BTR-70

BTR-70
BTR-70 on parade in Donetsk, 2015
TypeArmoured personnel carrier
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1972–present
Used bySee Operators
Wars
Specifications
Mass11.5 tonnes
Length7.535 m
Width2.80 m
Height2.32 m
Crew3 (+7 passengers)

Armor9 mm (front)
7 mm (sides)
Main
armament
14.5 mm KPVT machine gun or 12.7 mm DShK
Secondary
armament
7.62 mm PKT machine gun
Engine2× gasoline ZMZ-4905
120 hp (88.2 kW) (×2)
Power/weight20 hp/tonne
Suspensionwheeled 8×8
Operational
range
400–600 km
Maximum speed 80 km/h, swim 9 km/h

The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier (Russian: бронетранспортёр, БТР, romanizedbronetransportyor, lit.'armored carrier') originally developed by the Soviet Union during the late 1960s under the manufacturing code GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into Soviet service and would later be widely exported. Large quantities were also produced under license in Romania as the TAB-77.[1]

The BTR-70 was developed as a potential successor for the earlier BTR-60 series of Soviet wheeled armored personnel carriers, specifically the BTR-60PB, which it most closely resembled. It evolved out of an earlier, unsuccessful project known as the GAZ-50 to design a new wheeled infantry fighting vehicle on the chassis and drive train of a BTR-60PB.[2] It initially received the NATO reporting name BTR M1970.[3]

  1. ^ Christopher F. Foss (2001). Jane's Armour and Artillery (2002 ed.). Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. p. 496. ISBN 978-0710623096.
  2. ^ Institute for Defence Analyses, various (1995). Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. Quantico: United States Marine Corps Intelligence Agency. p. 12. OCLC 33890115.
  3. ^ Chant, Christopher (1987). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 58. ISBN 0-7102-0720-4. OCLC 14965544.