The BTR-80A is a wheeled amphibious combat vehicle designed to transport motorized rifle units and provide fire support to them on the battlefield, and to conduct combat from a vehicle.

The vehicle is a modification of the BTR-80 armored personnel carrier while maintaining the main components and assemblies. It is armed with a turret-mounted BPPU-1 cannon-machine gun mount with external placement of a 30-mm 2A72 automatic cannon with dual-belt selective feed and a coaxial 7.62-mm PKT machine gun with guidance angles from -5° to +70° vertically and 360° horizontally. The turret installation is equipped with a day 1PZ-9 and a night TPNZ-42 with an OU-5M ​​searchlight, sights, and a 902V smoke grenade launch system. The cannon and machine gun's ammunition capacity is 300 rounds (in two belts of 150 each) and 2,000 rounds of ammunition (in one belt). Depending on the nature and type of targets, the operator can easily select the type of ammunition, thanks to the gun’s dual-belt feed, as well as the rate of fire.

The effectiveness of the combat use of BPPU-1 weapons when firing at ground targets is 2.1-2.4 times higher than that of armored personnel carriers with a 14.5 mm machine gun, and when repelling helicopter attacks, the losses of armored personnel carriers are reduced by 2 times.

The weapon guidance mechanisms are manual with braking devices. The gun cocking mechanism is electromechanical. The fire control panel has three positions for selecting firing modes from the cannon: single shots, low and high rates.

The firepower of the armored personnel carrier's standard weapons is increased by firing from personal small arms, a hand-held grenade launcher and a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system of the Strela or Igla type.

The combat crew of the vehicle, its equipment, power plant and other systems are the same as on the BTR-80.

The design features of the vehicle are associated with the use of a turret cannon and machine gun installation. The body of the BTR-80A is made more rigid to ensure the functioning of the automatic cannon and achieve the specified requirements for the accuracy and accuracy of its combat. In order to exclude possible damage to elements of the aft part by fire from its own weapons, a contour arc was installed.

For the BTR-80A, the fundamental possibility of stabilizing the turret armament and using more modern aiming devices and weapon systems has been worked out

Main characteristics of the BTR-80A

Gross vehicle weight, kg	14550
Maximum speed on the highway, not less, km/h
Maximum speed afloat, not less, km/h
Cruising range on the highway, km
Power reserve afloat at 1800-2200 rpm, hour
Obstacles to be overcome: — elevation angle, degrees. — lateral roll angle, degrees. — ditch width, m:
Characteristics of the water obstacle to be overcome: — angle of entry of the car into the water, degrees. — angle of exit of the car from the water, degrees.
Engine type	turbocharged diesel
Engine power, kW (hp)
Sighting range, m: from a 30 mm cannon: - during the day BT shell — during the day OFZ and OT shells from a PKT machine gun:

Photos of BTR-80A

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 one. 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

The design provides that the BTR-80 can continue to move even if one or even two wheels completely fail.

The BTR-80 is designed according to the same design scheme as its predecessors BTR-60 and BTR-70: in the front part there is a control compartment, behind it there is a troop compartment and in the rear part of the hull there is a motor-transmission compartment.

The sealed, completely enclosed body of the armored personnel carrier is welded from rolled steel armor plates located at large angles of inclination to the vertical. It protects the crew and paratroopers from small arms bullets of 7.62mm caliber, and the frontal armor from bullets of 12.7mm caliber.

The control compartment has seats for the driver and commander of the vehicle. They have periscope surveillance devices at their disposal. The right side of the front plate is equipped with a ball support for firing from a machine gun. Access to the control compartment is through two hatches in the roof of the hull. Behind the driver's and commander's seats there are single seats for one of the landing infantrymen and a gunner for the turret machine gun mount. The main armament of the BTR-80 consists of a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and a coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. The machine guns are installed in a conical turret with guidance angles of 360° horizontally and from -4° to +60° vertically.

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BTR-80

COMBAT WEIGHT, i.e.
CREW, persons:
Overall dimensions, mm:	length - 7650, width - 2900, height - 2350, wheelbase - 4400, track -2410, ground clearance - 475.
WEAPONS-	KPVT machine gun 14.5mm caliber, PKT machine gun 7.62mm caliber, 6 launchers for 81mm smoke grenades.
AMMUNITION;	500 rounds of 14.5mm caliber, 2000 rounds of 7.62mm caliber.
AIMING DEVICES:	sight 1PZ-2.
RESERVATION, mm:	front of the hull - 10, side - 7... 9, stern - 7, turret - 7.
ENGINE:	KamAZ-7403, eight-cylinder, diesel, four-stroke, V-shaped, turbocharged, liquid cooled, power - 260 hp. at 2600 rpm, working volume - 10,850 cm3.
TRANSMISSION:	dry double-disc clutch, five-speed gearbox with synchronizers in 2nd, 3.4th and 5th gears, cardan transmission, two-stage transfer case with differential torque distribution in two streams (on 1st-3rd and 2nd-4th axles) and a differential lock, but the transfer case has a power take-off box mounted on a water-jet propulsion unit and a winch, 4 main gears, 4 differentials, 8 wheel reducers.
CHASSIS:	wheel formula 8x8, tire size 13.00-18", air pressure in tires is adjustable from 0.5 to 3 kg/cm2 independent torsion bar suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, telescopic, double acting, two each for wheels 1 and 4 -th axles and one each for the wheels of the 2nd and 3rd axles, the wheels of the 1st and 2nd axles are steerable.
SPEED MAX, km/h;	by land - 80, afloat - 9.
POWER RESERVE:	by land - 600 km, afloat - 12 hours.
OVERCOMABLE OBSTACLES:	elevation angle, degrees - thirty; ditch width, m - 2; wall height, m ​​- 0.5.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION:	radio station P-163-50y and intercom device R-174.

To illuminate targets when firing at night, an IR illuminator is mounted on the console of the machine gun mount. Smoke grenade launchers of the 902V “Tucha” system are installed on the rear wall of the turret, and in the roof there is a TNPT-1 device, designed for the turret gunner to monitor the road and terrain located in the rear viewing sector. The main part of the landing force - six fully equipped infantrymen - is located facing the sides on two seats mounted in the troop compartment along the longitudinal axis of the hull. For firing by paratroopers, there are seven embrasures on the sides of the hull, made with a turn along the course, and two of them are intended for firing from machine guns. The embrasures are equipped with ball bearings, allowing them to fire without depressurizing the troop compartment in contaminated terrain. There is also one embrasure for upward firing in both armored roof hatches of the troop compartment. In addition to two hatches in the roof of the hull, double doors are used on both sides of the armored personnel carrier for landing and dismounting troops. One door leaf folds up, and the other goes down and forms a step, so that, if necessary, landing and dismounting of troops can be done while the vehicle is moving.

1 The power plant of the BTR-80 consists of one diesel 8-cylinder V-shaped four-stroke liquid-cooled KamAZ-7403 engine with turbocharger 260 hp. at 2600 rpm, working volume - 10,850 cm2. The placement of one engine instead of two also entailed changes in the design of transmission units. It includes a dry double-disc clutch, a five-speed gearbox with synchronizers in 2,3,4 and 5th gears, and a cardan transmission. Instead of two transfer cases, one interaxle two-stage transfer case is installed with differential torque distribution to two streams (on the 1st-3rd and 2nd-4th axles) and forced differential locking. Locking devices ensure that downshifts are engaged and the center differential is locked only when the front axles are engaged. In order to prevent breakdowns when overloading transmission elements (with a locked differential), the transfer case has a friction clutch - a limiting torque clutch. The transfer case is equipped with a power take-off box for the water-jet propulsion unit and winch.

2 The main gears of the drive axles are with cam limited-slip differentials. Wheel reducers are single-stage, with helical spur gears. Wheels with split rims and tubeless bulletproof pneumatic tires KI-80 or KI-126 size /3.00-/8". Air pressure in tires is adjustable from 0.5 to 3 kg/cm2, independent torsion bar suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, telescopic , double acting, two each for the wheels of the 1st and 4th axles and one each for the wheels of the 2nd and 3rd axles, the wheels of the 1st and 2nd axles are steerable. A centralized tire pressure regulation system allows the driver depending on driving conditions, set the appropriate tire pressure, which ensures low specific ground pressure and thereby high off-road capability, comparable to tracked vehicles. In addition, the BTR-80 can continue to move even if one or even two wheels completely fail The vehicle is not damaged when hitting an anti-personnel mine, and when detonated by an anti-tank mine, it retains mobility, since the energy of the explosion usually damages one of the eight wheels.

3 Movement through water is ensured by the operation of a single-stage water-jet propulsion unit with a four-blade impeller with a diameter of 425 mm. When moving on land, the exit window of the water cannon is closed by an armored flap. When moving through water, closing the damper directs water into the reverse channels. The maximum speed afloat is at least 9 km/h. Cruising reserve afloat at average operating conditions of the engine (1800-2200) - 12 hours.

4 On early production vehicles, radio stations P-I23M and TPU R-124 were installed, later replaced by P-163-50U and R-114.

Information taken from the magazines “Russian Tanks” and “Equipment and Armament”

BTR-80 - Soviet armored personnel carrier. Created in the early 1980s as a further development of the BTR-70 armored personnel carrier, taking into account the shortcomings of the latter identified in the Afghan war, and was intended to replace it in motorized rifle troops. The BTR-80 entered mass production in 1984, and, having been modernized several times, is still in production as of 2008. The latest modifications of the BTR-80, equipped with enhanced weapons, are classified by many experts as wheeled infantry fighting vehicles.

It was used by Soviet troops in the Afghan War, and since the 1990s it has been the main armored personnel carrier of the Armed Forces of Russia and a number of other former Soviet republics and has been used in almost all major armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space. The BTR-80 was actively supplied and exported; in total, as of 2007, the BTR-80 is in service with approximately 26 states.

History of creation and production

By the early 1980s, the main armored personnel carrier of the USSR was launched into mass production in 1976. BTR-70. The experience of their operation soon showed that despite considerable improvements compared to the earlier BTR-60, most of the main shortcomings of its predecessor were transferred to it almost unchanged. One of them was the relatively complex and unreliable design of the power plant consisting of twin carburetor engines, which were also characterized by increased fuel consumption and a number of other disadvantages compared to a diesel engine. An equally serious problem remained the unsatisfactory disembarkation and landing of troops and crew, which only slightly improved compared to the BTR-60. As the Afghan War showed, the vehicle’s security also remained unsatisfactory. Added to all this on the BTR-70 were problems with the new design of the water-jet propulsion unit, which often became clogged with algae, peat slurry and the like while afloat.

To correct these shortcomings, the GAZ-5903 armored personnel carrier was designed in the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of I. Mukhin and E. Murashkin in the early 1980s. While maintaining the same layout of the BTR-70, the new vehicle differed from it in a number of changes. Instead of a pair of carburetor engines, one diesel engine of higher power was installed, and large double hatches were installed in the sides of the hull for boarding and disembarking the crew.

The body itself has become 115 mm taller and longer, and 100 mm wider, although the overall height of the car has increased only by 30 mm. The desire to provide the crew with the ability to fire from under the protection of the armor was further developed, for which the shooting ports on the sides of the hull were replaced by ball mounts turned towards the front hemisphere. The armored personnel carrier's armor was strengthened only slightly, but even so, the weight of the GAZ-5903 increased by 18% compared to the BTR-70, from 11.5 to 13.6 tons, although the mobility of the vehicle generally remained unchanged, and the cruising range only increased. After successful state tests, the GAZ-5903 was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1986 under the designation BTR-80.

Modifications

BTR-80 - basic modification armed with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and a 7.62 mm PKT

BTR-80K - command version of the BTR-80, with the same weapons and additional communications and headquarters equipment.

BTR-80A - modification with armament from a 30-mm 2A72 automatic cannon and a 7.62-mm PKT machine gun, installed in a new monitor-mounted turret. Many experts classify it as a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle.

BTR-80S is a variant of the BTR-80A for internal troops, equipped with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and a 7.62 mm PKT in a monitor-mounted turret.

BTR-80M - a variant of the BTR-80A with a YaMZ-238 engine (240 hp) and KI-128 tires with increased bullet resistance. It differs from its predecessors in the increased body length.

BTR-82, BTR-82A - modification with a 300 hp engine. s., with an installed 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun (BTR-82) or a rapid-fire 30 mm 2A72 cannon (BTR-82A) paired with a 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun, an electric drive and a digital two-plane weapon stabilizer, a combined all-day gunner sight TKN-4GA with a stabilized field of view and a control channel for remote projectile detonation.
Increased survivability, maneuverability, reliability and service life. Anti-fragmentation protection and air conditioning are also installed. According to experts, the combat effectiveness coefficient of the BTR-82 and BTR-82A has doubled compared to the BTR-80 and BTR-80A, respectively.

Description of design

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 regular crew of the BTR-80 consists of three people, a squad (vehicle) commander, a driver and a gunner; in addition to them, the armored personnel carrier can transport 7 motorized riflemen.

Armored hull and turret

The BTR-80 has poorly differentiated bulletproof armor protection. The armored body of the conveyor is assembled 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 stern ones, are installed with significant angles of inclination. The armored hull of all BTR-80s has a streamlined shape, which 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 slightly 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, combined with a combat one. Six paratroopers in the aft part of the troop compartment are located 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, except for the turret gunner, there are eight ball mounts on the sides with horizontal aiming angles from ±15 to ±25° for firing from personal weapons. The ball installations are deployed in the direction of the front hemisphere, as a result of which the rear hemisphere is a dead zone for paratroopers; there is also a small dead zone in the front left. Also, two more hatches for shelling the upper hemisphere, without ball installations, are available in the landing hatches in the roof.

The BTR-80, like its predecessors, has two rectangular landing hatches in the roof, but the main means of disembarkation and landing on it are large double-leaf side doors located immediately behind the turret. The top lid of the side door folds forward as the vehicle moves, and the bottom one opens down, becoming a step, which, unlike its predecessors, allowed troops to board and disembark from the BTR-80 on the move. The driver and commander, as on previous models of armored personnel carriers, have two individual semicircular hatches above their workplaces. In addition, the BTR-80 hull has a number of hatches and hatches that served for 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 placed on trunnions in the frontal part of the turret, its guidance in the vertical plane, within the range of −4...+60°, is carried out manually using a screw mechanism, horizontal guidance is carried out by rotating the turret. The machine guns were aimed at the target using a 1PZ-2 periscopic monocular optical sight, which had a variable magnification of 1.2× or 4× with a field of view of 49° and 14°, respectively, and provided fire from the KPVT at a range of up to 2000 meters at ground targets and 1000 m against air targets, and from the PCT - up to 1500 meters against ground targets. The KPVT is designed to combat lightly armored and unarmored enemy vehicles, including low-flying air targets, and has an ammunition load of 500 rounds in 10 belts, equipped with B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullets, armor-piercing tracer BZT, armor-piercing incendiary bullets with a tungsten carbide core, BST , incendiary ZP and incendiary instant action MDZ. The PKT is designed to destroy enemy personnel and firepower and has an ammunition load of 2000 rounds of ammunition in 8 belts.

Performance characteristics

Combat weight, t: 13.6

Crew, people: 3

Troops, people: 7

Booking

Armor type: rolled steel
- body forehead, mm: 10
- hull side, mm: 7.9
- hull rear, mm: 7
- turret forehead, mm: 7
- turret side, mm: 7
- turret rear, mm: 7

Mobility

Engine type: KamAZ 7403

Engine power, l. p.: 260

Speed, km/h:
- on the highway, km/h: 80
- cross-country: 40
- afloat: 9

Cruising range on the highway, km: 600

Wheel formula 8x8

Suspension type: individual torsion bar with hydraulic shock absorbers

Climbability, degrees: 30

Wall to be overcome, m: 0.5

Ditch to be overcome, m: 2

The problem of transporting infantry and supporting it in battle became acute for the Soviet army already during the Great Patriotic War. To solve these problems, armored personnel carriers were developed. However, initially their designs had many “childhood diseases”, which were quite difficult to cope with.

New solutions, as often happens, were prompted by the war. After the uprising in Budapest, they abandoned the open top of the armored personnel carrier, a legacy of the Great Patriotic War. The operation of the BTR-60 and its modifications led to, and the battles in Afghanistan revealed problems already with the “seventieth”. After modernizing this vehicle, the army received a new BTR-80.

History of creation

The fighting in the democratic republic of Afghanistan revealed many shortcomings of the BTR-70. One of the main ones was the unreliable power system, two carburetor engines, paired and located in the rear of the armored personnel carrier.

In addition to the traditional disadvantages of gasoline engines in the army, gluttony was added even by army standards. Combat operations in the highlands also showed problems with power loss. The hatches on the body of the armored personnel carrier caused problems; it was difficult for the crew and motorized riflemen inside; it was difficult to quickly leave the vehicle.

Fire support on the battlefield was also scant. Combat experience has shown that the elevation angle of armored personnel carrier weapons is insufficient for firing in the mountains. The armor protection of the “seventy” was also insufficient. The water-jet system did not operate effectively; when crossing water bodies, it became clogged with silt, peat and algae.

The design group of the Gorky Automobile Plant, under the command of I. Mukhin and E. Murashkin, was tasked with modernizing the car in accordance with the requirements of the military.

The modernization turned out to be so deep that we can talk about a fundamentally new armored personnel carrier of domestic design.

The twin engine was replaced with one powerful one, KamAZ-740.3, a diesel engine with a turbocharger. The body was increased in comparison with the BTR-70 by 115 mm in height and length, by 100 mm in width. However, due to the reduction in ground clearance, the overall height of the car increased by only 30 mm.

The hull armor was strengthened; all changes led to an increase in the weight of the vehicle by 18%. If the BTR-70 weighed 11.5 tons, then the “eighty” recovered to 13.6 tons. After testing at testing grounds, in 1986 the new armored personnel carrier was officially put into service.

Design of the BTR-80

The layout of the machine consists of three parts. At the head there is a control compartment with a crew of a driver and commander. They are positioned like this: on the left is the Mech-Water, on the right is the commander. The middle part is occupied by the gunner-operator and seven landing personnel.

By the way, ten to twelve people can fit “on the armor.”

The troops inside the vehicle are seated along the central axis, facing the sides for the most effective observation and shooting from personal weapons.

The landing force fires through embrasures with ball mounts. They are designed for firing angles from ±15 to ±25° from the central axis of the vehicle. The turret is controlled by a gunner operator, whose combat position is located in the suspended seat of the turret with circular rotation.

The commander of a motorized rifle squad sits in a separate seat immediately behind the driver and commander, and fires from an embrasure in the direction of the vehicle’s movement. Dead zones for landing are the rear hemisphere and the front left part, behind the driver.

The engine in this armored personnel carrier is located in the tail section. The designers placed several small access hatches on the hull to allow quick access to the components and mechanisms of the power plant and transmission.

The vehicle's armor is bulletproof and poorly differentiated. The hull is assembled from rolled steel sheets, joined by welding, the armor thickness is 5-9 mm. The body is streamlined for better passage of water obstacles, the sheets are installed at different angles of inclination to increase protection during shelling.

The middle frontal sheet is covered with a special shield-wave reflector.

In the raised position, it protects the driver's sight glass from being overwhelmed by waves when moving afloat.

New, wide two-piece doors to the troop compartment were installed. The upper half folds to the side and is fixed with a spring delay; the lower half, in the open position, forms a step, a kind of ramp, and facilitates landing from a moving vehicle.

The vehicle's armament is paired: a large-caliber (14.5 mm) KPVT machine gun and a 7.62 mm PKT. The weapon is placed in a small armored turret for all-round firing, the installation is trunnion-mounted, the elevation angle ranges from −4 to +60°.

The weapon unit is aimed and the turret is rotated manually. Aiming is provided by the 1PZ-2 periscope sight. Monocular optics allows you to cover a KPVT target at a distance of up to 2000 m, PKT up to 1500 m. The ammunition stowage includes 500 cartridges in boxes for KPVT and 2000 for PKT.

Surveillance is carried out through periscopes. The driver has three TNPO-115 periscopes. For operations at night, the use of infrared headlights and an optical device is assumed.

Visibility through observation devices at night, depending on conditions, varies from 60 to 120 meters.

The commander's visibility is provided by a combined type TKN-3 viewing device; for use at night, an OU-3GA2M searchlight with an infrared filter is installed on the vehicle body, which ensures operation in active mode and a visibility range of up to 400 meters.

The operator-gunner is provided with all-round surveillance: front and rear viewing periscopes of the TNP type and a sight. Six additional technical equipment are additionally installed in the troop compartment to provide paratroopers with visibility.

Communication is provided by R-123 radio stations on early series of vehicles, later they were replaced by more advanced R-173. In addition, during the modernization, simplex radio stations R-163 were installed on some of the vehicles. Internal communication is provided by R-124, designed for three subscribers.

Modernization and comparison with foreign analogues

Over its many years of service, the BTR-80 has been modernized several times. The following types of vehicles are found in the Russian army:

• a command and staff vehicle, additionally equipped with radio communications and terrain positioning equipment; in addition, part of the BTR-80K was released as mobile missile launch control posts;
• BTR-80A, a modernized version with an uninhabited combat module with a 30 mm 2A72 cannon. Instead of a turret with a pair of machine guns;
• BTR-80M, with a reinforced YaMZ-238 engine, as well as tires with increased bullet resistance and a longer hull;
• BTR-80AM, YaMZ-238 engine and uninhabited combat module.

In addition to Russia, these transporters are in service in 26 countries around the world. Not only Russians like to improve, so there are options that are adjusted even to NATO standards. Hungarian developers have achieved the greatest success in this field:

• BTR-80 SKJ – specialized medical vehicle;
• BTR-80 VSF - for RCBZ troops;
• BTR-80 MVJ – a tow truck for equipment damaged on the battlefield with the possibility of simple repairs on site;
• BTR-80 MPAEJ – device for repair and maintenance;
• BTR-80 MPFJ – engineering and technical modification.

In addition to Hungary, a lot of work was done on the “eighty” in Poland and Ukraine. The attention with which engineers treat this vehicle speaks of its enormous potential for modernization and importance in military affairs.

The use of the BTR-80 in Afghanistan and other conflicts did not greatly interest the American military, accustomed to tracked transporters. The situation was changed by the famous Throw on Pristina, which showed the advantage of wheeled vehicles over tracked vehicles in such operations.

As a result, the US Army received the M1126 Stryker, which is based on the Swiss “Piranha” armored personnel carrier and our “eighty”. Comparative tests, meanwhile, showed that Americans have serious problems. Due to the heavy weight of the vehicle and the features of the transmission, the Stryker is more likely to get stuck in the mud.

If a mine tears off a couple of wheels on a domestic armored personnel carrier, it is quite capable of getting to its own.

The American, despite having the same 8 wheels, gets up after losing at least one of them.

Combat use of the BTR-80

From the moment the first vehicles entered service with the troops, they immediately occupied their rightful niche. Not a single military clash that has occurred since 1986 on the territory under the jurisdiction of the USSR, Russia and allied countries has occurred without at least the indirect participation of the BTR-80.

The armored personnel carrier, the workhorse of any conflict, ensured the fast and relatively safe delivery of manpower to the scene of a collision. She also supported the infantry with the fire of her machine guns, and, if necessary, evacuated wounded soldiers.

An indicative case of the competent use of the qualities of the BTR-80 can be seen in the events of August 1996.

In Grozny, units of internal troops were blocked on Minutka Square. There was no possibility of evacuating seriously wounded soldiers. One of the officers, Major Larin, decided to make his way with the wounded on an armored personnel carrier.

Having accelerated, Larin and his crew make their way through the first ring of encirclement, but it was necessary to drive through the entire city. The commander orders false smoke to be lit on the turret of the armored personnel carrier before the next barrier of militants. At the same time, the vehicle is attacked from several sides by grenade launchers.

One of the grenades, having torn off the boxes attached to reinforce the armor on board, explodes near the hull without damaging the engine. The commander orders the driver to slow down without turning off the engine and slowly stop the car. At the same time, the lights flare up, and the complete impression of the machine being defeated is created.

According to Larin’s recollections, the militants rose to their full height, expecting stunned and burned soldiers to climb through the hatches. Instead, the crew turns the KPVT towards the attackers. A burst from a machine gun is accompanied by an order to pick up speed again. This trick made it possible to escape from the encirclement and deliver the wounded to the hospital.

In other wars, skillful hands and a clear head made it possible to use the maneuverability and power of armored personnel carriers with all efficiency.

Trace in culture

The BTR-80, one of the most popular vehicles of recent decades, has made a huge contribution to cinema and video. Everything that is, in one way or another, related to combat operations will definitely be shown by the BTR-80 sooner or later. Thanks to its characteristic silhouette, it is impossible to confuse this car.

It’s interesting that you can see the device not only in movies, but also in numerous videos of music performers.

With a high degree of probability, if they want to depict “something military” in their creations, then the hard worker BTR-80 will appear there. Often these cars are used in small towns on Victory Day.

If you really want to, you can not only fly into space, but also build an BTR-80 yourself and put it on a shelf at home. The Russian company “Zvezda”, as well as the Chinese “Trumpeter” and the Italian “ITALERY” and many others are producing prefabricated models of the BTR-80.

The products are in great demand in China. Our eastern neighbors, passionate about the reconstruction of the Soviet and Russian armies in the Afghan and Chechen wars, are no less interested in this technology than the Russians.

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