BTR-D
| BTR-D | |
|---|---|
BTR-DG SPAAG
|
|
| Type | Airborne Amphibious Multi-Purpose Tracked Armoured Personnel Carrier |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union/Russia |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1974 – present |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars | See Service history |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Volgograd Tractor Factory |
| Designed | Early 1970–1974 |
| Manufacturer | Volgograd Tractor Factory |
| Produced | 1974 – ? (out of production) |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications (BTR-D) | |
| Weight | 8 tonnes 8.5 tonnes (combat weight) |
| Length | 6.74 m (22.1 ft) |
| Width | 2.94 m |
| Height | 1.67 m |
| Crew | 3 (commander, driver and bow machine gunner) (+ 10 troops) |
|
|
|
| Armor | 15 mm at 78° upper hull front 15 mm at 50° lower hull front 10 mm rest of the hull |
|
Main
armament |
pintle-mounted automatic grenade launchers (AGS-17, AGS-30 or AGS-57) and/or machine guns (PKM, 6P41, "Utyos" or "Kord"). |
|
Secondary
armament |
2×7.62 mm PKB bow general purpose machine guns (2,000 rounds) |
| Engine | 5D-20 6-cylinder 4-stroke V-shaped liquid cooled 15.9 litre diesel 241 hp (180 kW) at 2,600 rpm |
| Power/weight | 30.1 hp/tonne (22.5 kW/tonne) 28.4 hp/tonne (21.3 kW/tonne) (loaded with equipment) |
| Suspension | torsion-bar |
| Ground clearance | Adjustable 100 mm to 450 mm |
| Fuel capacity | 300 l |
|
Operational
range |
500 km (road) 116 km (water) |
| Speed | 61 km/h (road) 35 km/h (cross country) 10 km/h (swimming) |
The BTR-D is a Soviet airborne multi-purpose tracked armoured personnel carrier which was introduced in 1974 and first seen by the West in 1979 during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. BTR-D stands for Bronetransportyor Desanta (БТР, Бронетранспортер Десанта, literally "armoured transporter of the Airborne"). It is based on BMD-1 airborne IFV. NATO gave it the designation BMD M1979.
In 1969, the BMD-1 airborne IFV entered service with the Soviet Army. The vehicle had many flaws, but the biggest one was the fact the troop compartment was extremely cramped and could only transport up to four infantrymen; in fact, this number was often shortened to three because it was impractical for four infantrymen to operate inside the troop compartment and dismount the vehicle. Because of that, in the beginning of the 1970s, the Volgograd Tractor Factory design bureau, who designed the BMD-1, began designing a new airborne APC based on the BMD-1. The prototype was ready in 1974 and in the same year it entered production and service with the Soviet Army as the BTR-D.
While the BTR-D is based on the BMD-1, it is 60 mm longer and lacks a turret; instead, it has a small flat superstructure with a hatch on top.
The crew consists of the driver, the commander and the left bow mounted machine gun gunner, all of whom are in the same positions and have the same equipment as in the BMD-1.
Although the turret with all of the main armament was removed, the two bow mounted machine guns have been retained. However, the original PKT tank machine guns have been replaced by PKB general purpose machine guns. The vehicle can also be fitted with pintle-mounted automatic grenade launchers (AGS-17, AGS-30 or AGS-57) and/or machine guns (PKM, 6P41, "Utyos" or "Kord").
The BTR-D is powered by the same engine as the BMD-1, however, its suspension is longer because the entire vehicle has been lengthened by 60 mm. Because of this, the vehicle has six roadwheels on each side instead of five. It also has five return rollers on each side unlike the BMD-1, which has four.
The armour protection is slightly better on the BTR-D than on the BMD-1. That's because the upper front armour has a dual slanted angle. Also, its armour is made out of aluminium, which proved to be much better than the armour on the BMD-1, which was made out of a cast magnesium alloy that caught fire and burned fiercely, often killing the crew, if hit with a weapon such as an RPG.
...
Wikipedia