BTR-60

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BTR-60PB
General characteristics
Crew	2+12 passengers
Length	7.22 m
Width	2.82 m
Height	2.06 m
Weight	10.1 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	hull front 7 to 9 mm hull sides 7 mm hull rear 5 to 7 mm belly 5 mm roof 7 mm turret 7 mm
Main armament	14.5mm KPV machine gun
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKT machine gun
Mobility
Power plant	2×6-cyl. gasoline 90+90 hp (70+70 kW)
Suspension	wheeled 8×8
Road speed	80 km/h
Power/weight	18 hp/tonne
Range	500 km

The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers. It was developed in late 1950s as a replacement for BTR-152 and was seen first time in public in 1961. BTR stands for Bronetransporter (БТР, Бронетранспортер, literally "armoured transporter"). [1].

The boat-shaped hull is welded steel giving protection against small arms fire and shrapnel.

The vehicle is powered by two gasoline engines located in the rear of the hull, each powering two axles. It is fully amphibious and moves in water propelled by a single water-jet.

Contents 1 Development 2 Operational history 3 Variants 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Development

The truck based BTR-152, developed after the Second World War had given the Russians useful experience of wheeled armoured personnel carriers. Between 1956 and 1957 a decision was made to convert all rifle and mechanized divisions into new motor rifle divisions, a requirement for a new vehicle was drawn up.

Development proceeded along two paths, a more expensive vehicle, that would eventually become the BMP-1 for tank divisions and a cheaper vehicle for use in motor rifle divisions. Two design bureaus were given the requirements, GAZ led by Dedkov, and ZiL led by Rodionov and Orlov. GAZ had already developed an 8 wheeled vehicle, the izdeliye 62B, this was used as the basis for the new izdeliye 49. The GAZ-49 petrol engine that had been used on the BRDM-1 vehicle was selected. ZiL developed a 6 x 6 design, the ZiL-153, similar in hull shape to the GAZ design. Both were submitted to state trials in 1960, and the GAZ design was selected and given the designation BTR-60P.

The BTR-60P was produced from 1960 to 1963, and had an open roofed crew compartment. The next version, the BTR-60PA, entered production in 1963^[1] and had an armoured roof, though the capacity was reduced from 14 troops to 12 troops. The appearance of the German HS.30 APC, armed with a 20 mm cannon prompted the addition of a small turret fitted with a KPVT 14.5 mm heavy machine gun. The new vehicle was designated the BTR-60PAI and entered service in 1965, but was quickly superseced by the BTR-60PB, which had a better sighting system for the gun. The turret design was later reused for the BRDM-2

The BTR-60PB remained in production from 1966 through to 1976 when it was superseded by the BTR-70.

[edit] Operational history

BTR-60s were employed widely both by the Soviet Army and by more than thirty export customers^[1]. Operators of the BTR-60 have included Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bhutan, Botswana, Bulgaria, Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, East Germany, Ethiopia, Finland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Libya, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, North Korea, Romania, Soviet Union, Syria, Uganda, Vietnam,Yugoslavia/Serbia, Yemen, and Zambia, as well as many of the successor states of the Soviet Union^[2]

The BTR-60 has seen action in the Yom Kippur War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Chechen and Yugoslav wars.

[edit] Variants

• BTR-60P - Initial version with open troop compartment.
  • BTR-60Pu See pictures- Command vehicle, has a canvas roof and additional communication equipment. No turret, no integral armament.
    • BTR-60PuM, BTR-60PuM1
    • BTR-60Pu-12 (1972), BTR-60Pu-12M - Air defence command vehicles, that operate with ZSU-23-4, SA-9 or SA-13 units.
• BTR-60PA (1963) - This version has full armour cover for troops.
  • BTR-60 1V18, BTR-60 1V19 - Artillery command and reconnaissance vehicles based on the BTR-60PA.
• BTR-60PAI (1965) - Initial version with conical turret on the top of the vehicle mounting a 14.5 mm machine gun.
  • BTR-60PB (1966) - Improved sighting system for 14.5 mm machine gun.
    • BTR-60PBK - Company commander version with three additional radios.
    • BTR-60PZ (1972) - Version with improved turret similar to the BTR-70 it entered service in very small numbers.
    • BTR-60 R-156,BTR-60 R-975M1 - Air Control Vehicle based on the BTR-60PB.
• BTR-60 R-145 "Chayka", BTR-60 R-145BM - Command vehicles.
• MTP-2 (1975) - Armored recovery vehicle
• MTR-2
• BTR-60 AA - Some Cuban vehicles have been fitted with twin 30 mm cannons to act as light AAA.

[edit] See also

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 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 2S1 Gvozdika · 2S3 Akatsiya · 2S4 Tyulpan · 2S5 Giatsint-S · 2S7 Pion · 2S9 Nona · 2S19 Msta · 2S23 Nona-SVK · ASU-57 · ASU-85 Multiple rocket launchers BM-14 · BM-21 Grad · BM-24 · BM-25 · BM-27 Uragan . TOS-1 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)
List of armoured fighting vehicles by country

[edit] External links

• Data sheet and pictures BTR-60PB ArmyRecognition.com
• Fas.org
• Description (in russian) and photo gallery at armoured.vif2.ru

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide, TRADOC DCSINT Threat Support Directorate, January 1999.
2. ^ Chris Westhorp (editor), The World's Armies: An Illustrated Review of the Armies of the World, Salamander Press, c. 1991, ISBN 0-517-05240-7

• Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945 to Present, A. Hull, D. Markov, S. Zaloga