"Combat buses". The BTR-50P armored personnel carrier has become in many ways a unique combat vehicle. In addition to the fact that it was the first domestic tracked armored personnel carrier, the BTR-50 was also floating. Here his pedigree was fully reflected. This model was created on the basis of the PT-76 light amphibious tank. In addition to paratroopers, the armored personnel carrier could safely transport up to two tons of cargo by water, including mortars and artillery mounts of caliber up to 85 mm inclusive, and fire on the enemy from a gun could be fired directly during transportation.
The history of the creation of the tracked amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-50P
The tactical and technical assignment issued by the GBTU immediately provided for the creation of two new combat vehicles - a light amphibious tank and an armored personnel carrier based on it with the maximum possible unification of structural components and assemblies. The new Soviet armored personnel carrier was created jointly by the designers of the VNII-100 (Leningrad), the Chelyabinsk Kirovsky plant (ChKZ) and the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, the general management of the project was carried out by the famous Soviet tank designer Zh. Ya. Kotin. Work on the creation of new combat vehicles in the USSR began on August 15, 1949, and the technical design of a new armored personnel carrier was ready on September 1, 1949. In the same year, design work on the creation of a light amphibious tank and tracked armored personnel carrier was transferred to Chelyabinsk, where the projects were designated "Object 740" (future PT-76) and "Object 750" (future BTR-50P).
From the very beginning of the work, the Soviet designers were faced with the task of creating a tracked amphibious armored personnel carrier designed to transport personnel of motorized rifle units of the Soviet Army, as well as various military cargo, including artillery pieces and light wheeled vehicles in conditions of possible fire resistance from a potential enemy. Work on the tank and the armored personnel carrier was carried out in parallel, but the armored personnel carrier was created with some lag behind the schedule. This delay was justified by the development of a large number of design solutions, for example, a water jet propulsion unit, first on a light amphibious tank PT-76. It was the successful tests of the PT-76 that instilled in the designers the confidence that the work on the creation of the armored personnel carrier would be completed in the same successful way.
BTR-50P
One of the requirements of the technical assignment for the creation of a new combat vehicle was the transportation of two tons of various cargoes up to divisional artillery and the GAZ-69 SUV. Working on the solution of this problem, the designers faced difficulties when choosing a loading device. Two main options were considered: a crane installation with an electric drive and a winch driven by the main engine of an armored personnel carrier with loading on hinged ramps. In the course of work, the option with a crane was abandoned due to the excessive design and operational complexity of this solution.
An interesting fact is that already during the tests of the new tracked armored personnel carrier, the designers, on their own initiative, fired on land and afloat from the transported artillery systems: the ZIS-2 anti-tank 57-mm cannon and even the D-44 85-mm cannon. Carrying out of such tests was not provided for by the technical specifications from the military, the only requirement was the transportation of divisional artillery. To the surprise of many, these firing were successful and did not lead to breakdowns in the chassis of the armored personnel carrier and any incidents. Moreover, the vehicle's buoyancy was also quite sufficient for firing from the transported gun without flooding or overturning the armored personnel carrier, which only confirmed the very high amphibious capabilities of the new vehicles.
Light amphibious tank PT-76
The first prototype of a tracked armored personnel carrier was ready by the end of April 1950, from April 26 to June 11 of the same year, the armored personnel carrier passed factory tests. The tests carried out made it possible to correct the technical documentation for the new combat vehicle, already in July two new prototypes of the Object 750 were ready, the state tests of which were carried out in the second half of 1950. According to the results of state tests, the car was once again finalized, and in the third quarter of 1951, ChKZ presented two more prototypes for testing, which the following year passed the stage of military trials. The military noted the insufficient strength of the design of the wave-reflecting shield, the unsatisfactory accuracy of the battle of standard weapons - a large-caliber 12, 7-mm machine gun DShK, as well as cases of spontaneous operation of fire-fighting equipment. After the elimination of all the shortcomings indicated by the military and the refinement of the armored personnel carrier in the fall of 1953, control tests were carried out, having overcome in aggregate 1, 5 thousand kilometers. In April of the following year, the new armored personnel carrier was officially adopted by the Soviet Army by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR under the designation BTR-50P.
The new Soviet combat vehicle was unique in many of its characteristics and was a completely domestic development, which was created without regard to foreign samples of such equipment. Moreover, the PT-76 amphibious tank with powerful artillery weapons, on the chassis of which the BTR-50P was created, was a one-of-a-kind machine. In many ways, the creation of such equipment was helped by the great experience in the development of light amphibious tanks, which was accumulated in the USSR even before the Second World War.
Technical features of the armored personnel carrier BTR-50P
The first Soviet tracked armored personnel carrier was a floating combat vehicle with bulletproof armor. The displacement hull of the armored personnel carrier was made by welding from armor plates with a thickness of 4 to 10 mm. The combat weight of the BTR-50 did not exceed 14.2 tons. A distinctive feature of the combat vehicle was the location of the diesel engine along the longitudinal axis of the hull. For the new model of armored vehicles, Soviet designers chose the following layout scheme. In the front of the armored personnel carrier there was a control compartment, in the middle part - the troop compartment, in the stern - the engine compartment. The crew of the armored personnel carrier consisted of two people: the driver and the commander. The commander's workplace was on the right, the mechanic on the left. In addition, 12 soldiers could be accommodated inside the hull in the troop compartment. As much as possible, the armored personnel carrier could transport up to 20 personnel or two tons of various military cargo through a water barrier, for example, an artillery gun along with a crew. The roofless versions of the armored personnel carrier were equipped with a removable awning that protected the landing force from the effects of precipitation.
BTR-50P transports an artillery gun
The chassis, transmission and power plant went to the BTR-50P unchanged from the PT-76 tank. The heart of the combat vehicle was the V-6PVG diesel engine, which developed a maximum power of 240 hp. This power was enough to provide the tracked vehicle with a maximum speed of up to 45 km / h when driving on the highway and up to 10.2 km / h afloat. The power reserve was estimated at 240-260 km (on the highway). The new armored personnel carrier, like the PT-76 light tank, was distinguished by high mobility and maneuverability characteristics, had a buoyancy reserve, good maneuverability and stability. It is for this reason that the new equipment entered service not only with motorized rifle units, but also with marine units. In addition to reservoirs, the BTR-50 easily overcame obstacles in the form of ditches and trenches up to 2, 8 meters wide and vertical walls 1, 1 meter high.
In the rear of the car on the roof of the engine compartment, the designers placed folding ramps for loading artillery guns and mortars (the BTR-50P could carry a 120-mm mortar, 57-mm, 76-mm or 85-mm artillery gun), as well as all-wheel drive vehicles GAZ-67 or GAZ-69. For the transportation of weapons, the armored personnel carrier was specially equipped with a loading device, which consisted of. in addition to folding ramps, from a powerful winch with a pulling force of 1500 kgf.
Despite the fact that a large-caliber DShK machine gun was installed on the prototypes during the tests, the armored personnel carriers went into the series either without standard weapons, or with a 7.62-mm SGMB machine gun, created on the basis of the SG-43 heavy machine gun. The second attempt to arm a combat vehicle with large-caliber weapons was made already in 1956. The prototype BTR-50PA was armed with a 14.5-mm KPVT machine gun, which, as before the DShK, was tried to be installed on a turret with an armored back on the hatch of the BTR commander. Despite the efforts of the designers, this version of the BTR-50 with increased firepower did not reach the stage of adoption.
Upgrade options
Already in 1959, the most massive modification of the tracked armored personnel carrier, designated BTR-50PK, was launched into mass production. The main difference between this model was the presence of a roof that covered the entire troop compartment. Three separate hatches were designed for the landing and disembarkation of troops in the roof. It is worth noting that in 1959, all available Soviet armored personnel carriers were equipped with a roof, this also applied to wheeled vehicles - BTR-40 and BTR-152. The Soviet military took into account the experience of urban battles in Hungary in 1956, when the paratroopers were vulnerable to fire from the upper floors of buildings, in addition, bottles with a combustible mixture or grenades could be easily thrown into the hull. In addition to the protective function, the roof above the troop compartment improved the already very good amphibious properties of the armored personnel carrier, allowing you to swim even with light waves, water simply did not get inside the vehicle.
BTR-50PK of the Polish People's Army
Also, the BTR-50PU and BTR-50PN command and staff vehicles became quite massive, the production of the first model in Volgograd was launched in 1958. Such a machine could carry up to 10 people, and a table was installed in the headquarters for working with maps and documents. Also, a distinctive feature of the command and staff vehicle was the presence of a complex of three radio stations R-112, R-113 and R-105. Three four-meter antennas, one 10-meter and one 11-meter antenna became the standard equipment of the combat vehicle. In the process of modernizing the machines, the composition of the equipment and communications placed inside changed.
Already in the 1970s, some of the first serial BTR-50P were converted into technical assistance vehicles (MTP). Such armored vehicles were used by motorized rifle units, which were armed with new BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles. In the modernized armored personnel carriers, instead of the troop carrier, there was a production department with an armored roof. The height of the compartment was increased, allowing the repairmen to work at full height. In the production department, working tools were transported, equipment and devices for the repair and maintenance of the BMP-1 were installed, and there were also means for the evacuation of an infantry fighting vehicle. And for installation and installation on the BMP-1 of various components and assemblies, a boom crane was placed on the MTP.
MTP model
In total, during serial production from 1954 to 1970 in the USSR, it was possible to assemble up to 6,500 armored personnel carriers BTR-50 of various modifications. This technique remained in service with the Soviet Army until the end of the existence of the USSR. Some of these armored personnel carriers may still be stored. At the same time, there is still interest in such machines. For example, the Malyshev Kharkov Plant still offers options for upgrading this armored personnel carrier with the installation of new 400 hp engines, large-caliber machine guns, a new gearbox and modified chassis elements. The Ukrainian company hopes that the upgraded BTR-50 will be able to interest potential customers from Africa and Asia.
