BTR-90 Armoured Personnel Vehicle

In 1994 the Russian Army publicly displayed the BTR-90 [BTR = Bronyetransporter - Armored Transporter]. This vehicle has a slightly larger and higher hull hull than the previous BTR-80, with a pointed nose resembling LAV-25. It is unclear if the BTR-90 will be produced for the Russian Army or for export only. While it has the same turret as the BMP-2 , production vehicles (assuming it is accepted into service) are almost certain to have a different turret An armored personnel carrier of the new generation- BTR-90, has four types of weapons installed in one and the same section. These are an automatic gun, a machine-gun, a grenade launcher and an anti-tank missile complex. The equipment makes it possible to wage a fight against tanks, artillery pieces, mechanized infantry combat vehicles, helicopters and manpower of the enemy at a distance of over 4 kilometers both from a position and in movement. The high weight-carrying capacity and considerable inner capacity (12 cubic meters) of the eight-wheel BTR-90 allow to transport heavier weapons, such as an anti-tank gun, a 120-millimetre artillery piece and anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. BTR-90 can move at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour on motorways and over 50 kilometers per hour on highly-broken ground. It can move even if its four wheels have been damaged. Despite a relatively big weight (about 21 tons) BTR-90 can without any preparations move across water obstacles due to two water-jet propellers. The machine can sail at under three-point weather and can easily travel aboard and off a landing ship. BTR-90 is the first of the armored personnel carriers which can be equipped with an automatic control system to carry out an effective control of the transmission and engine and other vitally-important parts of the machine.

Type Infantry Fighting Vehicle

Place of origin  Russia

Production history

Designed 1993

Produced 1994 - Present

Specifications

Weight 20.9 tonnes

Length 7.64 m

Width 3.20 m

Height 2.98 m

Crew 3 (+7 passengers)

Armor [secret]

Primaryarmament

30mm Shipunov 2A42 cannon (500 rounds)

Secondaryarmament

7.62mm PKT machine gun (2000 rounds), AT-5 Spandrel ATGM, one 30 mm automatic grenade launcher (400 rounds).

Engine turbocharged diesel510 hp (380 kW)

Power/weight 24 hp/tonne

Suspension wheeled 8×8

Operationalrange

800 km

Speed 100 km/h, swim 9 km/h