BTR-152

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BTR-152
General characteristics
Crew	2 (+17 passengers)
Length	6.83 m
Width	2.32 m
Height	2.36 m
Weight	8.7 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	6–13 mm
Main armament	7.62mm SGMB machine gun
Secondary armament	none
Mobility
Power plant	ZIS-123 6 cylinder in-line water-cooled petrol 110 hp (82 kW) at 3,000 rpm.
Suspension	wheeled 6×6 front - 2 leaf springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. rear - equalising type with 2 leaf springs and torsion bars.
Road speed	65 km/h
Power/weight	13 hp/tonne
Range	600 km

The BTR-152 was the Soviet armored personnel carrier. BTR stands for Bronetransporter (БТР, Бронетранспортер, literally "armoured transporter") †. The vehicle entered service in 1950 and by early 1970s was replaced in the infantry vehicle role by the BTR-60. However it remained in service in the Soviet Army until 1993 in a variety of other roles. It was also exported to many Third World countries where some still remain in service.

Contents 1 History 2 Description 3 Operators 4 Variants 5 External links 6 References 7 Notes

[edit] History

The BTR-152 was one of the first Soviet attempts at an armoured infantry vehicle. It was developed from November 1946 at ZiS plant by a team led by B. M. Fitterman, and was adopted by the Soviet Army at 24 March 1950. The vehicle was based on the existing ZiS-151 truck chassis. Despite an improved engine, the addition of 5 tons of armour resulted in the vehicle having insufficient mobility.

Several upgraded versions were produced, rectifying many of the problems of the vehicle, such as the open roof and the mobility issue (the addition of a tire pressure regulation system, allowing tire pressure to be adjusted to optimize traction in soft ground).

Production of the BTR-152 was stopped in 1962 with around 15,000 vehicles having been produced. In the Soviet army it was phased out as an infantry transport between the late 1960s and early 1970s, being replaced by the BTR-60. It remained in service in the Soviet Army until 1993 in a variety of roles including command vehicles, mobile radio stations and ambulances. It was also exported to many Third World countries where some still remain in service.

[edit] Description

The BTR-152 is of all-welded steel construction, with a large open topped troop compartment at the rear and the engine at the front. The driver and commander sit immediately behind the engine, the driver on the left, the commander to the right. The windscreen is protected by twin armoured shutters that have integral vision blocks. The vehicles armour varies from 13.5 mm thick on the front to 9 mm thick on the sides, to just 4 mm thick on the belly giving it modest protection from small arms and shell splinters. Armoured shutters controlled from the drivers compartment protect the front mounted radiator from hostile fire.

The troop compartment is open and is normally covered with a tarpaulin, benches are normally provided. Twin doors at the rear of the hull provide access to the compartment. There are three firing ports on each side of the hull, and a further two in the rear. The driver and gunner are the only ones that have overhead protection.

The vehicle is sometimes fitted with a winch that has a maximum capacity of 5,000 kg, and is fitted with a 70 m cable.

[edit] Operators

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China (as Type 56), Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, DDR, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Laos, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Seychelles, South Lebanon Army, Sri Lanka[1], Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe.

[edit] Variants

• BTR-152.
  • BTR-152A (1951) - air defence or ground support vehicle, armed with double (ZPTU-2) or quadruple (ZPTU-4) KPV 14.5 mm machine gun.
  • BTR-152S - command vehicle.
  • BTR-152B (1952) - had front-mounted winch.
• BTR-152V (1955) - variant based on ZIL-157 truck with adjustable tire pressure system.
  • BTR-152D (1955) - armament as BTR-152A, but based on BTR-152V.
• BTR-152V1 (1957) - received night vision equipment and improved tires pressure regulation system.
  • BTR-152V2 - BTR-152 vehicles rebuilt to V1 standard.
  • BTR-152V3 - BTR-152V vehicles rebuilt to V1 standard.
  • BTR-152U - command vehicle based on BTR-152V1.
  • BTR-152E - armament as BTR-152A, but based on BTR-152V1.
• BTR-E152V (1957) - experimental version; the second pair of the wheels were moved toward the center of the vehicle in order to improve the off-road performance.
• BTR-152K (1959) - received armored roof. The weight of the vehicle reached 9 tons, the crew was down to 2+13.
• BTR-152 TCM-20 - Israeli air defence vehicle, armed with double 20 mm cannon in a TCM-20 turret.
• Type 56 - Chinese version.

[edit] External links

• FAS.org
• Photo gallery at armyrecognition.com
• Description and photo gallery at Slujba.ru (Russian language)
• Description and photo gallery at armoured.vif2.ru (Russian language)

[edit] References

• Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices 1945 to Present, Andrew Hull, David Markov Steven Zaloga, ISBN 1-892848-01-5
• Jane's Armour and Artillery 2005-2006

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] Notes