BTR-50

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BTR-50
BTR-50PK in Yad la-Shiryon museum, Israel.
General characteristics
Crew	2+20
Length	7.07 m
Width	3.14 m
Height	2.03 m
Weight	14.5 t
Armour and armament
Armour	6-13 mm
Main armament	none or 7.62 mm SGMB machine gun or 14.5 mm KPV machine gun.
Secondary armament
Mobility
Power plant	V-6 diesel 240 hp (177 kW)
Suspension	torsion bar
Road speed	44 km/h
Power/weight	16.6 hp/tonne
Range	240 km

The BTR-50 was a Soviet amphibious armoured personnel carrier based on the PT-76 tank chassis. The BTR-50 was tracked, unlike all other members of the BTR series, which were wheeled.

1 History and description
2 Employment history
3 Variants
4 Operators
5 External links

[edit] History and description

The BTR-50 was a Soviet amphibious armoured personnel carrier. The vehicle, based on the PT-76 amphibious tank chassis, was developed in 1952 and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1954. BTR stands for Bronetransporter (БТР, Бронетранспортер, literally "armoured transporter") †.

Like the PT-76, the BTR-50 has flat, boat-shaped hull, and ready to swim after merely erecting the trim vane on the bow. In water it is propelled by two hydrojets, one in each side of the hull, with the exits at the rear of the hull. The rear exits have lids that can be fully or partially closed, redirecting the water stream to the forward-directed exits at the sides of the hull, thus enabling the vehicle to turn or float reverse.

[edit] Employment history

APCs of the BTR-50 series served in motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions in the Soviet and East German armies. Command vehicle variants were employed by many Warsaw Pact armies. Finnish Defence Forces still employ the BTR-50 as a communication vehicle used within the latest digital field communication network.

The BTR-50 and its Czech/Polish clone OT-62/TOPAS were used by Egypt and Syria in the Six-Day War (1967). Some vehicles were captured and commissioned by the Israel Defense Forces, so in the Yom Kippur War (1973) the BTR-50 was employed by both sides. Some of the Israeli BTR-50s were later transferred to the South Lebanon Army.

Improvised medevac vehicle used by the South Lebanon Army.

[edit] Variants

BTR-50P (1952) - the first version. Open-topped crew compartment, no integral weapons.
BTR-50PA (1954) - a 14.5 mm KPV machine gun mounted on the roof of the commander's cupola.
BTR-50PK (1958) - fitted with an armored roof and armed with a 7.62 mm SGMB machine gun.

Finnish defence forces BTR-50PK converted to a communication vehicle.

BTR-50PU (1959) - a command vehicle. Carries crew of 10. Isn't armed. Has an armoured roof with oval hatches. Most of the BTR-50PU have two projecting bays on the front of the vehicle instead of one.

BTR-50PU command vehicle. Note the second bay and the oval hatches.

BTR-50PUM-1 (1972) - a command vehicle with a crew of up to 8, an upgrade of the BTR-50PU.
BTR-50PK(B) - armored recovery vehicle.
MTP - technical support vehicle.
MTK - mine-clearing vehicle equipped with launcher that fires tubes filled with explosive.
Obiekt 914 - experimental IFV.
OT-62 A/B/C (TOPAS) - a closely related Czech/Polish APC. Has two projecting bays on the front of the vehicle (like the BTR-50PU) and side doors.

OT-62. Note the second bay and the side door.

WPT-TOPAS - a Czech/Polish ARV based on the OT-62.

Polish WPT-TOPAS.

Type 77 Amphibious Armoured Vehicle - a Chinese vehicle based on the Type 63 amphibious tank which in turn is a derivative of the PT-76. Although not a clone of the BTR-50, the Type 77 has similar hull shape and layout.
- Type 77-1 - amphibious armoured personnel/artillery carrier designed to carry a disassembled gun (85 mm towed anti-tank gun or 120 mm towed howitzer) on the roof. The vehicle has hydraulic winch and ramps to load/unload the gun.
- Type 77-2 - amphibious armoured personnel carrier. No winch and ramps.

[edit] Operators

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Congo, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Soviet Union/Russia, Somalia, Syria, Vietnam, South Lebanon Army.

[edit] External links

	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: BTR-50

Soviet and post-Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after World War II

Tanks

IS-3 · IS-4 · T-10 · T-54 · T-55 · PT-76 · T-62 · T-64 · T-72 · T-80
Russian: T-90 · Black Eagle · T-95	Ukrainian: T-72MP · T-80UD · T-84

Armoured personnel carriers

Tracked
BTR-50 · MT-LB · BMP-1 · BMD-1 · BMP-2 · BMP-3 · BTR-T · BMP-T · ASU-57 · ASU-85
Wheeled
BTR-152 · BTR-40 · BRDM-1 · BRDM-2 · BTR-60 · BTR-70 · BTR-80
Russian: BTR-90	Ukrainian: BTR-4 · BTR-94

Self-propelled artillery

Multiple rocket launchers
2S1 Gvozdika · 2S3 Akatsiya · 2S4 Tyulpan · 2S5 Giatsint-S · 2S7 Pion · 2S9 Nona · 2S19 Msta · 2S23 Nona-SVK
BM-14 · BM-21 Grad · BM-24 · BM-25 · BM-27 Uragan
Russian: BM-30 Smerch
Surface-to-surface missiles
FROG-7 · 9K79 Tochka (SS-21 Scarab) · R-400 Oka (SS-23 Spider
Russian: Iskander(SS-26 Stone)

Air defense vehicles

Gun
ZSU-57-2 · ZSU-23-4 · Tunguska-M1
Missile
2K11 Krug (SA-4 Ganef) · 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) · 9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9 Gaskin) · 9K37 Buk (SA-11 Gadfly) · 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher) · 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) · 9K330 Tor (SA-15 Gauntlet) · S-300 (SA-10 Grumble)
Russian: Pantsyr-S1 · 9K38 Buk-M1-2 (SA-17 Grizzly)