BTR-60P PA - SOVIET UNION 1965

Description

The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APC’s). 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 (literally "armoured transporter"). 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. 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 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. 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. (Scale : 1/35e)