BTR-80, factory designation GAZ-5903, is a wheeled armored personnel carrier designed at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant on the basis of the BTR-70. It was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1982; from 1983 to 1985 the vehicles were built by GAZ, and from 1986 by the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant).[1]
What was fixed
The main change was the powerplant: instead of a pair of carbureted engines, a single, more powerful diesel engine was installed. For the troops to board and disembark, large double-leaf hatches were added to the hull sides — the previous scheme, with side hatches between the wheel wells, had been dangerous under fire.[2]
Combat weight increased by 18% — from 11.5 to 13.6 tonnes — but overall mobility was largely preserved, and range even increased.[1]
Specifications
Wheel configuration 8×8; crew of two (driver-mechanic and gunner), with a troop capacity of eight. Hull length 7650 mm, width 2900 mm, height 2350–2460 mm, ground clearance 475 mm, wheelbase 4400 mm.[1]
Family
Combat vehicles for other purposes were built on the BTR-80 chassis — for example, the 2S23 "Nona-SVK" self-propelled 120 mm combination gun, adopted in 1989.[1] Production of armored personnel carriers remained in Nizhny Novgorod Region: the line begun by the Gorky-built BTR-60 was continued by the Arzamas plant.
Sources
- modeli-gaz.ru — GAZ Models — GAZ-5903 (BTR-80) (archive)
- armedman.ru — Armies and Soldiers — BTR-70 Armored Personnel Carrier (USSR) (archive)