Military/Intelligence Bulletin 03/2019 – Belarus upgrades its APCs.

Belarus upgrades its APCs with the new BTR-70MB1

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The Belarusian armed forces are upgrading their fleet of armoured personnel carriers. Their current BTR-70 APCs are being modernised to the standard of the BTR-70MB1.

By the end of 2019, 32 of the BTR-70MB1s will have been delivered to the Belarusian armed forces.

This will replace the current older BTR-60s and BTR-70s in the Belarusian army’s first-tier units.

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BTR-70MB1 Manufactured by a Belarusian company

Photo source 42.TUT.BY

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The BTR-70MB1 APC during an Independence Day parade in Minsk.

Photo credit – Janes.com

The BTR-70MB1 weighs 13 tonnes and mounts a 14.5 KPVT and Kalashnikov 7.62 PKT. There is no change from the original BTR-70. The main improvement is the replacement of the two ZMZ-4905 petrol engines with a KAMAZ-7403 Russian-made diesel engine, which also powers the BTR-80. This gives it a top road speed of 90 km/h and a range of 700km.

In addition, it carries six 902V Tucha 81mm smoke dischargers on the rear turret.

The R-123M radio has also been changed to a Belarusian made radio.

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The older BTR 60PA

Post copyrighted to Harvey Black