BTR - 60 The BTR - 60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight - wheeled armoured personnel carrier s ( APCs ) . It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR - 152 and was seen first time in public in 1961 . BTR stands for " Bronetransporter " ( БТР , Бронетранспортер , literally " armoured transporter " ) . History . Origins . The BTR - 152 and BTR - 40 , the first two Soviet mass - produced APCs , developed after the Second World War gave the Soviet Army useful experience with wheeled armoured personnel carriers . However even as they were designed they weren ' t suited for the needs of the Soviet Army as they lacked a roof ( which was added in later versions designated BTR - 152K and BTR - 40B respectively ) . The low combat value of BTR - 152 and BTR - 40 was exposed during the Suez Crisis when the Egyptian Army used them . This was one of the reasons for which the new APC was developed . Between 1956 and 1957 a decision was made to convert all rifle and mechanized divisions into new motor rifle divisions and a requirement for a new vehicle was drawn up . Development proceeded along two paths : a more expensive vehicle that would eventually become the BMP - 1 , for use in tank divisions , and a cheaper vehicle for use in motor rifle divisions , that would eventually become the BTR - 60 . Two design bureaus were given the requirements , GAZ led by V . A . Dedkov , and ZiL led by Rodionov and Orlov . The requirements stated the vehicle should have all wheel drive , at least two turnable axles , independent suspension as well as mobility and fording capabilities allowing it to operate alongside tanks . The vehicle was also supposed to be amphibious . GAZ design team started to work on the new APC during winter 1956 . Despite the fact that the army wanted a fully roofed vehicle with NBC protection system , the GAZ design did not have those features . It was argued that firing from the cramped interior would be difficult and the limitation of losses wasn ' t a priority . The prototype was built between 1957 and 1958 . ZiL developed a 6x6 design , the ZiL - 153 , similar in hull shape to the GAZ design . There were also three other 8x8 prototypes : Ob ' yekt 560 ( also known as MMZ - 560 ) , Ob ' yekt 1015 ( developed by KAZ ) , Ob ' yekt 1015B ( developed by KAZ , it had with a turret - mounted armament and stream propellers , also known as BTR - 1015B ) and Ob ' yekt 1020B ( developed by KAZ ) . All prototypes were submitted to state trials in 1959 and even though all passed the trials and even though the Ob ' yekt 1015B performed the best , the GAZ design was selected and given the designation BTR - 60P . Officially the committee which made the decision did so because of the GAZ plant ' s production capabilities and experience . The main reason was that the GAZ design was the simplest and cheapest one and introduced the lowest amount of technological advancements which made it easier to put into mass production . BTR - 60P had an open roofed crew and troop compartments which was deemed to be a serious disadvantage because of that a new version , designated BTR - 60PA , entered production in 1963 . It had an armoured roof , though the capacity was reduced from 16 soldiers to 14 soldiers . The appearance of the German HS . 30 APC , armed with a 20 mm cannon prompted the addition of the conical in shape BPU - 1 turret , originally developed for BRDM - 2 amphibious armoured scout car , armed with the KPVT 14 . 5 mm heavy machine gun and PKT 7 . 62 mm tank machine gun . The new vehicle was designated the BTR - 60PAI and entered production in 1965 . It was however quickly replaced by BTR - 60PB which had better sighting system for the machine guns . Description . BTR - 60 was a revolutionary design for its time . It had a non - standard layout for an APC . It has the crew compartment in the front , the troop compartment in the middle and the engine compartment in the rear . This meant the BTR - 60 didn ' t have some other APC ' s weaknesses while it also had several disadvantages of its own . Crew . In BTR - 60 the crew compartment is located in the front of the vehicle . It did have a roof unlike the troop compartment which received one in BTR - 60PA . In the BTR - 60P and BTR - 60PA , the crew consists of a driver and a commander . The driver ' s seat is on the left and commander ' s seat is on the right . In the BTR - 60PAI , BTR - 60PB and BTR - 60PZ the crew consists of a driver , a commander and a gunner . The driver ' s and commander ' s stations are in the same place as in the previous models . The gunner operates the BPU - 1 turret , using the PP - 61A optical sight . In BTR - 60P both driver and commander manned their positions by entering the vehicle through the sides . BTR - 60PA introduced two hatches over their stations and both crew members had to climb onto the top of the front of the vehicle to use them . The entering method did not change in later production models . In BTR - 60PB a side door for the gunner was added on the right hand side . BTR - 60PB also introduced firing ports for both driver and commander as well as the gunner on both side of the hull ( for more information on BTR - 60 ' s firing port see troop compartment section ) . Both the driver and the commander have forward views through bulletproof windshields , which can be further protected with steel covers . In BTR - 60P and BTR - 60PA the covers had with vision slots through which both crew members could see what ' s in front of the vehicle . These were removed in BTR - 60PB . BTR - 60P and BTR - 60PA also had the same kind of vision slots on both sides of the crew compartment . In BTR - 60PB those slots were removed in favor of two periscopes on each side . In BTR - 60P and BTR - 60PA only the driver had a forward positioned periscope over his station while the commander had the removable OU - 3 infrared searchlight over his station ( it remained in later models ) . In BTR - 60PB both the driver and the commander have three periscopes in the front ( the commander ' s center periscope can be hard to see as it ' s just below the OU - 3 infrared light ) . The vehicle was equipped with the R - 113 radio set ( R - 123 was used instead in some models ) . The initial BTR - 60P production model did not have night - vision devices and only four headlights ( two infrared , two white , one of each kind per side , these remained in all BTR - 60 models ) . Late BTR - 60P model was fitted with night - vision devices , the TKN - 1 connected with the OU - 3 infrared searchlight for the commander and the TWN - 2 for the driver . They remained unchanged in later models . Final BTR - 60P model received the TPKU - 2B periscope for the commander . Troop compartment . The troop compartment is behind the crew compartment and before the engine compartment . In BTR - 60P it can transport up to sixteen fully equipped soldiers . This number changed to fourteen in BTR - 60PB . The BTR - 60P didn ' t have a roof and because of that it was covered with tarpaulin when traveling in bad weather conditions . It was also covered with bows and canvas . Also all BTR - 60 models had three firing ports on each upper side of the hull through which the infantry being transported can fire at the enemy with their personal weapons . The difference between models was in position of those three firing ports . The BTR - 60P and BTR - 60PA had those firing ports positioned in a row between the middle and the front part of the troop compartment . In BTR - 60PB the firing ports were moved and therefore there is one next to the driver and commander , one next to the gunner and one in the side of the troop compartment . Because of the engine placement ( in the rear of the vehicle ) , transported infantry must mount and dismount through the sides in BTR - 60P or through the roof hatches in the roofed BTR - 60PA , BTR - 60PB , and BTR - 60PZ variants . To help the infantry to mount and dismount the vehicle BTR - 60P had two steps on each side of the hull , one between first and second pair of road wheels and second between third and fourth pair of wheels . It also had two vertical hand rails on each side of troop compartment as well as an angled horizontal one on the left - hand side of the hull next to the engine compartment . BTR - 60PA introduced yet another step on each side of the hull between the second and third pair of wheels as well as six horizontal hand rails on each side of the vehicle , three on the lower side and three on the upper side . The vertical ones were removed while yet another angled horizontal one was added on the right - hand side of the hull next to the engine compartment . In BTR - 60PB the number of hand rails on the hull sides decreased from six to five on each side of the vehicle . On the right hand side the rear upper hand rail was removed . On the left hand side center upper one was removed . BTR - 60P has two doors on each side of the troop compartment ( one in the front part of the troop compartment and on in the rear part ) but infantry still had to dismount through the sides . The side doors were removed in BTR - 60PA . They were used mostly as emergency exits and as auxiliary firing ports . In BTR - 60PB a side door was added in the left hand side of the front part of the troop compartment . Protection . The armour on the hull is made out of welded steel and it provides protection against small arms fire and shrapnel . Frontal armour can withstand 7 . 62 mm bullets from any range . The rest of armour protection can withstand 7 . 62 mm bullets from a range of 100 m . The BTR - 60P did not have a roof over the troop compartment , which made a weakness that could easily be exploited . As the vehicle lacked a roof even the simplest of explosives could take out a BTR - 60P . The new BTR design with roof was called the BTR - 60PA . Armour thickness is as follows : Maneuverability . BTR - 60 has a 8x8 suspension . Originally , there were troubles finding a suitable engine for it : six - cylinder GAZ - 40P gasoline engine which produces 90 hp was too weak , and 205 - hp YaAZ - 206B was too heavy . So BTR would then be propelled by two six - cylinder gasoline GAZ - 40P engines ( 67 kW ) each located side by side in the rear of the vehicle . The combined power of both engines is 180 hp ( 134 kW ) . Each engine is propelling two of the vehicles axles . The engine on the right hand side propels the second and the fourth axles , while the engine on the left hand side propels the first and the third axles . Each engine has its own four - speed gear box with a single - shielded hydraulically controlled clutch and an exhaust . Each axle has its own differential . Each axle is hung on transversal torsion bars . The first two axles have two hydraulic absorbers , the third and fourth have one hydraulic absorber . The first and second pair of wheels can be turned . The gaps between the first and the second axles and between the third and the fourth axles are even . The gap between the second and third axles is slightly larger than the other ones . The two - engines setup has an advantage in the fact that each engine could work without the other . This means that if one engine is disabled it doesn ' t affect the other one and the vehicle can still move with limited speed . This setup however caused several problems which did not exist in vehicles with a single engine or they weren ' t as serious : the design itself was complicated and the amount of work which had to be done during exploitation and repair was higher than in vehicles with a single engine . The engines themselves were originally intended for truck use which meant that they were working in extreme conditions not originally envisioned for them . Because of this engine breakdowns were frequent . The vehicle also used large amounts of fuel and caught fire easily . Despite all this the two - engines setup was used in all BTR - 60 production models and most variants as well as BTR - 70 . The single - engine setup was introduced in BTR - 80 . Amphibious capability . The BTR - 60 is fully amphibious , propelled in the water by a jet centrally mounted at the rear of the hull . It was however prone to breakdowns . When not in use it is protected by the sideways opening lids . Before entering the water the trim vane at the front of the hull should be erected to prevent water from flooding over the bow . While in its traveling position it serves as additional lower frontal armor . Production history . BTR - 60 " s " were produced by Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod ( GAZ ) . BTR - 60P was produced between 1960 and 1963 . BTR - 60PA entered production in 1963 . BTR - 60PA - 1 entered production 1965 . Both BTR - 60PA and BTR - 60PA - 1 were produced until 1966 . BTR - 60PAI also entered production in 1965 , but was quickly replaced in 1966 by the BTR - 60PB , which had a better sighting system for the machine guns . The BTR - 60PB remained in production until 1976 , when it was superseded by the BTR - 70 . According to the Western estimate around 25 , 000 BTR - 60 " s " were produced by GAZ . During the BTR - 80 production and therefore after the BTR - 60 production ended there was a special production run of 100 BTR - 60PB " s " , some of which have been exported to Iraq . Service history . Soviet Union . An order to enter the BTR - 60P into Soviet Army service was issued on 13 December 1959 . However production started in 1960 . First BTR - 60P " s " were delivered in 1960 . It first entered service with the Soviet Army and later the Soviet naval infantry . BTR - 60 entered service with Soviet military at the time when USSR was arming on a mass scale . In early 1960s it replaced the BTR - 152 in the role of the basic APC . BTR - 60P was first seen by the West in 1961 . BTR - 60PA entered service with the Soviet Army in 1963 while BTR - 60PA - 1 and BTR - 60PAI did in 1965 , BTR - 60PB did in 1966 , BTR - 60PZ did in 1972 and BTR - 60PBK did in 1975 . As the newer models of BTR - 60 appeared the older ones were gradually withdrawn from front - line service . A number of old BTR - 60P " s " were converted into repair vehicles . The first use of the Soviet BTR - 60 " s " during a conflict happened during the Warsaw Pact 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia . However the actual combat was scarce . In the 1980s most of the BTR - 60 " s " were replaced in the Soviet army by the BTR - 70 and BTR - 80 , however a large number was still operated by the second - line and border troops . According to the data provided by the USSR during the signing of the CFE Treaty in 1990 , there 4 , 191 BTR - 60 " s " in service with the units stationed in the European part of the Soviet Union . Sino - Soviet border conflict . The first real combat use of BTR - 60 took place during the Sino - Soviet border conflict on Zhenbao Island ( Damansky Island at the time ) in March 1969 . The frontier units operating on the island were equipped with BTR - 60PB " s " while the 57th border detachment group was equipped with BTR - 50P " s " and BTR - 50PK " s " . BTR - 60 proved to be a good vehicle although it sustained high losses because of Chinese using a large amount of RPGs and mistakes made by the commanders of the APCs which originated from low amount of experience in combat use of the new vehicles . The high losses due to RPG hits weren ' t unexpected as the armour of BTR - 60 was designed to protect the vehicle from small arms fire and shrapnel and not specialized anti - tank weapons . The most effective tactic found for BTR - 60PB " s " to be used in was covering the dismounted infantry . This is a job more suited for infantry fighting vehicles than armoured personnel carriers the main role of which was to transport the infantry to the battlefield and provide them with armour protection during that time ( it must however be noted that BMP - 1 , the world ' s first infantry fighting vehicle started production in 1966 and therefore Soviet Army had very small numbers of those vehicles available at the time of Sino - Soviet border conflict ) . During the fights in March the Chinese managed to capture four BTR - 60PB " s " and one T - 62 MBT . BTR - 60PB " s " were used again during the border conflict east of Lake Zhalanashkol in Kazahstan ( Kazakh SSR at the time ) in August 1969 . During the fighting the armour of BTR - 60PB proved too inadequate . Soviet War in Afghanistan . BTR - 60PB was used in large numbers during the initial part of the Soviet War in Afghanistan . This was because the units that were originally used for this operation weren ' t the top priority of the Soviet military which prioritized the units stationed in East Germany . The same flaws of the design were present during this conflict and the vehicle became even more vulnerable due to the kind of fighting that took place in Afghanistan . The GAZ - 40P gasoline engines experienced frequent losses of power and overheating due to the tropical highland climate not well suited for them . BTR - 60PB ' s turret also could not elevate its armament high enough to fire at the Mujahideen attacking from high ground . Like during the Sino - Soviet border conflict many BTR - 60PB " s " fell victim to RPGs . Because of those drawbacks the BTR - 60PB " s " were replaced by BTR - 70 " s " as soon as possible to a point were only the BTR - 60 command variants were used . Other operational use . Soviet BTR - 60 " s " , BTR - 70 " s " and BTR - 80 " s " were used for dispersing the demonstrations in Tbilisi in 1989 and stopping the fighting on the border between Uzbek SSR and Kirghiz SSR . They were also used in Nagorno - Karabakh and South Ossetia . In 1990 they were used in Vilnius to suppress the Lithuanian independence movements . Soviet Union successor states . In 1991 the BTR - 60 " s " of the Soviet Army was passed onto the armies of the successor states and thus used in many regional conflicts . 27 BTR - 60PBs that were inherited by Moldavia were used by its army during the War of Transnistria . A number of BTR - 60 " s " were used by the Georgian army during the 1992 – 1993 War in Abkhazia . As of 2007 several hundred BTR - 60 " s " remain in service with USSR successor states and are in a process of being replaced by more modern vehicles . Russia . Russia used BTR - 60s during the First Chechen War , but since the mid - 1990s BTR - 60s have only been in use with the border troops . In Russian service , many BTR - 60 variants have been replaced by variants of the BTR - 80 / K1Sh1 or have been upgraded with the engines from the BTR - 80 . Moldova . Moldova inherited 27 BTR - 60PB " s " from the Soviet Union . They were used during the War of Transnistria against the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . Moldova also ordered 161 ex - Romanian TAB - 71M " s " in 1992 which were delivered between 1992 and 1995 . Moldova also inherited 20 BTR - 70 " s " from the Soviet Union and received 250 TAB Zimbru " s " and MLI - 84 " s " from Romania . In the end of March 1992 Moldavian army was trying to sever the connection between Tiraspol and Rîbniţa . 5 out of 6 BTR " s " used during that operation were lost . On 1 April 2 BTR " s " were used during the assault on Bender . In June dozen APCs were used during another assault on the city . Georgia . In 1992 the separatist state of Abkhazia has declared Independence from Georgia and the War in Abkhazia ( 1992 – 1993 ) began . Georgia sent its troops to Abkhazia to stabilize the region . The troops were poorly equipped with military vehicles . The entire force sent to Abkhazia consisted of 3 , 000 men , 5 T - 55 main battle tanks , a few BMP - 2 infantry fighting vehicles , 3 BTR - 60 and BTR - 70 armoured personnel carriers and a small number of BM - 21 Grad MRLs . As the war continued the Georgian forces in Abkhazia were strengthened . The rebels almost did not have AFV " s " but have captured some heavy equipment from the Georgians . Armenia . A BTR - 60PB of the Armenian police was used on 1 March 2008 during the Armenian presidential election protests in Yerevan . It was sent to counter the protest at the Shahumyan Square near the French Embassy where it arrived on 1 : 30 pm . Eventually the unarmed and peaceful demonstrators surrounded the APC , mounted it , and forced its crew to leave the square . Foreign service . BTR - 60 APCs were employed widely both by the Soviet Army and by more than thirty export customers . Operators of the BTR - 60 have included Afghanistan , Algeria , Angola , Bhutan , Botswana , Bulgaria , Cambodia , Congo , Cuba , Djibouti , East Germany , Ethiopia , Finland , Grenada , Guinea , Guinea - Bissau , Hungary , India , Iran , Iraq , Laos , Libya , Mali , Mongolia , Mexico , Morocco , Mozambique , Nicaragua , North Korea , Romania , Soviet Union , Syria , Uganda , Vietnam , Yugoslavia , Yemen , and Zambia , as well as many of the successor states of the Soviet Union . The most widely spread model is the BTR - 60PB . Although BTR - 60 still remains in service with many of the world ' s armies it is almost never used as an APC anymore . They are still being used though as mobile command posts , artillery forward observation posts , airplane guidance posts , communication posts and many other specialized vehicles . The BTR - 60 has seen action in the Yom Kippur War , 1971 War between India and Pakistan where it was used very effectively to punch a hole through to Jessore and subsequently Khulna , the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where it was used by both the Soviet and Afghan government troops and the Chechen and Yugoslav wars . It was also used by Warsaw Pact forces during the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . Finland . Finland ' s Jäger battalions operated the Soviet - built BTR - 60R - 145BM " Chaika " vehicles . They were upgraded to BTR - 60PUM standard between 1996 and 1997 . In 1991 , seven conscripts of Karelia Brigade drowned when their BTR - 60 sank during an amphibious exercise because the vehicle was loaded incorrectly ( top - heavy ) and roof hatches opened . Poland . Milicja Obywatelska ( MO ) operated several BTR - 60PA " s " . They were used by ZOMO riot control units . Polish Army also received a dozen BTR - 60PU - 12 " s " which were used within the Soviet supplied 9K33 Osa SAM regiment delivered between 1980 and 1985 . On 7 December 1981 the delegation of the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs went to the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs asking for equipment and supplies necessary to equip around 60 , 000 MO operatives and reservists enlisted because of the intensified activities against the Communist government . In response on 17 December the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs decided to transfer 25 BTR - 60PB " s " along with 10250 , 000 " Czeromucha " incapacitating chemical devices and 2 , 000 tonnes of gas over to its Polish counterpart . These vehicles have previously been used in Afghanistan . They were later modified by adding an additional radio set . They were used by ZOMO . Some were modified by the MSW automobile plant in Łódź for use during the martial law in Poland which consisted of fitting the vehicles with breakers mounted on the front of the vehicle which were used for clearing obstacles ( See Poland section in the Variants section for details ) . When the Milicja Obywatelska was transformed back into Policja in 1990 all BTR - 60PB " s " had their armament removed . This was because Policja unlike MO didn ' t have a need for weaponry with such high muzzle velocity which made those weapons dangerous to use in urban areas . MO needed such weaponry because it was also supposed to carry out anti - partisan operations . Policja used unarmed BTR - 60PB " s " for security during European Economy Summit 2004 in Warsaw as well as for clearing blockades set up by the Samoobrona political party . A few Police BTR - 60PB " s " are kept in storage for anti - riot duty as barricade breakers . People ' s Republic of China . PRC reversed engineered BTR - 60PB after capturing four examples during the Sino - Soviet border conflict on Zhenbao Island in March 1969 . The program was completed in the late 1970s . However , the vehicle did not enter service in large numbers because the PRC ' s primitive road system and rugged terrain meant that the wheeled APC wasn ' t well suited for the Chinese conditions as it lacked the cross country capability of tracked APCs in Chinese inventory . It should be noted though that before the Sino - Soviet split PRC did import 100 BTR - 40 " s " and 100 BTR - 152 " s " from the USSR and manufactured copies of those vehicles which served with the PLA until the mid - 1990s . The experience gained through reverse - engineering BTR - 60 did help PRC in developing other more advanced wheeled APCs later in the 1980s . Variants . Finland . Finland bought later two BTR - 80 s for testing out a replacement but ended up buying the domestic XA - 180 series of vehicles , known later as Patria Pasi .