |
|
| Combat weight, tons | ||
| Crew, people | ||
| Troops, people | ||
| Length, mm | 6950- 7250 |
|
| Width, mm | ||
| Height, mm | ||
| Ground clearance, mm | ||
| Engine power, hp | ||
| Transmission | ||
| Maximum speed, km/h | ||
| Cruising range, km | ||
| Tank capacity, l | ||
| Climbability, degrees | ||
| Wall to be overcome, m | ||
| Fordability, m | ||
| steel + upholstery inside | steel + composite |
|
| Weapons: | | |
Armored personnel carriers before being sent to sea. Photo by Olga Yaroslavskaya
“The problem with the BTR-80 in relation to use in the Marine Corps is that the vehicle has a low buoyancy reserve and is not suitable for floating even in relatively light seas. Plus, a highly qualified driver is required: the ability to control a vehicle afloat, taking into account waves, wind direction and currents,” military expert, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, reserve colonel Viktor Murakhovsky told the Central Naval Portal.
“Under unfavorable conditions, it is enough to accidentally turn the BTR-80 sideways towards the wave so that the air intake floods, water gets inside the vehicle, shorts out the batteries, and the water pumps stop working,” he added.
According to the expert, among the Soviet (Russian) equipment, the BTR-50PK, PT-76 and BMP-3F are the most suitable for the Marine Corps.
TASS military observer, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin believes that the main cause of the incidents could have been erroneous actions of the driver and safety violations.
“They are designed not to sink, but to do this they need to be controlled correctly. Maybe the driver lost control, turned across the water, or the armored personnel carrier was overloaded,” the expert noted.
One of the servicemen of the Kazakh military unit near Aktau, to which the vehicles belonged, reported that due to a strong wave, the air intake of the armored personnel carrier was flooded, which was the cause of the incident.
Four BTR-80 armored personnel carriers of the Kazakh army sank in the Caspian Sea on September 18. Four conscripts were killed along with the vehicles.
On September 19, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan Imangali Tasmagambetov arrived at the scene of the incident. He decided to remove from office the commander of the Regional Command "West", Colonel Murat Nugmanov, as well as the first deputy commander of the Regional Command "West", chief of staff, Colonel Rizat Kolpashev, deputy commander of the Regional Command "West" for combat training, Colonel Mergen Kapashev, commander Marine Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Erbulat Tolykbaev.
A similar tragedy occurred in September 2014 during a landing exercise on the coast of Sakhalin. Three contract Marines were killed during the incident. The commander of the Marine Corps platoon, Senior Lieutenant B., sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for negligence, as a result of which three servicemen of the Pacific Fleet drowned in an armored personnel carrier, and amnestied by the court for the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, continued to serve in his previous position.
Another similar incident occurred at the end of July 2013. An armored personnel carrier sank during a dress rehearsal for the naval parade for Ukrainian Fleet Day in Sevastopol Bay.
Today, one of the most common types of military equipment in all armies of the world are armored personnel carriers. But this was not always the case. Their rapid development began after the end of World War II. The military realized how important it was to increase infantry mobility and increase its security.
In 1949, the USSR adopted the BTR-40, which was an almost exact copy of the American Scout Car M3A1 armored personnel carrier, supplied under Lend-Lease. Then in 1950 the BTR-152 was released, and in 1959 the Soviet amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-60 was adopted. It had two gasoline engines with two transmissions, and this car was not particularly reliable. And its firepower did not suit the military. In 1976, the BTR-70 was created, the armament of which was strengthened. It was equipped with a KPVT machine gun (14.5 mm) and a PKT machine gun. This vehicle differed favorably from its predecessor; it also had two gasoline engines, but much more powerful than those on the BTR-60.
However, then the war in Afghanistan began and all the shortcomings of the BTR-70 immediately made themselves felt. Its main problem was the power plant, which was complex, not very reliable and consumed a large amount of fuel. It can be said that the BTR-70 was generally poorly suited to operations in mountainous areas. Even the machine gun mounted on it had a small elevation angle and could do little to help the fighters against the dushmans entrenched in the mountains.
It was very inconvenient to parachute from the vehicle, and its security left much to be desired. The Gorky Automobile Plant is beginning to develop a new armored personnel carrier, which will soon be called the BTR-80.
History of the creation of the BTR-80
The car received the factory designation GAZ-5903. The design of the vehicle is not fundamentally different from the BTR-70. The developers focused their main attention on improving the vehicle’s power plant. What was needed was one reliable diesel engine. The presence of two engines and transmissions in a combat vehicle at once gave certain advantages (if one engine was damaged, the armored personnel carrier could move with the help of the other). But the complexity of routine maintenance and repair of a power plant with such a device reduced the positive qualities to almost nothing.
The new vehicle was equipped with a diesel engine from the KamAZ production vehicle, which significantly reduced the cost of production and maintenance of the new equipment. Thanks to the installation of a turbocharger, the BTR-80 could reach a speed 20 km/h higher than its predecessor.
New landing hatches were made on the BTR-80, consisting of two doors. The armament remained the same, but the design of the turret was changed. The BTR-80 armored personnel carrier became two tons heavier than its predecessor, but thanks to the installation of a more powerful engine, this did not affect its maneuverability.
In 1986, the vehicle was put into service and mass production began. Today, the BTR-80 is the main armored personnel carrier of the Russian army, as well as many other armies of the world. This vehicle is actively exported; the BTR-80 has taken part in many conflicts.
Dozens of various modifications of the BTR-80 have been created, and vehicles to perform special functions are manufactured on its basis. The latest modifications of this vehicle are often equipped with an automatic cannon and anti-tank missile systems.
Description of BTR-80
The BTR-80 armored personnel carrier is designed to transport personnel and support them with fire on the battlefield. Although, the fire support function is more relevant to an infantry fighting vehicle.
The vehicle body is made of rolled armor plates. The body of the machine has a streamlined shape, this is necessary to give it buoyancy and to increase its protection. The thickness of the armor does not exceed 10 millimeters.
The BTR-80 is divided into several sections. In front is the control compartment, which houses the driver-mechanic and the commander of the vehicle. Also installed here are surveillance devices (including night ones), control and measuring instruments, a radio station and an intercom.
Behind the control compartment is the combat compartment. It houses the operator-gunner's seat and space for paratroopers (seven people). One infantryman sits next to the gunner, facing the direction of travel, and the rest are located facing the sides of the vehicle, three people on each side. The department has embrasures for the use of personal weapons. To fire a machine gun, the gunner occupies a special hanging chair.
There is also a large landing hatch in the fighting compartment. It consisted of two doors: the upper part opened to the side, and the lower part was lowered and served as a convenient step when exiting the car.
The power compartment is located at the rear of the vehicle. A diesel engine with transmission, radiators, fuel and oil tanks, generators and other equipment are installed there.
The armament of the BTR-80 consists of a KPVT machine gun and a PKT machine gun, which are located in the turret of the vehicle. The KPVT machine gun has a caliber of 14.5 mm and can fight enemy personnel, light armored vehicles and low-flying air targets. The turret also houses a 1P3-2 sight and observation devices.
The BTR-80 has an 8×8 wheel arrangement; the two front pairs of wheels are steerable. The car's suspension is independent, torsion bar. The wheels are tubeless and bulletproof. There is a system that monitors tire pressure. The BTR-80 will continue to move even if two wheels fail.
Characteristics of the BTR-80 performance characteristics
Below are the technical characteristics of the BTR-80.
Video about BTR-80
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them
Armored personnel carriers
There are many different cross-country combat vehicles in the ground forces of many countries. But among them there is one whose importance for motorized rifle units is difficult to overestimate. We are talking about an armored personnel carrier.
By the end of the 30s, large tank and mechanized formations appeared in the ground forces. The experience of the war in Spain and the battles at Khalkhin Gol showed that the development of a new type of troops requires equipping motorized infantry with armored combat vehicles that are not inferior in maneuverability and maneuverability to accompanying tanks.
But there was no longer time to develop and build them. Therefore, by the beginning of World War II, the ground forces of the warring countries found themselves completely without armored personnel carriers. This state of affairs immediately affected the course of hostilities.
The infantry could follow the tanks in vehicles. In this regard, it either got stuck on the roads, or, coming under enemy fire, suffered heavy losses, i.e., it itself lost its combat capability and left the escorted tanks without support.
Germany was the first to experience this: already in 1940, the Germans began to use a medium half-track armored personnel carrier in motorized infantry formations, which became Germany’s main transport and combat vehicle during the war.
A little later, in 1942, the Allied armies had an equivalent design in service. In the United States, a family of half-track armored personnel carriers was urgently created M2, M3, M5 And M9. Before the Second World War, the Soviet Union had a half-track in service BTR B-3. For a number of reasons, it was not put into mass production.
During the Great Patriotic War, some motorized rifle units included American wheeled and half-track armored personnel carriers, which were supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. The bulk of the infantry of the Red Army, as well as the armies of other warring countries, could only rely on trucks and their own legs.
To transport infantry and fight in tank formations, the military needed a specialized combat vehicle - powerful, all-terrain, fast, equipped with strong weapons and with reliable armor protection. Therefore, in the post-war years, wheeled armored personnel carriers began to be created BTR-152 And BTR-40, as well as crawler BTR-50. For that time they were good, reliable cars. But by the end of the 50s, they were morally and physically outdated, their characteristics did not meet the ever-increasing requirements of modern combat.
Armored personnel carrier K-78
In 1950, based on the PT-76 amphibious tank, the K-78 amphibious armored personnel carrier was created ( rice. 33). Only one prototype was built, which weighed 10.5 tons, based on the K-90 tank.
Rice. 33. Experienced armored personnel carrier K-78
The armored personnel carrier had an open top body made of sheets of rolled armor 15 mm thick. The crew of the armored personnel carrier consisted of 2 people plus 22 paratroopers, who were boarded and disembarked through the sides and stern of the hull.
The K-78's armament consisted of one 7.62 mm machine gun. The chassis, engine, transmission and propellers remained the same as on the base model of the tank. The armored personnel carrier could reach a maximum speed of 46 km/h on the highway, and 9.3 km/h on water. The highway range was 250 km.
Amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-50P
Two years later, in 1952, the amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-50P, based on the PT-76 tank, was designed and built. This vehicle had a multi-purpose purpose: the armored personnel carrier could transport 20 landing troops or an 85-mm cannon with a crew of 2 people. Other loading options were also provided: a GAZ-69 vehicle and 7 paratroopers; three 82-mm mortars with 120 mines and 20 crew members; three 82-mm recoilless rifles with 24 rounds and 12 crew members; one 120-mm mortar with 32 mines for it and 6 crew members, etc. In addition, the armored personnel carrier could transport cargo weighing up to 2000 kg.
In the front part of the vehicle there is an armored cabin (on the armored personnel carriers of the first releases it did not have armor and was covered with an awning). In the wheelhouse there was a control compartment for 2 crew members and a troop compartment. A fixed commander's turret with observation devices was mounted on the left frontal sheet of the cabin, and along the longitudinal axis there was a driver's hatch with a hinged lid.
The engine and transmission compartment is located in the stern of the armored personnel carrier, and folding ramps are installed on its roof for loading and unloading artillery systems.
In order to facilitate loading and unloading operations, a special loading device driven by an engine was mounted on the armored personnel carrier. The maximum pulling force of the winch was 14.7 kN.
Subsequently, on the basis of the BTR-50P, a small number of units of the amphibious tracked BTR-50PA were built, which is equipped with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and can fire at both ground and air targets.
Wheeled armored personnel carrier F.V. 603 "Saracen"
In 1953, the F.V. 603 Saracen wheeled armored personnel carrier was adopted by the British Army. rice. 34). It had a welded lightly armored hull with dimensions of 5.2? 2.5? 2.4 m. The maximum armor thickness was 16 mm.
The crew of the armored personnel carrier consisted of 2 people plus 10 landing troops. The combat weight of the vehicle was 10.2 tons. In the front part of the hull there was an 8-cylinder single-row carburetor engine B80 Mk6A, manufactured by Rolls-Royce. The power plant included fluid couplings, a five-speed manual gearbox, a transfer case, a differential, cardan and reduction gears.
Rice. 34. Wheeled armored personnel carrier F. V. 603 “Saracen”
The engine power was 160 hp. s., which enabled the car to reach a maximum speed of 72 km/h. The highway range was 400 km.
The vehicle's wheel suspension was independent with a longitudinal torsion bar, telescopic shock absorbers and rubber stops. Hydraulic servo boosters were mounted on the steering and brake drives.
A rotating turret was installed on the roof of the hull, which contained two 7.62 mm machine guns with 3,000 rounds of ammunition. For external communications, the armored personnel carrier is equipped with a radio station.
The vehicle could overcome obstacles with an elevation angle of 24°, cross walls 0.46 m high, and fords 1 m deep.
This model of armored personnel carrier was in service not only in Great Britain, but also in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East.
Amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-50PK
In 1957, another version of the amphibious armored personnel carrier was created, called the BTR-50PK ( rice. 35). It had an armored hull roof, on which there were 4 hatches with covers over the troop compartment.
The hatches are distributed as follows: the front left one was intended for the commander, the front right one and the rear ones were for paratroopers.
The armament of the BTR-50PK consisted of one SGMB or PKT machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber. In the traveling position, the machine gun was located in the troop compartment, in the combat position - on a special bracket on the left side. The armored personnel carrier is equipped with a PAZ (anti-nuclear protection) system.
Rice. 35. Amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-50PK
The vehicle is equipped with a V-6 engine, which did not have a power take-off for a winch (and, by the way, this model did not have one). In this regard, vehicles and artillery systems could not be transported on an armored personnel carrier. It could only transport cargo with a total weight of no more than 2000 kg. The vehicle was equipped with night vision devices, a gyro-compass, a radio station, a TPU and smoke equipment for setting up a smoke screen.
The combat weight of the armored personnel carrier is 14.2 tons, the crew is 2 people plus 20 paratroopers. The armor has a thickness of 13 mm. The vehicle is equipped with a 176.6 kW engine, which makes it possible to reach a maximum speed of 44 km/h on land and 10.2 km/h on water.
Armored roofs began to be installed on all floating and non-floating, experimental and production, wheeled and tracked armored personnel carriers after the events that occurred in Hungary in 1956.
When fighting in urban conditions, the absence of an armored roof on an armored personnel carrier leads to very significant losses among the paratroopers, since the attackers threw hand grenades and Molotov cocktails at the vehicles from roofs and windows. In addition, the completely closed hull of floating armored personnel carriers prevented water from splashing inside the compartments during large waves.
Floating wheeled armored personnel carrier ZIL-153
In 1957, the so-called The “Bureau of External Orders” of ZIL, under the leadership of N. I. Orlov and V. A. Grachev, began to develop the wheeled (6 × 6) amphibious armored personnel carrier ZIL-153 ( rice. 36). In 1959, all developments were completed. After this, an experimental model was built, the design of which used all the technical innovations tested in other modifications of armored personnel carriers and off-road vehicles ever built at this automobile plant.
The list of these technical innovations included: a new 8-cylinder carburetor engine with a power of 132.5 kW, a continuously variable torque converter interlocked with a five-speed YaAZ gearbox, an H-shaped transmission with one lockable side differential, independent torsion bar suspension on all wheels, wheel final drives for increased ground clearance, tires with an air pressure regulation system, front and rear steered axles with power steering, two water-jet propulsors with impellers for the water jets of the PT-76 tank and much more.
Rice. 36. Experienced armored personnel carrier ZIL-153
This list also includes an armored waterproof hull, aft-mounted power plant, and sealed brakes.
There was no talk about arming the vehicle. The sum of all the new technical solutions used in the construction of the experimental ZIL-153 armored personnel carrier made it possible for this vehicle to become truly capable of overcoming off-road conditions and all kinds of obstacles. The speed in water more than 5 m deep was 10 km/h, and the maximum speed on the highway was 90 km/h, with a cruising range of 600 km.
At the end of 1960, factory sea trials of the armored personnel carrier began. During their implementation, it became clear that some improvements were needed.
Preparation of a trial batch of 10 machines began, but work was stopped and subsequently closed altogether. The reasons were not technical at all.
Amphibious armored personnel carrier 1015-B
In 1957, at the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces under the leadership of G.V. Zimelev, employees of one of the departments and the academy’s research department began developing a wheeled amphibious armored personnel carrier with a rear-mounted power plant, an H-shaped mechanical transmission and independent suspension on all wheels.
At the end of 1958, the SKB of the Kutaisi Automobile Plant joined this work, which was successively led by M. A. Ryzhik, D. L. Kartvelishvili, S. M. Batiashvili.
The layout features of this model were: a load-bearing, completely enclosed body with bulletproof armor, equipped with a filter-ventilation unit; aft-mounted 8-cylinder carburetor engine with a power of 132.5 kW; mechanical transmission with H-shaped onboard power distribution using a five-speed gearbox and a transfer case with a symmetrical, forced-locking differential.
Spiral springs with shock absorbers located inside them were used as elastic suspension elements for the two front axles. The elastic elements of the wheels of the two rear axles were a combination of short torsion bars with spiral springs located inside the housing.
The onboard power distribution with the placement of the paratroopers' seats along the sides of the hull made it possible to sharply reduce the overall height of the armored personnel carrier hull with a ground clearance of 400–450 mm, and it also made it possible to accommodate, in addition to the driver, 20 more troops.
At the rear of the vehicle, on both sides, one water-jet propulsion unit was installed, which had impellers from the water cannons of the P-76 tank. The water jets are equipped with a drive independent of the secondary shaft of the gearbox. This made it possible to engage any gear when necessary, without changing the gear ratio to the water cannons.
Water-jet propulsors had ejection drainage systems to remove water from the hull. This operation was carried out due to the vacuum in the pipes of the water jets. In addition, centrifugal pumps with electric drive from batteries were installed in the pipes to pump out water when the engine was stopped.
This design of water-jet propulsors made it possible to have a thrust on the mooring lines of 11.6–11.8 kN at a speed of the impellers 400–500 rpm less than that of the base model (P-76 tank).
After factory tests, experimental data was obtained, which made it possible to make the necessary changes to the design of prototypes of the 1015-B armored personnel carrier.
Gas-hydraulic springs were used as elastic elements of the wheels, inside of which nitrogen and AMG-10 oil were present. All this ensured a good smooth ride in combination with sufficient energy intensity of the springs, practically eliminating breakdowns in the upper wheel limiters. Gas-hydraulic springs also made it possible to install a ride height (clearance) control system on the armored personnel carrier, which increased the vehicle's maneuverability and improved its navigability.
The shape and dimensions of the hull were modified, and armor resistance was increased. This was achieved through the use of bent sheets, which significantly reduced the length of the welds. Some sheets of the upper hull armor belt were installed at a large angle of inclination to increase the protection of the crew from bullets and shell fragments.
The locations and sizes of hatches in the roof of the armored personnel carrier have also changed. It was decided to replace the small rotating turret with a more modern one, equipped with other types of weapons.
During sea trials, the experimental 1015-B armored personnel carrier showed fairly good cross-country ability and maneuverability, as well as a smooth ride in mountain conditions and when driving on the plain. The maximum speed on the highway was 95 km/h, the average speed on rough terrain was about 50 km/h.
In addition, the armored personnel carrier showed excellent navigability. The maximum speed of movement on water was 10.6 km/h, combined with fairly good maneuverability. Course stability was ensured by turning the steered wheels of the two front axles, and in order to make turns with a small radius (5–7 m), one of the water cannons was used. This was done as follows.
The outlet valve on one of the water cannons was closing. In this case, the water was thrown out through a gap in the bottom of the hull, and not through the side holes, like all other machines. This position made it possible to maintain the armor resistance of the lower side plates of the hull.
Water-jet propulsion also had its own peculiarity: their design used tubular steel water conduits of variable cross-section, which were welded to the bottom and aft armor plate. This gave additional rigidity to the rear part of the vehicle body and ensured a fairly good seal of the water lines along the seams at the points of connection with the body. The second feature is the installation of the pump housing together with the impeller in the water pipe, connecting it to the splined drive shaft and fixing it with three bolts using rubber gaskets.
The total flow of all water drainage devices of the machine was increased to 1100–1200 l/min at the maximum frequency of the water-jet impellers. The water intakes of the ejection system made it possible to remove water from various places in the hull.
Amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-60P
In 1959, designers developed and built a heavy wheeled (8 × 8) armored amphibious vehicle BTR-60P. It was mass-produced between 1960 and 1963. As conceived by the authors and creators of the vehicle, it should have high cross-country ability and the necessary speeds to move across the battlefield after tanks.
In order to accomplish this, the armored personnel carrier must have a high specific power, a tank track, a smooth bottom and high ground clearance so that the contacts of the bottom with the road do not impede movement.
And of course, the car must have fairly good seaworthiness, i.e., propulsion, controllability, unsinkability and stability. The most important feature of the BTR-60P, as conceived by the designers, was to be the aft location of two carburetor engines with a power of 66 kW each, having service systems. Each of the engines through a mechanical transmission was supposed to drive the wheels of two axles.
The right engine served the first and third axles as the vehicle moved, and the left engine served the second and fourth. The transmission of each engine drove a single-plate clutch with a hydraulic control drive, a four-speed gearbox, a two-speed transfer case, final drives of two drive axles with limited-slip cam differentials, four wheel reducers and cardan drives connecting the transmission units.
The gearboxes of both engines were equipped with power take-offs. By means of cardan gears and power take-offs, the power of the two engines was combined in the gearbox of the water-jet propulsion unit. To operate the winch installed in the front part of the hull, power was taken from the right transfer case. The winch, which has a traction force of 44 kN and a cable length of 50 m, was used to self-extricate vehicles of the same type when stuck in deep snow or slushy mud.
The armored personnel carrier had an independent torsion bar suspension on all wheels, the front four were controlled using power steering.
For movement on water, a water-jet propulsion unit is installed in the stern. It had a four-blade impeller with a diameter of 600 mm. Behind the left-hand rotation impeller, two small water rudders were installed; their drive was interlocked with the steering drive of the steered wheels of the armored personnel carrier. In this regard, when moving on water, changing the direction of movement and maintaining a given course was ensured by simultaneous turning of the steered wheels and water rudders.
To ensure movement afloat in reverse, the outlet of the water cannon was blocked by a double-leaf armored valve and a hydraulic drive. Thus, water from the propulsion water conduit was directed into the side reverse channels and thrown out towards the bow of the vehicle, along its sides. The inlet section of the water conduit, welded into the bottom of the housing, was closed with a protective grille and connected to the cast casing of the water conduit through a flange-bolt connection.
The lower part of the inlet section of the water pipeline had an input for the end pipe of the ejection system for removing water from the housing, as well as inputs for connecting water heat exchangers of the engine cooling and lubrication system.
If the maximum rotation speed of the water jet impeller is 800 rpm, then the water supply is 1.78 m3/s, which means that the thrust on the moorings will be 9.8–9.9 kN. At a depth of more than 5 m, the maximum forward speed is 9–10 km/h, and the reverse speed is 3.5–4 km/h. If the water-jet propulsion system fails, the armored personnel carrier can move through water by rotating all wheels, although the speed will not be higher than 4 km/h.
The body of the armored personnel carrier is made of armored steel sheets of various thicknesses by welding. It provides good bulletproof protection, but does not have an armored roof (an awning can be pulled up if necessary).
The armament consists of one 7.62 mm machine gun, which can be mounted on special brackets on the sides of the hull or on the upper frontal plate.
The combat weight of the BTR-60P is 9.8 tons, the crew is 2 people, the landing party is 14 people. The maximum speed on the highway is 80 km/h, the range is 500 km.
After several years of operating an armored personnel carrier in our army and in the armed forces of foreign countries, it became clear that this model has both disadvantages and advantages. For example, operating experience has shown that two engines and two transmissions significantly increase the amount of maintenance and repairs. In addition, the reliability of individual components and assemblies has decreased, since many of them were borrowed from vehicles of the Gorky Automobile Plant in order to reduce the development time of the model and quickly put the armored personnel carrier into service.
The operating conditions and operating modes of engines and transmissions on armored personnel carriers differ quite significantly from the conditions under which engines on base vehicles are operated. This was the main reason for the reduction in the durability and reliability of engines and transmissions.
At the same time, two engines and two transmissions make it possible to continue driving even if one unit fails.
This was a big advantage that only armored personnel carriers have. The use of serial car engines and transmission units with minor defects has reduced the cost of armored personnel carriers in mass production.
BTR-60PA. In 1963, a modification of the BTR-60P was created, which was called the BTR-60PA. This model was mass produced from 1963 to 1966. It differed from the previous vehicle in that it had an armored roof and the number of paratroopers was reduced to 12 people. All other parameters for cross-country ability and maneuverability were left the same.
armored personnel carrier - 60PB. In 1965, the four-axle amphibious BTR-60PB was created. It was mass-produced from 1965 to 1976 and was in service with the Soviet army and the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries.
With the same overall layout, the same overall dimensions, armor and engine power of the base model, the combat weight of the armored personnel carrier increased to 10.3 tons, and the number of paratroopers transported decreased to 8 people. This was due to the installation of a turret with circular rotation on the roof of the vehicle, equipped with two machine guns (caliber 14.5 mm and 7.62 mm).
The vehicle had a completely closed sealed armored body with loopholes for firing. A supercharger, a filter-ventilation unit and other additional equipment were mounted in the housing.
The maximum speed on land and water remained the same, but in terms of cross-country ability and maneuverability this vehicle had no equal, because it had all-wheel drive.
armored personnel carrier - 60PZ. In 1972, on the basis of the BTR-60PB, chief designer I. S. Mukhin created and built a prototype of the BTR-60PZ armored personnel carrier.
This model differed from the basic one in machine-gun armament, which had an elevation angle doubled. This made it possible to use machine guns in mountainous areas, cities, and when shooting at low-flying air targets. The rest of the tactical and technical data were the same as the base model.
Tracked armored personnel carrier HS-30 (SPz 12-3)
Tracked armored personnel carrier HS-30, or SPz 12-3 ( rice. 37), was adopted by West German troops in 1960. Subsequently, some of these armored personnel carriers were replaced by Marder infantry fighting vehicles, but to this day the Bundeswehr has 760 units of this model.
The crew of the armored personnel carrier consists of 2 people plus 6 landing personnel. Vehicle weight - 14.6 tons, dimensions - 5.56? 2.54? 1.85 m. The body is welded and completely sealed. The thickness of the armor is 30 mm.
In front of the armored personnel carrier, on the right side of the roof, there is a rotating turret, in which a 20-mm automatic cannon with 2000 rounds is mounted. In addition to the cannon, the armored personnel carrier is also equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun.
Rice. 37. Tracked armored personnel carrier HS-30 (SPz 12-3)
For landing and landing of troops, there are hatches (2 pieces) in the middle part of the roof, and a double door in the stern.
The car is equipped with a B81 petrol carburetor engine from the English company Rolls-Royce with a power of 235 hp. With. This makes it possible to reach a maximum speed of approximately 58 km/h. Cruising range - 270 km.
Two four-barrel grenade launchers are mounted on the front hull for setting up smoke screens. For driving at night, there is a night vision device installed by the driver.
Self-propelled mortars and ATGM launchers were created on the basis of this armored personnel carrier.
Tracked armored personnel carrier YW-531
In 1960, the YW-531 tracked armored personnel carrier was developed and built in China ( rice. 38). Its serial construction was established at the enterprises of the country's defense industry. There are currently about 5,000 units of this armored personnel carrier in service with the Chinese army. This machine was exported to Albania, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and Zaire.
The control compartment is located in the front part of the housing. The driver's seat is installed on the left side, and the armored personnel carrier commander is located to the right of it. Behind the commander's seat is the engine and transmission compartment, and the rest of the space inside the hull is allocated to the troop compartment.
Rice. 38. YW-531 tracked armored personnel carrier
The vehicle body is made of rolled armor plates by welding. The armor provides protection for the crew from bullets and artillery shell fragments. The body has a rather low silhouette, i.e. its height to the roof is 1.9 m.
One 12.7-mm DShKM machine gun, the ammunition load of which consists of 1,100 rounds, is mounted on the roof of the troop compartment. It can be fired by 1 out of 13 paratroopers. For landing and landing of troops there is a large hatch in the rear armor made in the form of a ramp.
In addition, the sides of the hull have embrasures for firing from personal small arms.
The engine and transmission compartment is equipped with an air-cooled diesel engine of the BF-8L brand with a power of 320 hp. With. This engine is produced in China under license from the German company Deutz. The power plant is coupled with a manual transmission and a four-speed gearbox.
The suspension of the armored personnel carrier is made on elastic torsion bars. There are 4 rubberized road wheels on each side. The driving wheels are located at the front.
When traveling on a highway, an armored personnel carrier can reach a maximum speed of 65 km/h, over rough terrain - 50 km/h, and afloat - 6 km/h. The vehicle can overcome vertical walls 0.6 m high and ditches 2.2 m wide. Movement through water is carried out by rewinding tracks.
The armored personnel carrier is equipped with fire extinguishing equipment and radio stations.
Depending on what radio equipment is on board, the armored personnel carrier has the indices C, D, E in its designation.
Based on the chassis of the YW-531 armored personnel carrier, a command vehicle, a self-propelled 122-mm howitzer 54-1, a self-propelled mortar of 82 and 120 mm caliber YW-304, a self-propelled ATGM, an ambulance, and a rocket artillery combat vehicle were created.
YW - 531H. In 1985, the YW-531H tracked armored personnel carrier was created ( rice. 39), which is the successor to the YW-531. The new car is slightly different from the base model. Its hull length has been slightly increased, and one track roller has been added to the chassis on each side.
Rice. 39. YW-531Н tracked armored personnel carrier
Despite the fact that the basic layout was preserved, some components and mechanisms were modified, i.e. the machine became more suitable for mass production using modern technological methods.
The driver and commander seats are located in the same way as in the previous model.
The engine and transmission compartment is located on the starboard side in the front of the hull. The troop compartment occupies the rear part.
The body of the armored personnel carrier is made of rolled armor plates by welding. The frontal armor is installed at a significant angle to the vertical. The sides of the vehicle and the chassis are additionally protected by anti-cumulative screens.
The crew of the armored personnel carrier consists of 2 people plus 13 paratroopers in full gear, who are located in the troop compartment.
The sides of the troop compartment have embrasures for firing from personal weapons. Above the embrasures are observation devices for the battlefield.
The armored personnel carrier is armed with one DShKM machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber, which is mounted in an open rotating turret located on the roof of the troop compartment.
To set up smoke screens, smoke grenade launchers are mounted on the outside of the hull.
The machine is equipped with a 320 hp diesel engine. With. It makes it possible to reach a maximum speed on the highway of 65 km/h, and afloat - 6 km/h. The power reserve is 500 km.
The transmission on the YW-531H armored personnel carrier is exactly the same as on the YW-531. But there are changes in the chassis: not 4, but 5 road wheels are installed on each side. The armored personnel carrier can overcome a vertical wall 0.7 m high and a ditch 2.5 m wide.
The vehicle's equipment includes a fire extinguishing system, a tank intercom and a radio station.
The following armored vehicles were created on the basis of this armored personnel carrier model:
Self-propelled ATGM "Red Arrow-73";
YW-309 infantry fighting vehicle with a turret from the Soviet BMP-1;
Sanitary armored personnel carrier WZ 751;
Command and staff vehicle "85";
Technical assistance vehicle "85";
Self-propelled mortars of 82 and 122 mm caliber.
Armored personnel carrier YP-408
In 1959, the Dutch company DAF, in accordance with NATO requirements, produced prototypes of the YP-408 armored personnel carrier ( rice. 40). Until 1962, sea and technical tests of this model were carried out, after which in the same year it was put into service with the Dutch army. A total of 750 vehicles were built.
In addition to transporting paratroopers, the armored personnel carrier is used as a command post, ambulance and transport vehicle, as well as for towing a 120-mm mortar along with combat crews and ammunition.
Rice. 40. Armored personnel carrier YP-408
The body of the armored personnel carrier is completely closed, the armor is 8–15 mm thick. In the middle and aft parts there is a landing compartment that can accommodate 10 fully equipped paratroopers. They are boarded and disembarked through a double door in the stern.
There are folding hatches on the roof of the compartment, allowing you to fire personal weapons without leaving the vehicle. The crew consists of 2 people, who are located behind the engine and transmission compartment located in the front part. The total combat weight of the armored personnel carrier is 12 tons.
The armament of the armored personnel carrier consists of a 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on a rotating turret and protected by armor plates. The shooter and driver have night vision devices at their disposal. To set up smoke screens, two three-barreled grenade launchers are installed on the outside of the hull.
The armored personnel carrier is equipped with a 6-cylinder diesel engine DS-575 from DAF. Liquid-cooled engine with 145 hp. With. Torque to the wheels is transmitted through a single-plate clutch to a five-speed gearbox, then to a 2-speed transfer case and gearboxes installed on each side. The wheel formula of the armored personnel carrier is 8? 6. The front and two rear axles are driven.
The front wheels have a torsion bar suspension, the second pair of wheels have a spring suspension. They are all manageable. Control drive with hydraulic booster. The maximum speed of the armored personnel carrier on the highway is 80 km/h, the fuel range is 500 km.
On rough terrain the car develops good speed. It can overcome vertical walls 0.7 m high, ditches 1.2 m wide, and fords 1.2 m deep. The armored personnel carrier is not floating.
The equipment includes a heater, a radio station, and a traction winch used for self-extrication.
Tracked armored personnel carrier F. V. 432 "Troujen"
Work on the creation of the Troudzhen tracked armored personnel carrier began in 1958 and continued until 1962. This year, the English company GKN Defense signed a contract to build the vehicle, which was soon put into production. The first armored personnel carriers F. V. 432 "Troujen" ( rice. 41) entered service with the British Army in 1963, and their production ceased in 1971. During the production period, about 3,000 units rolled off the assembly line.
The armored personnel carrier has a closed armored body with dimensions of 5.3? 2.8? 2.3 m. The weight of the vehicle is 15.3 tons, the crew is 2 people plus 10 paratroopers. The maximum thickness of the armor protecting the crew from bullets and artillery shell fragments is 12 mm. The machine has a filter-ventilation unit.
Rice. 41. Crawler transporter F. V. 432 “Troujen”
Multi-fuel engine with 240 hp power. With. located in the front of the armored personnel carrier, in the same place as the control compartment. The maximum speed developed by the car when moving on the highway is 52 km/h, while afloat - 6 km/h.
The landing compartment occupies the middle and aft parts of the hull. In order to be able to observe the battlefield, an AFV No. 33 Mk.1 periscope is installed next to the driver’s position. If necessary, it can be replaced with a MELL 5A1 night vision device. The commander's seat is located behind the driver's seat. It is equipped with a rotating observation turret with the same periscope.
The buoyancy of the armored personnel carrier is ensured by a special frame-type floating craft. Movement on water is carried out by rewinding caterpillars.
A 7.62 mm machine gun with 1,600 rounds of ammunition is installed in the front of the commander's cupola. It can be used to fire at both ground and air targets. Some Trojan models have the same turrets as the Fox wheeled combat reconnaissance vehicles, equipped with a 30 mm Rarden automatic cannon. In addition, smoke grenade launchers are available for setting up smoke screens.
The chassis of the armored personnel carrier has an individual torsion bar suspension. Five rubber-lined and two support rollers are mounted on each side. The driving wheels are located at the front. The front and rear road wheels are equipped with telescopic shock absorbers.
The vehicle can overcome obstacles with an elevation angle of 30°, cross ditches 2 m wide, and walls 0.61 m high.
Based on the Trougen armored personnel carrier, a whole family of armored vehicles was created: command and staff, ambulance, transport, repair and recovery, self-propelled ATGM launcher "Swingfire", 81-mm self-propelled mortar, 120-mm self-propelled recoilless rifle "Wombat", mobile system field artillery fire control "FACE" and mobile ground reconnaissance radar.
Armored personnel carrier OT-64/SKOT
In the early 60s, on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement concluded between Czechoslovakia and Poland, the OT-64/SKOT armored personnel carrier was developed ( rice. 42). The machines were assembled at the factories of the Czechoslovak company Tatra from equipment supplied by the Polish company FSC.
The vehicles were supplied to military units of both countries from 1964 to 1990. In Czechoslovakia they were designated OT-64, and in Poland - SKOT.
The armored personnel carrier is intended to perform the same tasks as the Soviet BTR-60P, but its design and layout are sharply different from its Soviet counterpart.
Rice. 42. Armored personnel carrier OT-64/SKOT
On a SKOT machine, the engine and transmission compartment is located in the middle part, and the control compartment is in the front. This layout scheme made it possible not only to fully use the rear part to accommodate paratroopers, but also to solve the problem of protecting the landing force during landing and disembarking. For this purpose, a double door in the rear armor and four hatches in the roof of the landing compartment were used.
The body of the armored personnel carrier is made by welding from rolled armor sheets with a thickness of mainly 10 mm. The armor protects the crew from bullets and artillery shell fragments. The front-mounted engine and transmission provide additional protection for the crew.
In the control compartment, on the left side there is a place for the driver, and on the right - the commander of the vehicle. A turret with surveillance periscopes providing all-round visibility is equipped especially for the driver. The commander's seat is also equipped with surveillance devices built into his hatch. There are doors on the sides of the hull for access to the control compartment.
The first vehicles of the OT-64 series were unarmed and were considered a vehicle. The SKOT armored personnel carrier was equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun above the troop compartment. The latest production vehicles were armed with a 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on a lightly armored turret in the front of the troop compartment. Such vehicles in the Polish army received the designation SKOT-2. Subsequently, all armored personnel carriers were equipped with armored turrets of circular rotation, which were structurally reminiscent of the turrets of Soviet BTR-60PB vehicles. Even today, in the armies of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, these armored personnel carriers are in service under the symbol SKOT-2A. Besides them, there are BTR SKOT-2AR, on which towers developed in Poland are installed. The weapons mounted on them allow them to fire at slow-flying air targets. To combat tanks, they have 9M14M Malyutka ATGM launchers.
In the initially built vehicles, the landing compartment could accommodate 18 paratroopers in full equipment. The SKOT-2A and SKOT-2AP armored personnel carriers only have space for 15 paratroopers. In order to be able to fire from personal small arms, there are embrasures on the sides of the compartment (three on each side and two in the aft door).
The engine, transmission and chassis use a large number of components and assemblies from the Czechoslovakian Tatra-813 Colossus truck. The armored personnel carrier is equipped with a V-shaped 8-cylinder diesel engine “Tatra-928-14”. It is equipped with an automatic air cooling system and has a power of 180 hp. With. The armored personnel carrier also has a manual transmission with a semi-automatic gearbox.
The chassis is made according to the wheel formula 8? 8, the first two pairs of wheels are driving. The wheel suspension is independent, wheels with low-pressure tires equipped with a centralized tire pressure control system.
In terms of maneuverability, the OT-64/SKOT armored personnel carrier is in no way inferior to tanks. The vehicle can overcome an incline of 30°, vertical walls 0.5 m high, ditches 2 m wide. It overcomes water obstacles on the move at a speed of 9 km/h using two propellers.
The equipment of the armored personnel carrier includes means of protection against weapons of mass destruction, a radio station, a tank intercom and a fire extinguishing system.
The OT-64/SKOT armored personnel carrier became the base model for the creation of such vehicles as the DPT-65 - repair and recovery vehicle, OT-64R - a series of vehicles for radio communications, and a command and staff vehicle.
Wheeled armored personnel carrier M706 "Commando"
Wheeled armored personnel carrier M706 "Commando" ( rice. 43) entered American troops in three modifications (V-100, V-150, V-200). They differed from each other in power plants (the last two had diesel engines) and armor. The V-200, in addition to this, also has large dimensions. Different models of armored personnel carriers can be equipped with different cannon and machine gun weapons.
The Commando entered service in 1966. Its crew consists of 1 person plus 11 landing personnel. The mass of the vehicle is 7.4 tons, the wheel formula is 4? 4.
Rice. 43. Wheeled armored personnel carrier M706 “Commando”
The armored personnel carrier has a closed armored body, which serves as protection from bullets and artillery shell fragments. For quick landing and disembarkation there are five hatches in the hull and one in the turret. In addition, the hull is equipped with embrasures for landing fire from personal small arms.
At the rear of the armored personnel carrier there is a gasoline engine with a capacity of 200 hp. s., which allows you to reach a maximum speed on the highway of 100 km/h, and afloat 4.8 km/h. The power reserve is very significant - 500–900 km.
The M706 Commando can be dropped by parachute; it does not have night vision devices or a filter-ventilation unit. The vehicle can overcome obstacles with an elevation angle of 25°, force walls 0.6 m high, and pass water obstacles on the move and without preparation.
In addition to the United States, the M706 Commando armored personnel carrier is in service in the armies of Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Bolivia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Somalia, Singapore, Ethiopia, Turkey, Sudan, etc.
M113A1 tracked armored personnel carrier
Nowadays, foreign armies use both tracked and wheeled armored personnel carriers to transport infantry and provide fire support. They have completely enclosed armored hulls that perfectly protect the crew from bullets and shell fragments.
M113A1 tracked armored personnel carrier ( rice. 44) was adopted by the US Army in 1964. A total of 45,000 M113 armored personnel carriers and its various modifications were produced. This combat vehicle is still considered the main means of transporting infantry both in the US Army and in many armies of foreign countries.
Rice. 44. M113A1 tracked armored personnel carrier
The M113A1 armored personnel carrier differs from the M113 in the presence of a 215 hp diesel engine. With. This engine allows the armored personnel carrier to reach a maximum speed on the highway of 65 km/h, and afloat - 5.6 km/h. Power reserve - 480 km.
Its body is made of aluminum alloy and serves as excellent protection for the crew and troops. The armor thickness is 38 mm. The vehicle weight is 11 tons, dimensions are 4.86? 2.68? 1.82 m. The engine and transmission compartment is located in the front part of the body. To carry out landing and landing of troops, there is a folding ramp in the rear of the vehicle.
The armored personnel carrier's armament consists of a 12.7 mm machine gun with 2,000 rounds of ammunition, which is mounted on the commander's cupola.
The armored personnel carrier has a torsion bar suspension with hydraulic shock absorbers on the first and last road wheels. This model is made floating, adapted for transportation by aircraft and parachute drop. For driving in the dark, the driver's seat is equipped with night vision devices.
The vehicle can overcome obstacles with an elevation angle of 30°, cross walls 0.6 m high, and ditches 4.8 m wide.
Based on the M113A1 armored personnel carrier, a whole range of vehicles for various purposes have been created: command and staff vehicles, repair and evacuation vehicles, transport vehicles, self-propelled mortars, flamethrowers and Vulcan anti-aircraft guns, as well as tracked transporters for launchers of Lance, Chaparral, and Rapier missiles. "
Tracked armored personnel carrier Pbv302
The Swedish company Högglunds received an order to develop this model of armored personnel carrier from the Swedish Ministry of Defense back in the late 50s. The first samples of the machine were presented for testing in 1962. They were very successful, and in 1964 the Pbv302 tracked armored personnel carrier ( rice. 45) was adopted. For a long time it was the main armored vehicle of the motorized infantry units of the Swedish army.
In appearance, the Swedish armored personnel carrier is very similar to the American M113 armored personnel carrier. Its body is made of rolled armor plates by welding and is completely sealed. The armor protection of the front part is strengthened due to the fact that the steel sheets are located at a large angle and have wave-reflective shields. Batteries and other equipment are installed in the space between the armor plates. The frontal armor of an armored personnel carrier protects against 20-mm armor-piercing shells, and the rest - from small arms bullets and fragments of artillery shells and small-caliber mines.
Rice. 45. Pbv302 tracked armored personnel carrier
At the front of the machine is the engine and transmission compartment, located under the floor, and the control compartment. To the left of the control compartment is a single-seat rotating armored turret with weapons, and to the right is a commander's turret equipped with three periscopes. The troop compartment occupies the middle and rear parts of the hull.
The armored personnel carrier is equipped with unusually strong weapons for vehicles of the 50s and 60s. A 20-mm automatic cannon from the Hispano-Suiza company is mounted in the armored rotating turret. Rotation of the turret and aiming of the gun at the target are carried out manually. The gun's ammunition consists of 505 rounds of high-explosive fragmentation or armor-piercing shells. Shooting can be carried out at both ground and low-speed air targets.
In order to accurately aim the gun at the target, the gunner has a monocular sight and three periscopes, and at night he uses a night vision device.
The crew of the armored personnel carrier consists of 2 people plus 10 paratroopers, who are located in the landing compartment. For their embarkation and disembarkation, there are two doors at the rear of the hull, and hatches on the roof, making it possible to fire small arms without leaving the vehicle. Opening and closing of hatches is carried out using hydraulic drives.
The armored personnel carrier has a mass of 13.5 tons, dimensions - 5.35? 2.86? 2.5 m. The placement of the engine and transmission compartment under the floor of the compartments located in the front of the machine was made possible thanks to the use of a 6-cylinder THD100B diesel engine with a power of 280 hp. s., with turbocharging and horizontal cylinder position.
The motor was created by Volvo-Penta. The transmission, developed by the same company, consists of a main clutch, gearbox, bevel gear, onboard double-disc clutches and final drives. The gearbox has ten forward speeds and two reverse speeds.
The armored personnel carrier has a torsion bar suspension with hydraulic shock absorbers on the first and last road wheels. On each side there are 5 rubberized road wheels. There are no support rollers, and the drive wheels are located in front.
The caterpillar is steel, with a rubber-metal hinge. The armored personnel carrier is floating; movement on water is carried out by rewinding the tracks.
The vehicle has good maneuverability and cross-country ability. It can overcome obstacles with an elevation angle of 30°, cross walls 0.6 m high, ditches 1.8 m wide. The maximum speed on the highway is 66 km/h, afloat - 8 km/h. The power reserve is 300 km.
The Pbv302 armored personnel carrier is equipped with a radio station, a heater and fire extinguishing equipment.
On the basis of this vehicle, a number of models were subsequently created: command and staff, ambulance, repair and evacuation, transport, as well as a bridge layer for overcoming obstacles up to 15 m wide.
Tracked armored personnel carrier TOPAS/OT-62
A Soviet armored personnel carrier, designed in the early 80s as a development of the BTR-70 armored personnel carrier, taking into account the shortcomings identified in the Afghan war. The BTR-80 entered serial production in 1984, and, having been modernized several times, is still in production as of 2012. The latest models of the BTR-80, equipped with reinforced weapons, are classified by many experts as wheeled infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). It was used by Soviet troops in the Afghan War, and since the 1990s it became the main armored personnel carrier of the Armed Forces of Russia, as well as a number of other former Soviet republics, and was used in almost all major armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space. It was actively sold and currently continues to be exported; in total, as of 2011, the BTR-80 is in service with about 26 states.
History of creation and production
By the early 1980s, the main armored personnel carrier of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union was the BTR-70, launched into mass production in 1976. The experience of using them soon showed that, despite serious improvements compared to the BTR-60, many of the main shortcomings and shortcomings of its predecessor were transferred to it almost without corrections or changes. One of them was a rather complex and very unreliable design of a power plant consisting of twin carburetor engines, which also had increased fuel consumption and a number of other disadvantages compared to a diesel engine. The very unsatisfactory disembarkation and landing of troops and crew remained a serious problem; compared to the BTR-60, it was only slightly improved. As the Afghan War showed, the security of the vehicle was also unsatisfactory. In addition, the BTR-70 had problems with the new design of the water-jet propulsion; while afloat it often became clogged with algae, peat slurry, etc.
To eliminate these shortcomings, the GAZ-5903 armored personnel carrier was created in the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of I. Mukhin and E. Murashkin in the early 1980s. While leaving the layout of the BTR-70 unchanged, the new vehicle differed from it in many improvements. For example, instead of a pair of carburetor engines, one diesel engine of higher power was installed, and large double hatches were equipped in the sides of the hull for landing and disembarking troops. The body itself has become 115 mm higher and longer, and 100 mm wider, but the overall height of the car has increased only by 30 mm. Subsequent development sought to give the crew and troops the ability to fire from under the protection of armor; for this purpose, the shooting ports on the sides of the hull were replaced by ball mounts facing the front hemisphere. The armored personnel carrier's armor was slightly strengthened, but the weight of the GAZ-5903 increased by 18% compared to the BTR-70, from 11.5 to 13.6 tons, but in general the mobility of the vehicle remained unchanged, and the cruising range only increased. After successfully passing state tests, the GAZ-5903 was adopted by the USSR Armed Forces in 1986 and received the name BTR-80.
Description
The BTR-80 has a layout with the control compartment located in the front, the combined landing and combat compartment in the middle, and the engine-transmission compartment in the rear of the vehicle. The crew of the BTR-80 consists of three people: a squad (vehicle) commander, a driver and a gunner; In addition, the armored personnel carrier can take on board a landing force of 7 soldiers.
Armored hull and turret
The BTR-80 has a weakly differentiated (classification term for the design of armored ground combat vehicles. A combat vehicle has differentiated armor protection if its hull is equipped with armor of unequal thickness in its various parts. As a rule, the thickest and most durable armor is equipped in places most susceptible to enemy fire - forehead or the entire front end of the vehicle. The sides and rear are equipped with less thick armor.) bulletproof armor protection. The armored body of the conveyor is made by welding from rolled sheets of homogeneous armor steel with a thickness of 5 to 9 mm. Most of the vertical armor plates of the BTR-80, with the exception of the lower side and rear ones, are installed with fairly significant angles of inclination. The armored hull of all BTR-80s has a streamlined shape, which significantly increases its seaworthiness and is equipped with a folding wave-reflective shield that fits in the stowed position on the middle frontal plate of the hull, thus not significantly increasing its protection.
In the frontal part of the hull there is a control compartment, in which, on the left and right, respectively, are the driver and commander of the armored personnel carrier. Behind it is a landing squad, made together with the combat squad. Six paratroopers in the aft part of the troop compartment are placed in it on two longitudinal plastic seats in the center, sitting facing the side. In the front part, immediately behind the driver’s and commander’s seats, there are two single seats for the remaining members of the landing party, with the right seat facing the direction of the vehicle to ensure the possibility of firing, and the left seat, occupied by a member of the landing party, who in combat conditions becomes a turret gunner , turned with his back to the board. Near the seats of all members of the landing force, in addition to the turret gunner, there are eight ball mounts on the sides with horizontal aiming angles from +...-15 to +...-25 degrees. intended for shooting from personal weapons. The ball installations are turned towards the front hemisphere, as a result of which the rear hemisphere is a dead zone for paratroopers, and there is a small dead zone in the front left. Also, two more hatches for shelling the upper hemisphere, without ball mounts, are equipped in the landing hatches in the roof.
The BTR-80, like its predecessors, is equipped with two rectangular landing hatches in the roof, but still the main means of disembarkation and landing on it are large double-leaf side doors located immediately behind the turret. The upper lid of the side door folds forward as the vehicle moves, and the lower one folds down and becomes a step, which, unlike its predecessors, allowed landing and disembarking troops from the BTR-80 while moving. The driver and commander, as on previous models of armored personnel carriers, have two individual semicircular hatches, which are located above their workplaces. In addition, the BTR-80 hull is equipped with a number of hatches and hatches that serve as access to the engine, transmission and winch units.
Armament
The BTR-80 is armed with a twin mount of a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and a 7.62 mm PKT. The installation is equipped on axles in the frontal part of the turret, its guidance in the vertical plane, within?4...+60 degrees, is done manually using a screw mechanism, horizontal guidance is made by rotating the turret. The machine guns were aimed at the target using a periscopic monocular optical sight 1PZ-2, which had a variable magnification of 1.2x or 4x with a field of view of 49 degrees and 14 degrees, respectively, and allowed fire from the KPVT at a range of up to 2000 meters on ground targets and 1000 m against air targets, and from the PCT - up to 1500 meters against ground targets. KPVT specialized in combating lightly armored and unarmored enemy vehicles, as well as low-flying air targets, this machine gun has an ammunition load of 500 rounds in 10 belts, loaded with armor-piercing incendiary bullets B-32, armor-piercing tracer BZT, armor-piercing incendiary, with a carbide core tungsten, BST, incendiary ZP and incendiary instant action MDZ. The PKT specialized in defeating enemy personnel and firepower and has an ammunition load of 2000 rounds of ammunition in 8 belts.
Surveillance and communications equipment
The driver and commander of the BTR-80 during the daytime in non-combat conditions monitor the terrain through two hatches closed with windshields located in the upper frontal armor plate of the hull. In combat conditions, as well as when moving at night, they monitor the terrain through periscope viewing devices of various types. The driver on early production vehicles had three TNPO-115 periscope viewing devices for viewing the front sector; on subsequent series vehicles, another TNPO-115 was added to them, equipped in the upper left zygomatic armor plate of the hull. At night, the central forward-facing device was replaced by a periscopic binocular passive night vision device TVNE-4B, which worked by enhancing natural light, or by illuminating it with an FG125 headlight with an infrared filter. The field of view of the device along the horizon was 36 degrees, vertically - 33 degrees, and the vision range under normal conditions was 60 meters when illuminated by a headlight and 120 meters with natural illumination of 5·10?3 lux (Lux (from the Latin lux - light; Russian designation: lx, international designation: lx) - unit of illumination measurement in the International System of Units (SI)).
The main means of observation for the vehicle commander is the combined binocular periscope electro-optical viewing device TKN-3 with day and passive night channels. TKN-3 has a magnification of 5x for the day channel and 4.2x for the night channel, with a field of view of 10 degrees and 8 degrees, respectively. The equipment of the device allowed its rotation within +...-50 degrees. horizontally and swing within?13 - +33 degrees. in a vertical plane. The device was combined with an OU-3GA2M spotlight with a removable infrared filter, which was used for illumination in conditions of insufficient natural light. The night vision range for TKN-3 reached 300-400 meters. In addition to the TKN-3, the commander has three TNPO-115 devices - two for viewing the front sector and one equipped in the right upper zygomatic armor plate.
For a turret gunner, the main means of observing the terrain is the gun sight; in addition, he has periscope viewing devices: TNP-205, equipped on the left side of the turret and TNPT-1, located in the roof of the turret and providing rear visibility. The landing force has two TNP-165A periscope viewing devices, which are equipped in the roof of the hull behind the turret, next to the landing positions of the paratroopers-machine gunners, as well as four TNPO-115 devices, which are located in the upper side armor plates of the hull on both sides of the doors.
For external communications, the BTR-80 of early releases was equipped with the R-123M radio station; on vehicles of later releases it was replaced by the more modern R-163 or R-173. For internal communications, the BTR-80 is equipped with a tank intercom R-124 for three subscribers - the commander, driver and turret gunner.
Engine
The BTR-80 uses a KamAZ-740.3 engine with a turbocharger at each engine camber. The BTR-80 with the YaMZ-238M2 engine has the index BTR-80M
TTX
Classification: Armored personnel carrier
-Combat weight, t: 13.6
-Crew, people: 3
-Landing, people: 7
Case length, mm: 7650
-Case width, mm: 2900
-Height, mm: 2350..2460
-Base, mm: 4400
-Gauge, mm: 2410
-Clearance, mm: 475
Reservations:
Armor type: rolled steel
-Forehead of the body, mm/deg.: 10
- Hull side, mm/deg.: 7..9
-Hull feed, mm/deg.: 7
-Tower forehead, mm/deg.: 7
-Tower side, mm/deg.: 7
- Tower feed, mm/deg.: 7
Weapons:
Angles VN, degrees: -4..+60
-GN angles, degrees: 360
-Firing range, km: 1..2 (KPVT); 1.5 (PCT)
-Sights: 1PZ-2
-Machine guns: 1 x 14.5 mm KPVT; 1 x 7.62 mm PCT
Mobility:
Engine: Manufacturer: Kama Automobile Plant; Make: KamAZ 7403; Type: diesel; Volume: 10,850 cc cm.; Maximum power: 260 hp, at 2600 rpm; Maximum torque: 785 Nm, at 1800 rpm; Configuration: V8; Cylinders: 8; Fuel consumption on a combined cycle: 60..130 l/100 km; Fuel consumption on the highway: 48 l/100 km; Cylinder diameter: 120 mm; Piston stroke: 120 mm; Compression ratio: 16; Cooling: liquid; Clock (number of clock cycles): 4; Cylinder operating order: 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8; Maximum speed: 2930
-Highway speed, km/h: 80
-Speed over rough terrain, km/h: 20..40 on ground; 9 afloat
-Highway range, km: 600
- Cruising range over rough terrain, km: 200..500 on dirt roads
-Specific power, l. s./t: 19.1
-Wheel formula: 8x8/4
-Suspension type: individual torsion bar with hydraulic shock absorbers
- Climbability, degrees: 30
-Overcome wall, m: 0.5
- Overcome ditch, m: 2
-Fordability, m: floats
