BTR - 70 The BTR - 70 is an eight - wheeled armored personnel carrier ( ) , originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ - 4905 . On August 21 , 1972 , it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies . Introduced as a successor to the earlier BTR - 60 , it most closely resembles a BTR - 60PB . Other improvements include heavier armor plating and tires less prone to puncture . In other respects , the vehicle is very similar to the BTR - 60PB , with a more powerful petrol engine configuration and armament of a primary heavy machine gun and secondary PKT machine gun on a roof mounted turret . The vehicle ' s designers moved the side troop doors . On the vehicle ' s predecessor , these doors were located above the beltline between the second and third pairs of wheels on both sides of the vehicle . On the BTR - 70 , the doors are below the beltline between the second and third pairs of wheels . As Soviet tactics calls for unloading troops from the vehicle while it is in motion , the door location increases the chances that a soldier will be pulled under a wheel and injured or killed , although it also means that the troops can get out quicker while exposing them less to the enemy . Like the vehicle ' s predecessor it is fully amphibious with minimal preparation . A licensed Romanian copy was designated the TAB - 77 and had various improvements and changes to make local production easier , including a better turret and different engines . Equipment . The BTR - 70 is powered by two gasoline engines . Early production vehicles had GAZ - 69B 6 - cylinder engines of 115 hp each installed but most vehicles have the stronger ZMZ - 49 - 05 V - 8 engines . The vehicle is fully amphibious , propelled when afloat by a single water jet mounted at the rear of the hull . To prepare the vehicle for water , the driver erects a trim vane and switches on the bilge pumps from within the vehicle . The standard equipment includes a central tire - pressure regulation system that allows the driver to adjust the tire - pressure to suit the terrain being crossed . Also fitted is an R - 123M radio set and an R - 124 intercom . The driver ' s optical equipment consists of three vision blocks TNPO - 115 and a day vision device TNP - B that can be replaced by a night vision device TVNO - 2B . The commander also has three TNPO - 115s and a TPKU - 2B day or TKN - 1S night sight that works together with the infra - red search light OU - 3GA - 2 . The turret is fitted with a PP - 61AM ( or 1PZ - 2 ) periscopic sight for the gunner and the infantry group in the troop compartment is provided with TNP - B devices . The BTR - 70 also has an NBC filter system FVU and a DK - 3B detection device . The armaments consist of a heavy machine gun KPVT with 500 rounds and a coaxial 7 . 62 mm machine gun PKT with 2 , 000 rounds . Also on board are two " Igla " or " Strela - 3 " MANPADS , and optionally two AGS - 17 grenade launchers at the expense of two infantry men . Combat history . The BTR - 70 was widely used during the Soviet war in Afghanistan and many smaller conflicts in Eastern Europe . After the Cold War these AFV saw service with the UN in the Balkans with high success .