BTR-90 (GAZ-5923) (russian: бронетранспортёр, translit= Bronetransportyor, lit=Armoured Transporter) is an 8×8 wheeled

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...

developed in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, designed in 1993 and first shown publicly in 1994. It is a larger version of 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 ...

vehicle, fitted with a

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 ...

turret. Armour protection is improved compared with the BTR-80, giving protection from 14.5 mm projectiles over the frontal arc. It is armed with a 2A42 30 mm auto cannon, a coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun, an

AT-5 Spandrel 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 ca ...

ATGM, as well as an AGS-17D 30 mm automatic grenade launcher. Limited numbers have been produced and are in service with Russian Internal Troops. In October 2011, the Ministry of Defence refused to buy the BTR-90 and did not include them in the list of the state program of armament until 2020, and waived exports for the BTR-90. Subsequently, the Russian army chose to assemble a large number of BTR-82A. The combat effectiveness has already increased significantly, and it is derived from the BTR-80. The development cost for BTR-82A is omitted and the production cost is cheaper, making the less advanced BTR-90 even less likely to change its fate. The 2015 Moscow Victory Parade exposed the next-generation

VPK-7829 Bumerang The VPK-7829 Bumerang (russian: Бумеранг, Boomerang) is a modular amphibious wheeled infantry fighting vehicle and armored personnel carrier being developed by Russian Military Industrial Company (MIC) for the Russian army. It is not cur ...

wheeled armored vehicle, and officially announced that the BTR-90 program could no longer be resurrected.

Development

The development of the BTR-90 was carried out at the Arzamas Machine Building Plant (AMZ), a subsidiary of the

Military Industrial Company , type = LLC , traded_as = , industry = Mechanical engineering , fate = , predecessor = , successor = , founded = , founder = , defunct ...

. Development commenced in the early 1990s, with the first prototype completed and displayed to the public in 1994. The vehicle was intended to be used by mechanized units of the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

, as well as marine units of the Russian Navy, as a vehicle for providing fire support, transportation of personnel, surveillance, reconnaissance, and patrolling tasks. A wide range of vehicles suiting various requirements can be developed on the basis of the BTR-90 chassis. The vehicle is designed to be highly mobile and maneuverable in all terrain, while providing a high level of protection for its crew and passengers. The BTR-90 is fitted with a

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

identical to the one used on the

Description

The BTR-90 has a pointed nose, somewhat similar to that of the LAV-25. The hull is made of welded steel armour plate, and is slightly larger and higher than the

, from which it is developed. A turbo charged, liquid cooled, multi-fuel

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

is used, which can develop 510 bhp. The vehicle has eight-wheel drive and has an automatic reversible hydro mechanical transmission, which is capable of providing different speeds to each side of the vehicle. It has duplicated electrical and compressed air engine start systems. The wheels are utilized with independent

torsion-bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end term ...

suspension and the traverse arms have high capacity telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. Communication equipment installed in the BTR-90 include an R-163-50U radio set for external communications, an R-163UP receiver, and an R-174 intercom device for communication between the crew members.

Layout

The commander and gunner are accommodated in a fighting compartment in the turret. This compartment houses a BPK-3-42 gunner's day/night sight and a 1P-13 commander's

optical sight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

. Optionally, a BPK-M thermal imaging sight can be fitted in this compartment as the gunner's sight. The driver is located somewhat to the middle of the hull, just in front of the turret. The troop compartment is located behind the driver's position and the turret. The engine compartment is at the rear of the hull. Hatches are provided on the top of the turret and hull, and side doors are available on the middle of the vehicle. These are designed to allow quick dismounting and boarding of troops even while the vehicle is on the move. The eight wheels are located as two sets, with two pairs at the front of the hull and two pairs at the rear. Split side doors are located between these two sets of wheels. The two forward pairs of wheels are utilized with power steering.

Capabilities and features

The BTR-90 is capable of achieving a maximum speed of 100 km/h, and has cross-country driving ability comparable to that of

tracked vehicle Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle ...

s, with an average speed of 50 km/h. The vehicle is fully amphibious and can negotiate water obstacles without any preparation. Two water jet propellers power the vehicle in water. In water it can achieve a maximum speed of 9 km/h. It can enter and be deployed from

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

s from the water. The BTR-90 can be deployed by truck, rail and by water and air transportation means. Its hydro mechanical transmission helps to increase its maneuverability by providing different speeds to each side of the vehicle. This allows the BTR-90 to have a low turning radius of 6 m. When turning with only the front four wheels, it has a turning radius of 14 m. It can cross up to 2.1 m wide trenches and can negotiate 60% gradients, 30% side slopes and 0.8 m vertical steps. The vehicle has an inner capacity of 12 cubic meters, and can carry a load of 7,000 kg. An

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system can be added optionally. The commander has the ability to carry out all-round surveillance and can take full control of the weapons from the gunner. An onboard information control system (OICS) enables automatic control over the transmission, engine and other important parts of the BTR-90, and it is the first armoured personnel carrier to have such a system. A centralized tire pressure control system is available, and allows the vehicle to move even if four of its wheels are destroyed.

Armour and protection

The armour of the BTR-90 comprises welded steel armour plates. The armour can withstand hits from 14.5 mm rounds over the frontal arc. The side armour can provide protection against large caliber

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

fire and shrapnel. Additional armoured plates can be installed on the vehicle to increase protection. Active protection methods can be used, such as

explosive 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 ...

. These can be added over the existing armour of the vehicle. To increase protection, periscopes are installed instead of windscreens and vision blocks. Collective

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

(Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) protection is available which can protect the occupants from shock waves and penetrating radiation from nuclear attacks,

radioactive dust Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

, and bacteriological and

chemical weapons A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

. Its combat tires are capable of enduring

anti-personnel mine Anti-personnel mines are a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles. Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines; the latter may ...

explosions and small arms fire. If the vehicle is damaged while afloat, a drainage system is capable of removing incoming water. The BTR-90 features an automatic fire fighting system, and a system for the remote laying of smoke screens. The smoke discharge system includes six smoke grenade launchers, three on each side of the vehicle.

Armament

The main gun of the BTR-90 is a

30 mm 30 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30×113mmB and 30×173mm (STANAG 4624), Soviet 30×155mmB, 30×165mm, and 30×210mmB, Yugoslav 30×192mm, Anglo-Swiss 30×170mm, an ...

Shipunov 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 th ...

auto cannon. The vehicle carries an ammunition load of 500 rounds for this weapon. A

7.62 mm The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for ...

PKT coaxial machine gun with 2,000 rounds and a 30 mm AGS-17

automatic grenade launcher An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire, and is typically loaded with either an ammunition belt or magazine. These weapons are often mounted on vehicles or helicopt ...

are the secondary armaments of the BTR-90. A guided missile system is available for engaging armoured targets. This consists of four

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 ...

missiles mounted on the turret. The launching unit is detachable, and can be used to launch missiles from the ground. All the weapons are mounted on the turret and are assisted by a

fire control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a h ...

. The fire control system allows the weapons to be used while the vehicle is moving, and in all weather conditions. The turret can be traversed 360 degrees with an elevation range of −5 to +75 degrees. The vehicle's weaponry allows it to engage targets at ranges up to 4 km. Helicopters and fortifications can be engaged at ranges up to 2.5 km. In addition to the vehicle's weapons, its occupants have the ability to fire their weapons through available firing ports and hatches, increasing its firepower.

Variants

A prototype designated BTR-90M was built with a larger turret derived from the BMP-3, mounting a coaxial low-velocity 2A70 100mm rifled gun/missile launcher system (which can fire conventional shells or

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

beam-riding Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR) or beam guidance, is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is ai ...

9M117

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s (

ATGM An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

), such as AT-10 Stabber), a 30mm Shipunov 2A72 cannon, and a 7.62mm PKT

. The BTR-90M was first displayed publicly in 2001, and is not currently in service. Another variant of the BTR-90 was produced with the low pressure 120 mm 2S9 Nona weapon, as with the BTR-80 ''Nona-SVK''.

Krymsk

On 30 July 2013, Russia revealed that it had developed and tested a hybrid-powered silent armored personnel carrier that could be turned into an

unmanned ground vehicle An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is a vehicle that operates while in contact with the ground and without an onboard human presence. UGVs can be used for many applications where it may be inconvenient, dangerous, or impossible to have a human op ...

. Called the Krymsk, it is based on the BTR-90 and can move silently on a battery-driven electric motor when its diesel engine is turned off. Currently, it can only move short distances on electric power, but new types of batteries can increase the distances by "dozens of times". During tests, the Krymsk moved at a maximum speed of 97 km/h (60 mph), accelerating to 80 km/h in 33 seconds. The Krymsk is a remotely controlled platform and can be equipped with weapon systems, including future

or electromagnetic weapons.Russia Develops Silent Robotic Armored Vehicle
- Rian.ru, 30 July 2013

Gallery

File:TB2015ExhibitionP1-20.jpg, BTR-90 front File:BTR-90 (1).jpg, BTR-90 right front File:BTR-90 (9).jpg, BTR-90 top forward from turret File:TB2015ExhibitionP1-24.jpg, BTR-90 right rear

References

External links

manufacturer site
BTR-90 Description and pictures to Army Recognition site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Btr-90 Armoured personnel carriers of Russia GAZ Group military vehicles Amphibious armoured personnel carriers Armoured personnel carriers of the post–Cold War period Wheeled amphibious armoured fighting vehicles Eight-wheeled vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s