BTR-50

BTR-50 derived from the two countries, Russian BTR-50 P and Ukraine BTR-50 PK. The BTR-50 (BTR stands for Bronetransporter) is a amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank. The BTR-50 is tracked, unlike most in the BTR series, which are wheeled. The BTR-50 shares many similarities with two other APCs, the OT-62 TOPAS and the Type 77. While the OT-62 is an improved copy of the BTR-50 developed jointly by Czechoslovakia and Poland, the Type 77, based on the Type 63 amphibious light tank developed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), is not a copy of the BTR-50.



Like the PT-76, the BTR-50 has a flat, boat-shaped hull. Unlike the PT-76, it has a new superstructure added to the front of the vehicle. The hull of the BTR-50 is made of all-welded steel with the crew compartment in the front, the troop compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the rear. It has the ability to transport up to twenty fully equipped infantrymen who sit on benches which run across the full width of the troop compartment. They mount and dismount the APC by climbing over the sides of the hull. The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has three vision blocks and periscopes located at the top of the sloping glacis plate.

The torsion bar suspension consists of six evenly spaced large rubber-tired road wheels with a drive sprocket at the rear and an idler at the front. The road wheels are hollow to assist its amphibious capabilities. These wheels increase the APC's buoyancy by 30%. There are no track-return rollers. The first and last road wheels have a hydraulic shock absorber, the steel tracks have a single pin and 96 links each when new. There is a small, thin, horizontal skirt over each track. The BTR-50 is powered by a V-6 6-cylinder 4-stroke in line water-cooled diesel engine developing 240 hp (179 kW) at 1800 rpm. This gives it a road speed of 44 km/h with a cruising range of 400 km. The vehicle can negoiate 30° side slopes, ascend 60° gradients, cross 1.1 m high vertical obstacles and 2.8 m wide trenches. The engine has a cooling system and a pre-heater (intended for ignition when the air temperature is −20 °C or below). The APC has a 5 gear manual shaft-type transmission system similar to that in the T-34/85 medium tank. The gearbox has four forward and one reverse gear. The vehicle has a side clutch that enables it to make turns, mechanical transmission and a bandbrake. The vehicle has three fuel tanks, two on the right of the front of the engine compartment and one at the rear. All three fuel tanks carry a total of 400 liters. The vehicle has four mounts for additional external fuel tanks at the rear of the hull. The two mounts on the corners of the hull are for a flat external tank, the two mounts in the center of the rear of the hull are for a drum-type of tank.

Specification:
Crew : 2+20
Armamament : 1 x 7.62 mm machine gun
Ammunition : 1,250 x 7.62mm
Length : 7.08 m
Width : 3.14 m
Height : 1.97 m
Weight : 14,200kg
Engine : V-6 6-cylinder 4-stroke in line water cooled diesel, 240 hp (179 kW) at 1,800 rpm
Power/weight : 16.6 hp/t
Suspension : torsion bar
Ground clearance :370 mm
Fuel capacity : 400 l
Operational range : 400 km
Speed : 44 km/h (road) and 11 km/h (water)