"By powerful artillery fire, air strikes, and a wave of attacking tanks, we're supposed to swiftly crush the enemy."
- Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov
The BTR-70 was first seen in 1978 and originally assigned the preliminary designation BTR M1978, although it was first shown in public during a Moscow parade in 1980. A successor vehicle to the BTR-60P, both vehicles have the same turret armament, while the BTR-70 has two upgraded 8-cylinder 120-hp gasoline engines which give improvements in power-to-weight ratio. Other modifications include improved vision for the embarked troops, additional firing ports and improved armor protection. The BTR-70 has a slightly longer hull, and features a recognizable gap between the front and rear sets of road wheels. Triangular-shaped access doors are located in this space on both sides of the vehicle and provide side entrance and exit for troops, rather than only from the top as in the BTR-60PB. The troop compartment accomodates six infantry men, each provided with a firing port and vision block.
As with the BTR-60PB and BRDM-2, the BTR-70 has a small conical turret armed with a 14.5-mm KPT machine gun and a coaxial 7.62-mm PKT machinegun. The BTR-70 is fully amphibious, propelled by a single water-jet at the rear of the hull. Before entering the water, a trim vane is erected at the front and bilge pumps are switched on. Like the BTR-60PB, the BTR-70 has good cross-country capability, high road speed, and large troop-carrying capacity. Its versatility and amphibious capability are also advantages. The primary disadvantage is its relatively light armor protection, although it has been reported that the bow section possibly incorporates special layered armor. Comes in green. Now in stock! |
