BTR-70

BTR-70
BTR-70 in Kazan
General properties
crew	3 (commander, driver, gunner) + 8 infantrymen
length	7.53 m
width	2.80 m
height	2.26 m
Dimensions	12 tons
Armor and armament
Armor	9 mm (front), 7 mm (side)
Main armament	1 × oversized 14.5 mm MG KPWT
Secondary armament	1 × 7.62 mm MG PKT
agility
drive	2 × 8-cylinder gasoline engine ZMZ-4905 2 × 120 PS (88.3 kW) at 3,200–3,400 rpm
Top speed	80 km / h
Power / weight	20 hp / ton
Range	400 km

The BTR-70 was an armored personnel carrier that was developed in the Soviet Union . BTR is an abbreviation for Bronetransportjor , Cyrillic Бронетранспортёр , in German armored transporter. The vehicle was produced in large numbers during the Cold War and was used by numerous states and groups. Under the name "SPW-70" it was also part of the equipment of the NVA .

development

The armored car was developed as an improved successor to the BTR-60 . The fuselage was lengthened to such an extent that the BTR-70 left space for side hatches, which were located between the second and third axis. Just using roof hatches for the soldiers of the rifle squad to sit down and deploy - as with the previous model BTR-60 - posed too many dangers for the soldiers. They had no cover on the roof when they left the vehicle, and injuries were also caused by slamming the heavy hatch covers. The rifle squad was therefore placed back to back in the vehicle and doors were let into the side armor between the second and third axles. Openings in the vehicle wall allowed the soldiers to fire outwards from their seats in the protected vehicle interior. In addition, the front armor was reinforced.

construction

Positions of the crew members:
1. Commander of the vehicle and leader of the infantry group
2. Driver
3. Gunner
4. Seven infantrymen

The driver sat in the front left of the bathtub, with the steering wheel, pedals and engine controls installed in front of him. To the left of him further instruments for the water drive. The commander sat to the right of the driver and had an observation device in front of him and the radio to the right of him. Depending on the organization of the troop unit concerned, he also led the rifle troop in addition to his own vehicle. The driver and the commander each had a viewing window and several corner mirrors in their places. If necessary, the windows could be closed with an armor plate so that one had to observe from the vehicle with the corner mirror. The gunner sat behind the driver and operated the weapon system in the turret.

A group of up to seven additional soldiers could be transported: While they were protected in the vehicle, they could look outwards with their rifles: Six infantry soldiers sat in the rear of the vehicle, three of them were able to work their weapons to the front left through openings in the vehicle wall , the other three to the right in front. Another soldier could find space immediately behind the vehicle commander's seat. He was able to use his weapon through an opening in the front of the vehicle to the right.

technology

Engine and chassis

The BTR-70 was parallel in the original version of two mutually in the vehicle rear-mounted water- and oil-cooled 115 horsepower gasoline engines GAZ-69B driven. Later construction lots were equipped with two improved 8-cylinder 4-stroke gasoline engines ZMZ-4905 with 120 hp each. The right motor acted on the first and third axles, the left motor drove the second and fourth pair of wheels accordingly. Both engines were designed in such a way that they could each be individually decoupled from the chassis, which made it possible to continue driving even with a defective engine. The gearshift took place via two mechanical gearboxes. Only the two front pairs of wheels were steered.

While driving, the driver could open the cover of the water jet drive from his seat via a hydraulic system and unfold a surge board on the tub bow. The vehicle reached a maximum of 10 km / h when driving in the water. A bilge pump and two bilge valves were installed in order to be able to pump any water that might have entered the vehicle while swimming .

The vehicle was equipped with a tire pressure control system which allowed the tire pressure to be adjusted to different ground conditions (e.g. ice, swamp, asphalt, etc.). The right motor was connected to a 50 m cable winch for rescue tasks in the tub bow via a gearbox.

Weapon system

The main armament consisted of a small turret on the roof with a super-heavy 14.5 mm MG KPWT in middle of the tower and an axially mounted to 7.62 mm PKT - MG right. The gunner himself was not sitting inside the tower, but under it. Aiming was carried out using a periscopic PP-61A telescopic sight almost 30 cm long, which was installed to the left of the 14.5 mm machine-gun and displayed illuminated distance scales for both weapons. The KPWT had a scale of up to 2,000 meters, the PKT of up to 1,500 meters.

The tower was swiveled using a handwheel and the height was adjusted using another wheel. The weapons could be fired electrically using two buttons on the handwheel of the side straightener. Ammunition was fed through 50 (14.5 mm) and 250 (7.62 mm) round belts from box magazines. For the heavy machine gun in the SPW 70 (S), for example, the National People's Army ordered 125 rounds of high explosive incendiary ammunition , 65 × armor-piercing tracer and 60 × armor-piercing incendiary ammunition per vehicle. The weapon system was not stabilized so that it was only possible to shoot accurately while standing.

Observation equipment and radio

A TWNO-2 night vision device was installed above the driver's seat. The infrared converter device only worked in combination with an infrared spotlight and only allowed observations up to 60 meters away. The commander had a TPKU-2 observation device with five-fold magnification in his place. A VHF radio R-123 with 20 watt transmission power and a range of around 20 km was originally installed next to the commander , which was later also replaced by more powerful devices.

Like the SPW-60, the SPW-70 was also equipped with a so-called nuclear weapon protection system, which generated overpressure in the vehicle and thus prevented the penetration of radioactive particles.

Rear view of an SPW-70

weaknesses

The BTR-70 was a significant improvement on its predecessor, but the concept with two gasoline engines was retained. Although the fuel tanks on the BTR-70 were separated from the engine compartment, the engines consumed a lot of fuel at 72 liters per 100 km on the road or 116 liters off-road and with the petrol tanks - compared to diesel-powered vehicles - still posed a significantly higher risk of fire.

Furthermore, the new doors between the second and third pair of wheels were quite small and made getting in and out of the shooters difficult.

User states and versions

Soviet paratroopers with their BTR-70s during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan

Infantry exits a Romanian TAB-77 during a training exercise

Armored personnel carrier 70 of the NVA paraded in 1989 on Republic Day in Berlin

Current users and their versions

•  Armenia - As of January 2018, there are 36 BTR-70s in service.
•  Azerbaijan - As of January 2018, there are 132 BTR-70s in service.
•  Georgia - As of January 2018, there are 25 BTR-70s in service.
•  Kyrgyzstan - As of January 2018, 25 BTR-70 and 20 BTR-70M are in service.
•  Mali - As of January 2018, 9 BTR-70s are in service.
•  Macedonia - As of January 2018, there are 57 BTR-70s in service.
•  Mexico - As of January 2018, there are 26 APC-70 (BTR-70) in service.
•  Mongolia - As of January 2018, there are 40 BTR-70M in service.
•  Nicaragua - As of January 2018, there are 4 BTR-70M in service.
•  Pakistan - As of January 2018, an unknown number of BTR-70s are in service.
•  Romania - As of January 2018, 153 " TAB-77 " (BTR-70 built under license) are in service.
  TAB-77 - two 132 HP Saviem 797-05M1 diesel engines, higher straightening angle for armament, improved aiming device on the tower
  TERA-77L -
  TABC-79 recovery vehicle, shortened four-wheel version
•  Russia - As of January 2018, 200 BTR-70s are in service with the Army .
  BTR-70
  BTR-70KSHM - (Russian: КШМ) command
  vehicle BTR-70MS - (Russian: МС) radio vehicle
  BTR-70M - modernized BTR-70 with 260 HP diesel engine KAMAZ-7403 and drive components of the BTR-80
  BTR- 80
  Prototype for tank destroyer 2S14 “Jalo” with 85 mm gun 2A62
  Prototype for NW1 “Otsek” with 120 mm mortar 2A51
•  Zambia - As of January 2018, there are 20 BTR-70s in service.
•  Sudan - As of January 2018, there are 10 BTR-70M in service.
•  Syria - As of January 2018, an unknown number of BTR-70s are in service.
•  Tajikistan - As of January 2018, an unknown number of BTR-70s are in service.
•  Turkmenistan - As of January 2018, there are 300 BTR-70s in service.
•  Ukraine - As of January 2018, there are 217 BTR-70s in service.
  BTR-70M - Ukrainian modernization measure from 2003 with UTD-20 multi-fuel engine.
  BTR-70KBA - Ukrainian modernization measure with UTD-20 multi-fuel engine and 30-mm KBA2 automatic cannon.
  BTR-70DI-02 "Switjas" - command post vehicle
  BMM-70 - ambulance vehicle
•  Uzbekistan - As of January 2018, there are 25 BTR-70s in service.
•  Belarus - As of January 2018, there are 39 BTR-70s in service.

Former users

•  German Democratic Republic in the NVA until 1990
  
  SPW 70 - also "Device 4905" from 1979, a total of 1266 pieces from Romanian production, from 1980 with 120 HP engine
  SPW 70Ch - prototype for a reconnaissance vehicle for the detection of chemical warfare agents and ionizing radiation .
  SPW 70 W - like Romanian TAB-77, planned but no longer implemented. SPW 70 S - staff vehicle with two additional radios
  SPW 70 SL - staff vehicle for coordination with the air force, with additional radio and antenna

•  Afghanistan - Decommissioned until February 2012.
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina - Decommissioned until February 2012.
•  Kazakhstan - Decommissioned by January 2018.

See also

• Bronetransportjor

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Armored personnel carrier tower system on rwd-mb3.de
2. ↑ combat kit assembly on rwd-mb3.de
3. ↑ TWNO-2 at Missile and Weapons Technical Service in Kdo. MB III rwd-mb3.de
4. ↑ R-123 at Missile and Weapons Technical Service in Kdo. MB III rwd-mb3.de
5. ↑ " История развития плавающих бронированных машин СССР и России "
6. ↑ Бронетранспортер БТР-70, User Manual, p. 14
7. ^ ^{A b} Anthony Tucker-Jones: Soviet Cold War Weaponry: Tanks and Armored Vehicles. Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2015, ISBN 978-1-78303-296-9 , pp. 72-73.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u} The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 2018 . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-85743-955-7 (English, January 2018).
9. ↑ КБ имени Морозова модернизировало бронетранспортер БТР-70 Press release from November 2003 on elvisti.com (Russian)
10. ↑ Харьковское Конструкторское Бюро по Машиностроению ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. morozovkmdb.com (Russian) 
11. ↑ PDF Printed matter 12/2026 p.7 German Bundestag - 12th electoral period from January 31, 1992
12. ↑ ^{a b c d} Schützenpanzerwagen 70 and variants ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Military technology of the NVA, private internet presence  
13. ^ ^{A b} The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 2012 . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-85743-642-6 (English, February 2012).

literature

• Бронетранспортер БТР-70. Техническое описание и инструкция по эксплуатации. Moscow 1988. (approximately: BTR-70. Technical description and user manual. ) (Russian)

Web links

Commons : BTR-70  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Armored personnel carrier 70 and variants military technology of the NVA, private website
• Armored personnel carrier SPW-70 at the rocket and weapons service in Kdo. MB III rwd-mb3.de, private website