The BTR family of wheeled armored personnel carriers, which were introduced by the Soviet Union in 1960, predates the Stryker family of vehicles by several decades. The Soviets built tens of thousands of BTR-60/70/80 vehicles before the fall of the USSR in 1991, but production continued after the collapse, and the BTR family took diverging paths.
Ukraine, where many of the Soviet BTRs were built, began to design their own variants. The latest of these is the BTR-4. This vehicle, like the BTR-60 and the Stryker, is an eight-wheeled vehicle. The BTR-4, however, packs a lot more firepower than most other eight-wheeled armored personnel carriers.
Here’s what the BTR-4 infantry fighting vehicle packs: A 30mm autocannon, up to four anti-tank missiles (either AT-4 Spigot or AT-5 Spandrel), and a coaxial 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun. The vehicle requires a crew of three and can hold eight grunts. It has a top speed of 68 miles per hour and can travel 429 miles on a tank of gas. The BTR-4 was designed with an option to replace two of the AT-4 or AT-5 missiles with a 30mm automatic grenade launcher, like the AGS-17.
There are several variants of the BTR-4, including the MOP-4K, a fire support version, which packs a 120mm main gun. Other variants include a command version, a recovery vehicle, and a medical evacuation vehicle, which clears out some space for medical litters, equipment, and staff.
The BTR-4 has been in service with the Ukrainian military since 2009. It has also seen some export orders to Indonesia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan.
Learn more about the versatile Ukrainian Stryker in the video below! Tell us in the comments, do you like the Stryker, the BTR-4, or another armored wheeled vehicle?