The Interdepartmental Committee of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has approved the results of the trials of the new-generation armoured personnel carrier designated GAZ-5912 (BTR-90).

The series production of the armoured personnel carriers (APC) will be carried out at the Arzamas Machine Building Plant (AMZ) which is a subsidiary of the GAZ Joint Stock Company. At present, the AMZ has started the procedures to enable the BTR-90 to enter service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

This enterprise has a long experience in producing armoured vehicles. It produced BTR-60s, BTR-70s and BTR-80s. The most interesting among the latest developments is the upgraded BTR-80A.

Development of the new 8x8 APC commenced early in the 1990s. The first prototype was tested in 1994.

The layout of the BTR-90 is identical to that of its predecessors BTR-80 and BTR-80À. The commander and the driver are positioned in the fore part of the hull, the two-man turret is located in the middle part of the hull with 8-person troop compartment being located behind the turret.

The BTR-90 is fitted with a multi-fuel liquid-cooled supercharged 500 hp diesel engine and a hydro-mechanical gearbox. The vehicle features an independent wheel suspension. The APC can move on a highway at a speed of up to 100 km/h. The speed when afloat is up to 9 km/h. The cruising distance is up to 700 km.

The main turret armament comprises a 30 mm 2A42 automatic gun. The auxiliary armament includes a 7.62 mm PKT coaxial machine gun, a 30 mm AG-17 grenade launcher and an anti-tank missile launcher.

According to the top managers of the plant, the latter is ready to commence the series production of the new vehicle.

Sergyi Wey
11.01.2005

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