The BTR-T (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Бронетранспортёр-Тяжелый (''Bronetransporter-Tyazhelyy''), ‘Armoured Transporter–Heavy’) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n heavy

infantry combat vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...

, designed by the Design Bureau of Transport Machine-Building (

Omsktransmash Omsktransmash (russian: Омский завод транспортного машиностроения, , Omsk transport machine factory) is a wholly state-owned engineering company based in the city of Omsk, Russia. The company was best known i ...

) state-run production association.

Description

The vehicle is based on the hull of the

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

and answers the need for a heavy, well protected and well armed vehicle adapted to

urban combat Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and t ...

. The need for a heavy IFV appeared after the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the First Chechen Campaign,, rmed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian FederationФедеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995 (в реда� ...

during which APCs like the

BTR-80 The BTR-80 (russian: бронетранспортёр, bronyetransportyor, literally "armoured transporter") is an 8×8 wheeled amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the USSR. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous ...

and

BMP-2 The BMP-2 (''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty'', , literally "combat machine/vehicle (of the) infantry") is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s. Development hist ...

were annihilated in urban areas at the hands of Chechen rebels using RPG shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons. Consequently, the design incorporates thicker armour, with built-in

reactive armour Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic ener ...

. It also has heavier armament with sufficient elevation to engage targets in multi-story buildings.

Design

The choice of the T-55 hull rather than that of a more modern tank was decided as an efficiency measure and also probably to validate a conversion for the many T-55s in use around the world. It was influenced by Israel's

IDF Achzarit The Achzarit ( in Hebrew: "cruel", female inflection) is a heavily armored personnel carrier manufactured by the Israeli Defence Forces Corps of Ordnance. History The Achzarit is based on the Soviet-built T-54/T-55 tank, beginning with those ...

that created virtually the same modifications in the 1980s. No export contracts have been signed.

Armament

The turret can accommodate several weapon configurations: *

2A42 The Shipunov 2A42 is a Soviet/Russian 30 mm autocannon. It is built by the Tulamashzavod Joint Stock Company. Design The 30 mm 2A42 autocannon was developed as a replacement for 2A28 Grom and has a dual feed. One is for HE-T and the ...

30 mm autocannon. **

9M113 Konkurs The 9M113 ''Konkurs'' (russian: 9М113 «Конкурс»; en, "Contest"; NATO reporting name AT-5 ''Spandrel'') is a Soviet SACLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile. A development of the 9K111 Fagot with greater firepower, the 9M113 Konkurs can u ...

ATGMs. * 2A42 30 mm autocannon. ** 30mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher. * Twin

2A38 A38 or A-38 may refer to: * A38 (dairy product), a fermented dairy product sold in Denmark * A38 (ship), a party boat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary * A38 motorway (Netherlands) * A38 road (England) * A38 (Sydney), an arterial route in Sydne ...

30 mm autocannons. * 12.7×108 mm NSV heavy machine gun. **

ATGMs. * 12.7×108 mm NSV heavy machine gun. ** 30 mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher.

References

BTR-T Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier
{{Tanks converted to armored vehichle Infantry fighting vehicles of Russia

Armoured fighting vehicles An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars ...

Armoured fighting vehicles of the post–Cold War period Tracked infantry fighting vehicles Tracked armoured personnel carriers Omsktransmash products

Description

Design

Armament

See also

References