BTR-80

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BTR-80
General characteristics
Crew	3 (+7 passengers)
Length	7.65 m
Width	2.90 m
Height	2.35 m
Weight	13.6 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	[secret]
Main armament	14.5mm KPVT machine gun
Secondary armament	7.62mm PKT machine gun
Mobility
Power plant	diesel V8 UTD-20 260 hp (190 kW)
Suspension	wheeled 8×8
Road speed	80 km/h, swim 9 km/h
Power/weight	19 hp/tonne
Range	600 km

BTR-80 is an 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the Soviet Union. Production started in 1986 and replaced the previous versions, BTR-60 and BTR-70 in the Soviet army.

Contents 1 Description 2 Capabilities 3 Limitations 4 Remarks 5 Versions 6 Users 7 Notes 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Description

The Soviets based the BTR-80 on the BTR-70 APC. It has a 260-hp, V-8 turbocharged, water-cooled, diesel engine. The reconfigured rear portion of the hull accommodates a new, single engine. The Soviets removed the roof chamfers of the modified BTR-70, raised the rear, and squared off the rearward-sloping engine compartment.

[edit] Capabilities

The Soviets modified the truncated cone turret used on the BTR-70 for the BTR-80 by redesigning the mantlet. This allows the 14.5-mm and coaxial 7.62-mm machine guns to be elevated to a maximum of 60 degrees. This high angle of fire is useful in engaging targets on steep mountainsides, such as those in Afghanistan. It may also give the BTR-80 increased air defense capability. The Soviets have also modified the design and positioning of the firings ports; the ports are now round, rather than tear-shaped, and have ball mounts similar to those used on the BMP. The forward firing ports now sit in angled recesses which allow the individual weapons to fire to the front of the vehicle.

The redesigned side doors are split horizontally. The upper portion opens forward; this gives dismounting troops some protection against small arms fire from the front of the vehicle. The lower portion opens down, forming a step. Six smoke grenade projectors are mounted on the rear of the turret. Armor protection, particularly in the frontal 60-degree arc, has probably increased.

[edit] Limitations

The side firing ports are angled forward. This design prevents mounted infantrymen from engaging targets directly to the sides and rear of the vehicle with small arms fire. The armor on the BTR-80 is limited to stopping small arms fire and shell fragments but can be easily penetrated by an RPG round. Due to this limitation, Russian troops in combat zones always ride outside the BTR, sitting on top. This limits the chance that a single RPG round could kill or wound everyone inside the vehicle.

[edit] Remarks

In 1984, the Soviets began production of a dieselized variant of the BTR-70, which they called the BTR-80. The Soviets have retrofitted some BTR-70s with several of the improvements incorporated into the BTR-80, including the high-angle-of-fire turret.

[edit] Versions

• BTR-80 - armoured personnel carrier
• BTR-80K - Commander APC
• BTR-80A - APC See pictures with 30 mm gun as primary weapon
• BTR-80S - APC

[edit] Users

There are over 5000 BTR-80s in service in various armies around the world:

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• Armenia: 50 in service of the Armenian Army.
• Azerbaijan
• Bangladesh
• Belarus
• Colombia: On July 2006 Colombia began production of locally-built BTR-80s (Called BTR-80 Caribe) at COTECMAR, a Cartagena-based naval builder.
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Hungary
• Indonesia: Indonesian Navy Marine Corps (Korps Marinir TNI-AL) use BTR-80 for their Cavalry Detachment (Detasemen Kavaleri) at 1st Marine Corps Brigade. From 2006, 20 BTR-80 serving for Indonesian UNIFIL Mission in Lebanon.
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Macedonia
• Moldova
• North Korea
• Russian Federation
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka^[1]
• Tajikistan
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Asia Times, Deadly arsenals dot Sri Lanka

[edit] See also

• BTR-152

[edit] External links

• Technical data sheet and pictures BTR-80 ArmyRecognition.com
• FAS page

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