BTR-40 is a Soviet light wheeled armored personnel carrier, developed in 1947–1949 at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant and mass-produced from 1950 to 1958. It was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1950 and withdrawn from service in 1993; about 8,500 vehicles were built in total. It was the first Soviet postwar mass-produced armored personnel carrier and became the basis for a whole series of vehicles of its class.
Development at the Gorky Automobile Plant
The design of the vehicle, which received the factory designation "Object 141," was carried out at the design bureau of GAZ under chief designer V. A. Dedkov; the lead designer of the project was V. K. Rubtsov. The units and assemblies of the GAZ-63 off-road truck, with a shortened body and four-wheel drive (4×4), were used as the basis. The prototype was the American White Motor Company Scout Car M3A1, which had been supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease during World War II. In 1948, two versions of experimental prototypes were built — one had a turret-mounted machine gun on the roof, while the other had no rigid top; preference was given to the open version. State trials were held in 1949. Serial production was carried out directly at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1950 to 1958; the armored hulls for the vehicles were made by the Murom Locomotive Repair Plant. The BTR-40 was first shown publicly at the parade on Red Square in November 1951.
Design and armament
The chassis of the armored personnel carrier is frameless: the welded open hull made of armor plates also served as the load-bearing structure to which all the assemblies were attached. The vehicle was divided into three compartments: the power plant (at the front), the control compartment, and the combat (troop) compartment. The crew and troops boarded and exited through two side doors and one double-leaf rear door. The GAZ-40 carbureted engine, rated at 78–80 hp, was more powerful than the base GAZ-63 engine. A winch with a 75 m cable and a pulling force of 4,500 kgf was installed at the front. The main armament was a 7.62 mm Goryunov SGMB heavy machine gun, model 1949, which could be mounted at several attachment points; personal weapons were fired through four side hatches. The running gear had leaf-spring suspension with double-acting hydraulic shock absorbers; the wheels were fitted with pneumatic or bullet-resistant tires.
Main specifications: combat weight — 5,300 kg, crew and troops — 2+8 people, maximum speed on highway — 78 km/h, range — 285 km, hull front armor — 11 mm, sides — 8 mm.
Modifications
Several modifications were created on the basis of the BTR-40. BTR-40A (from 1951) was an anti-aircraft variant with a twin ZTPU-2 mount of two 14.5 mm KPV machine guns located in the troop compartment; its practical rate of fire was 170 rounds per minute. BTR-40B was developed in 1956 following the fighting in Hungary: the vehicle received a closed armored hull with two large hatches in the roof; it was adopted in 1958 and produced until 1960 — however, owing to the increase in weight, troop capacity was reduced from 8 to 6 people. BTR-40V was equipped with a centralized tire pressure regulation system; BTR-40rkh was intended for chemical reconnaissance.
Combat use and distribution
The first serious test for the vehicle came with the events in Hungary in 1956; BTR-40s also took part in the operation to send troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968. Besides the Soviet Army, the armored personnel carrier was in service with the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as Albania, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Egypt, Israel, China (where it was produced under the designation Type 55), Cuba, North Korea, Syria, and a number of other states — more than 18 countries in all. The vehicle was used in combat operations in Vietnam and the Middle East. Besides transporting motorized infantry, the BTR-40 was used as a prime mover in anti-tank artillery, as a command, communications, and reconnaissance vehicle, and was also operated by border and internal troops.
Links
- Wikidata (Q3632274 — entry in the free knowledge base)