BTR-50

This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

BTR-50
An Israeli-modified ex-Syrian or ex-Egyptian late-production model BTR-50PK APC at the Yad La-Shiryon Museum, Israel, 2005.
Type	Amphibious tracked armored personnel carrier
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1954–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation[1] Six-Day War Vietnam War War of Attrition Yom Kippur War Indonesian Invasion of East Timor[2] Angolan Civil War Lebanese Civil War Ogaden War Soviet–Afghan War Iran–Iraq War Somali Civil War Yugoslav Wars 2003–2004 Indonesian offensive in Aceh[2] Syrian civil war 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Production history
Designed	1952
Produced	1954–1970 (also produced in Czhechoslovakia until 1972; maybe still produced by some foreign companies)
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	14.5 tonnes
Length	7,080 mm
Width	3,140 mm
Height	2,030 mm
Crew	2 + 20 passengers
Armor	Homogeneous welded steel 13 mm front 10 mm sides 10 mm top 7 mm rear
Main armament	None BTR-50P & BTR-50PK: 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun (1,250 rounds) BTR-50PA: 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun
Engine	The "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
Maximum speed	44 km/h (road) 11 km/h (water)

The BTR-50 (BTR stands for Bronetransporter (Russian: БТР, Бронетранспортер), literally "armored transporter") is a Soviet tracked amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank chassis.^[3] The BTR-50 was developed in 1952 and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1954. It ceased production in the USSR in 1970, but production continued in Czechoslovakia until 1972 and there is suggestion that it still produced by some foreign companies. It has the ability to transport up to 20 fully equipped infantrymen, and can be armed with nothing, a 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun, or a 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun. It saw notable service in the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and most recently in the Russo-Ukrainian War.

The BTR-50 shares similarities with two other APCs developed independently, 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 is based on the Type 63 amphibious light tank developed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which was developed from the PT-76.