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87-763: 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. Like the PT-76, the BTR-50 has a flat, boat-shaped hull. Unlike

174-889: A Soviet Navy Fleet. From the 1950s to the 1980s the branches ("rods") of the Ground Forces included the Motor Rifle Troops ; the Soviet Airborne Forces , from April 1956 to March 1964; Air Assault Troops ( Airborne Assault Formations of the Ground Forces of the USSR  [ ru ] , from 1968 to August 1990); the Tank Troops ; the Rocket Forces and Artillery  [ ru ] ( Ракетные войска и артиллерия СССР , from 1961); Army Aviation (see ru:Армейская авиация Российской Федерации ), until December 1990; Signals Troops ;

261-460: A cooling system and a pre-heater, intended for ignition when the air temperature is −20 °C or below. The APC has a five gear manual shaft-type transmission system similar to that in the T-34/85 medium tank. The gearbox has four forward and one reverse gear. The vehicle has a side clutch that enables it to make turns, mechanical transmission and a bandbrake. The vehicle has three fuel tanks, two on

348-466: A high amount of military, economic, and political cost. After Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev realized the economic, diplomatic, and human toll the war was placing on the Soviet Union, he announced the withdrawal of six regiment of troops (about 7,000 men) on 28 July 1986. In January 1988 Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze announced that it was hoped that "1988 would be the last year of

435-498: A hydraulic shock absorber, the steel tracks have a single pin and 96 links each when new. There is a small, thin, horizontal skirt over each track. The BTR-50 is powered by a V-6 6-cylinder 4-stroke in line water-cooled diesel 240 hp (179 kW) engine at 1800 rpm. This has a road speed of 44 km/h with a cruising range of 400 km. The vehicle can negotiate 30° side slopes, ascend 60° gradients, cross 1.1 m high vertical obstacles and 2.8 m wide trenches. The engine has

522-403: A low freeboard of 15 cm to 20 cm; however, it can compensate for this by using the snorkel, the mount for which is located on the right side of the front of the engine deck. The vehicle is equipped with an IR driving light and an IR searchlight. The searchlight was removed from the right side of the front of the superstructure, as the area there was used for the second projecting bay. It

609-484: A manual bilge pump for emergency use. The bilge pumps keep the APC afloat even if it is hit, is damaged, or leaks. In water it is propelled by two hydrojets, one in each side of the hull, with the entrance under the hull and exits at the rear of the hull. There are additional assistant water-jet entrances in both sides of the hull over the last road wheels. The rear exits have lids that can be fully or partially closed, redirecting

696-683: A new social group known as " Afgantsy ". These men would become influential in popular culture and politics of the time. The extent military districts in 1990 were: From 1985 to 1991, General Secretary Gorbachev attempted to reduce the strain the Soviet Armed Forces placed on the USSR's economy . Gorbachev slowly reduced the size of the Armed Forces, including through a unilateral force reduction announcement of 500,000 in December 1988. A total of 50,000 personnel were to come from Eastern Europe,

783-618: A number of third world countries including Angola, Egypt, India, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, and Sudan. East Germany received at least 10 WPT-TOPAS armoured recovery vehicles in 1970. Along with BTR-50, the OT-62 TOPAS were used by Egypt and Syria in the Six-Day War (1967). Some vehicles were captured and commissioned by the Israel Defense Forces . Both sides used BTR-50 and OT-62 TOPAS APCs during War of Attrition (1968–1970). During

870-938: A regional basis, with Soviet soldiers from Russia becoming part of the new Russian Ground Forces , while Soviet soldiers originating from Kazakhstan became part of the new Kazakh Armed Forces . As a result, the bulk of the Soviet Ground Forces, including most of the Scud and Scaleboard surface-to-surface missile (SSM) forces, became incorporated in the Russian Ground Forces . 1992 estimates showed five SSM brigades with 96 missile vehicles in Belarus and 12 SSM brigades with 204 missile vehicles in Ukraine , compared to 24 SSM brigades with over 900 missile vehicles under Russian Ground Forces' control, some in other former Soviet republics. By

957-426: A series of radical modernization reforms throughout the country. Vigorously suppressing any opposition from among the traditional Muslim Afghans, the government arrested thousands and executed as many as 27,000 political prisoners. By April 1979 large parts of the country were in open rebellion and by December the government had lost control of territory outside of the cities. In response to Afghan government requests,

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1044-435: A single military or civilian leader in the headquarters complexes. The Soviet Union supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment. Soviet crews fired Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles at U.S. F-4 Phantoms , which were shot down over Thanh Hóa in 1965. Over a dozen Soviet soldiers lost their lives in this conflict. Following

1131-454: A variant armed with a new turret placed centrally on top of the superstructure. Another TOPAS variant was designed by Wojskowy Instytut Techniki Pancernej i Samochodowej (Military Institute of Armour and Car Technology). The new variant received the designation WPT-TOPAS and was a technical support vehicle. Like the BTR-50PK, the OT-62 TOPAS has a flat, boat-shaped hull and has a superstructure in

1218-440: A vision block facing forward. The vehicle can operate in temperatures from −40 °C to +40 °C. The torsion bar suspension consists of six evenly spaced large rubber-tired road wheels with a drive sprocket at the rear and an idler at the front. The road wheels are hollow to assist its amphibious capabilities. These wheels increase the APC's buoyancy by 30%. There are no track-return rollers. The first and last road wheels have

1305-440: Is 2.895 m) and heavier—16.6 tonnes (the second variant weighs 16.8 tonnes). There are also additional improvements which can be carried out at customer's request. Those include adding kevlar -type spall liner to improve vehicle's protection, navigation system for improving tactical mobility and air conditioning system for improving crew comfort and allowing easier operation in hot climate. OT-62 TOPAS The OT-62 TOPAS

1392-493: Is a series of amphibious tracked armoured personnel carriers developed jointly by Polish People's Republic and Czechoslovakia ( ČSSR ). OT-62 stands for Obrněný Transportér vzor 62 – "armoured personnel carrier model 62". TOPAS stands for Transportér Obrněný Pásový – "tracked armoured personnel carrier". In the late 1950s Czechoslovakia bought a license to produce BTR-50s from the Soviet Union . The received documentation

1479-421: Is propelled by two hydrojets, one on each side of the hull. The inlets are under the hull, the outlets are at the rear. There are additional assistant water-jet inlets on both sides of the hull over the last road wheels. The rear outlets have lids that can be fully or partially closed, redirecting the water stream to the forward-directed outlets at the sides of the hull, thus enabling the vehicle to turn. This system

1566-402: Is watertight and ensures minimal resistance when APC is afloat, It can swim after switching on the two electric bilge pumps, erecting the trim vane which improves the stability and displacement of the vehicle in water and prevents the water from flooding the bow of the APC, and switching the driver's periscope for a swimming periscope that enables the driver to see over the trim vane. There is also

1653-482: The Central Office for South Vietnam , North Vietnam's southern headquarters. Using airspeed and direction, COSVN analysts would calculate the bombing target and tell any assets to move "perpendicularly to the attack trajectory." These advance warnings gave them time to move out of the way of the bombers, and, while the bombing runs caused extensive damage, because of the early warnings from 1968 to 1970 they did not kill

1740-736: The Engineer Troops ; the Air Defence Troops of the Ground Forces ; the Chemical Troops; and the Rear of the Ground Forces. In 1955, the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact with its Eastern European socialist allies, solidifying military coordination between Soviet forces and their socialist counterparts. The Ground Forces created and directed the Eastern European armies in its image for

1827-483: The Forest Brothers in the three Baltic states . Soviet troops, including the 39th Army , remained at Port Arthur and Dalian on the northeast Chinese coast until 1955. Control was then handed over to the new Chinese communist government. Within the Soviet Union, the troops and formations of the Ground Forces were divided among the military districts. There were 32 of them in 1945. Sixteen districts remained from

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1914-753: The Ground Forces of the Russian Federation in Russian territory; beyond, many units and formations were taken over by the post-Soviet states ; some were withdrawn to Russia, and some dissolved amid conflict, notably in the Caucasus . At the end of World War II the Red Army had over 500 rifle divisions and about a tenth that number of tank formations. Their war experience gave the Soviets such faith in tank forces that

2001-777: The Korean War ". The Main Command was reformed in 1955. On February 24, 1964, the Defense Council of the Soviet Union decided to disband the Ground Forces Main Command, with almost the same wording as in 1950 (the corresponding order of the USSR Minister of Defense on disbandment was signed on March 7, 1964). Its functions were transferred to the General Staff, while the chiefs of the combat arms and specialised forces came under

2088-706: The Ministry of Public Security recruit foreigners within high-level diplomatic circles among the Western-allies of the US, under a clandestine program known as "B12,MM" which produced thousands of high-level documents for nearly a decade, including targets of B-52 strikes. In 1975, the SIGINT services had broken information from Western US-allies in Saigon, determining that the US would not intervene to save South Vietnam from collapse. In 1979,

2175-970: The Russian invasion of Ukraine . In October 2023, the first example of a Russian BTR-50 being deployed in frontline combat in Ukraine appeared, with at least one BTR-50 being visually confirmed as destroyed by Ukrainian anti-tank mines northeast of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast during a large-scale Russian offensive against the city. As of 2024, Russia is visually confirmed to have suffered 9 BTR-50 losses (five BTR-50s and four BTR-50s with BPU-1 turret). Improvements in firepower are achieved by adding one of two new fighting modules (turrets), both of which are armed with one 30 mm ZTM1 or 2A72 autocannon, one 7.62 mm KT or PKT coaxial machine gun, one 9K113 Konkurs (NATO: AT-5 Spandrel ) ATGM and one 30 mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher. Both main guns are stabilized in

2262-580: The Six-Day War (1967), a number of which were captured by Israel. Some vehicles were then re-used by the Israeli Army . Both sides used BTR-50s during the War of Attrition (1968–70). During Operation "Raviv" (September 8–9, 1969), an amphibious raid across the Suez Canal, three T-54 tanks and six BTR-50s were used to wreak havoc behind Egyptian lines. BTR-50s were again employed by Egypt, Syria and Israel during

2349-770: The Yom Kippur War (1973) the BTR-50 and OT-62 TOPAS APCs were also employed by both sides. Some of the Israeli BTR-50 and OT-62 TOPAS were later transferred to the South Lebanon Army . Morocco used ex-Egyptian OT-62 during Western Sahara War . Moroccan armed forces lost 13 of them after a battle in Lebuirat on 24 August 1979. OT-62 TOPAS also saw service with the Iraqi army during First Persian Gulf War and 2003 Invasion of Iraq . Soviet Army The Ground Forces of

2436-518: The Yom Kippur War (1973). During this conflict, BTR-50s, along with T-54s and T-55s, were used by the IDF during the fighting in and around the city of Suez . Israel captured additional BTR-50s from the Egyptians and Syrians. Some of Israel's BTR-50s were later transferred to the South Lebanon Army . In February 2023 it was reported that Russia had reactivated some BTR-50s from storage and deployed them during

2523-493: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian Federation officials acknowledged that the Soviet Union had stationed up to 3,000 troops in Vietnam during the war. Some Russian sources give more specific numbers: Between 1953 and 1991, the hardware donated by the Soviet Union included 2,000 tanks, 1,700 APCs , 7,000 artillery guns, over 5,000 anti-aircraft guns, 158 surface-to-air missile launchers, and 120 helicopters. During

2610-544: The signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities of the North Vietnamese, through an operation known as Vostok (also known as Phương Đông, meaning "Orient" and named after the Vostok 1 ). The Vostok program was a counterintelligence and espionage program. These programs were pivotal in detecting and defeating CIA and South Vietnamese commando teams sent into North Vietnam, as they were detected and captured. The Soviets helped

2697-556: The 19–21 August 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt to depose President Gorbachev. Commanders despatched tanks into Moscow, yet the coup failed. On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia , Belarus , and Ukraine formally dissolved the USSR, and then constituted the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Soviet President Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991; the next day, the Supreme Soviet dissolved itself, officially dissolving

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2784-529: The 9Sh119M1 anti-tank guided missile system sight. Mobility is improved by replacing the Soviet-built engine with the UTD-20 6-cylinder 4-stroke V-type water-cooled diesel engine built in Ukraine, replacing the gearbox with a planetary system and installing hydraulic volumetric transmission. The suspension has also been improved by adding three return rollers. The vehicle has a new system of air intakes and exhausts on

2871-475: The APC by climbing over the sides of the hull. The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has three vision blocks and periscopes located at the top of the sloping glacis plate. During night operations, the center periscope can be swapped for the TVN-28 night vision device, which gives the driver clear vision up to 60 meters. The driver has a small hatch that opens upwards—while it cannot be used to leave

2958-400: The APC is afloat. It can swim after switching on the two electric bilge pumps. Erecting the trim vane improves the stability and displacement of the vehicle in the water, and prevents water from flooding over the bow of the APC. Swapping the driver's periscope for a swimming periscope enables the driver to see over the trim vane. There is a manual bilge pump for emergency use. In the water, it

3045-703: The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union (Russian: сухопутные войска , romanized : Sovetskiye sukhoputnye voyska ) was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. In English it was often referred to as the Soviet Army. Until 25 February 1946, it was known as the Red Army . In Russian, the term armiya (army) was often used to cover the Strategic Rocket Forces first in traditional Soviet order of precedence;

3132-519: The BTR-50PU command vehicle instead of the one in BTR-50 APCs. However, the bays are different in shape. The second projecting bay also has three vision blocks and periscopes. On top of the second projecting bay is a cupola which replaces the additional rectangular roof hatch from the BTR-50PK. The torsion bar suspension consists of six evenly spaced large rubber-tired road wheels with the drive sprocket at

3219-402: The Ground Forces had two million men. To maintain those numbers, Soviet law required a three-year military service obligation from every able man of military age, until 1967, when the Ground Forces reduced it to a two-year draft obligation. By the 1970s, the change to a two-year system seems to have created the hazing practice known as dedovshchina , "rule of the grandfathers", which destroyed

3306-612: The Ground Forces was reduced from 9.8 million to 2.4 million. To establish and secure the USSR's eastern European geopolitical interests, Red Army troops who liberated eastern Europe from Nazi rule in 1945 remained in place to secure pro-Soviet régimes in Eastern Europe and to protect against attack from Europe. Elsewhere, they may have assisted the NKVD in suppressing anti-Soviet resistance in Western Ukraine (1941–1955) and

3393-599: The Ground Forces, second; the Air Defence Forces , third, the Air Forces , fourth, and the Soviet Navy , fifth, among the branches of the Soviet Armed Forces as a whole. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under the command of the Commonwealth of Independent States until it was formally abolished on 14 February 1992. The Soviet Ground Forces were principally succeeded by

3480-535: The Ground Forces. Nonetheless, Soviet forces possessed too few theater-level nuclear weapons to fulfill war-plan requirements until the mid-1980s. The General Staff maintained plans to invade Western Europe whose massive scale was only made publicly available after German researchers gained access to files of the East German National People's Army following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Red Army advanced into northern Korea in 1945 after

3567-411: The PT-76, it has a new superstructure added to the front of the vehicle. The hull of the BTR-50 is made of all-welded steel with the crew compartment in the front, the troop compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the rear. It has the ability to transport up to 20 fully equipped infantrymen, who sit on benches that run across the full width of the troop compartment. They embark and disembark

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3654-469: The PV-6 6-cylinder, inline diesel engine developing 300 hp (220 kW) at 1,800 rpm. The engine gives it a road speed of 58.4 km/h (36.3 mph) with a cruising range of 460 km (290 mi). The vehicle can cross 1.1 m (3.6 ft) high vertical obstacles and 2.8 m (9.2 ft) wide trenches and climb 40° gradients. OT-62 TOPAS is amphibious thanks to its flat, boat-shaped hull which

3741-678: The Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov became Chief of the Soviet Ground Forces in March 1946, but was quickly succeeded by Ivan Konev in July 1946. By September 1946, the army decreased from 5 million soldiers to 2.7 million in the Soviet Union and from 2 million to 1.5 million in Europe. Four years later the Main Command was disbanded, an organisational gap that "probably was associated in some manner with

3828-572: The Soviet Union in 1991, a considerable number of weapons were transferred to the national forces of emerging states on the periphery of the former Soviet Union, such as Armenia , Azerbaijan and Tajikistan . Similarly, weapons and other military equipment were also left behind in the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Some of these items were sold on the black market or through weapons merchants, whereof, in turn, some ended up in terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda . A 1999 book argued that

3915-407: The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its puppet government, provoking a 10-year Afghan mujahideen guerrilla resistance. Between 850,000 and 1.5 million civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran . Prior to the arrival of Soviet troops, the pro-Soviet Nur Mohammad Taraki government took power in a 1978 coup and initiated

4002-664: The Soviet Union to support Korea's growth directly. When northern Korea eventually wished to invade South Korea in 1950, Kim Il Sung traveled to Moscow to gain approval from Stalin. It was granted with full support, leading to the full-scale invasion of South Korea on June 25. Soviet ships in the South China Sea gave vital early warnings to PAVN/VC forces in South Vietnam. The Soviet intelligence ships would pick up American B-52 bombers flying from Okinawa and Guam . Their airspeed and direction would be noted and then relayed to

4089-512: The Soviet government under leader Leonid Brezhnev first sent covert troops to advise and support the Afghan government, but, on December 24, 1979, began the first deployment of the 40th Army . Arriving in the capital Kabul on December 27, they staged a coup , killing the president Hafizullah Amin , and installing a rival socialist Babrak Karmal , who was viewed as more moderate and fit to lead

4176-593: The Soviet official newspaper of record . First, the combined arms formations, divisions and armies, would be reorganised, and as a result division numbers would be reduced almost by half; second, tank regiments would be removed from all the motor rifle (mechanised infantry) divisions in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and tank divisions would also lose a tank regiment; air assault and river crossing units would be removed from both Eastern Germany and Czechoslovakia; fourth, defensive systems and units would rise in number under

4263-407: The Soviet troops stay"; the forces pulled out in the bitter winter cold of January–February 1989. The cost for the military due to the war is estimated to have been roughly 15 billion rubles in 1989. The combat casualties estimates at 30,000–35,000. During 1984–1985, more than 300 aircraft were lost, and thus a significant military cost of the war is attributed to air operations. Since the first year,

4350-479: The USSR on 26 December 1991. During the next 18 months, inter-republican political efforts to transform the Army of the Soviet Union into the CIS Armed Forces failed; eventually, the forces stationed in the republics formally became the militaries of the respective republican governments. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the Ground Forces dissolved and the fifteen Soviet successor states divided their assets among themselves. The divide mostly occurred along

4437-444: The changes implicit in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty began to create more disruption. The withdrawals became extremely chaotic; there was significant hardship for officers and their families, and "large numbers of weapons and vast stocks of equipment simply disappeared through theft, misappropriation and the black market." In February 1989, Defence Minister Dmitri Yazov outlined five major planned changes in Izvestiya ,

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4524-492: The direct command of the Minister of Defence . The Main Command was then recreated again in November 1967. Army General Ivan Pavlovsky was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces with effect from 5 November 1967. From 1945 to 1948, the Soviet Armed Forces were reduced from about 11.3 million to about 2.8 million men, a demobilisation controlled first, by increasing the number of military districts to 33, then reduced to 21 in 1946. The personnel strength of

4611-449: The driver can use a vision block for a limited vision. Under the driver's seat is an emergency hatch which can be used by all crew members. The commander who sits on the left side of the front of the vehicle has three vision blocks, periscopes in a projecting bay, and a cupola with vision block on its basis facing forward. It is located on top of projecting bay, opens forward, and can be locked vertically. It also has two projecting bays like

4698-430: The end of World War II , with the intention of aiding in the process of rebuilding the country. Marshals Kirill Meretskov and Terentii Shtykov explained to Joseph Stalin the necessity of Soviet help in building infrastructure and industry in northern Korea. Additionally, the Soviets aided in the creation of the North Korean People's Army and Korean People's Air Force . The Soviets believed it would be strategic to

4785-405: The end of 1992, most remnants of the Soviet Army in former Soviet Republics had disbanded or dispersed. Forces garrisoned in Eastern Europe (including the Baltic states ) gradually returned home between 1992 and 1994. This list of Soviet Army divisions sketches some of the fates of the individual parts of the Ground Forces. In mid-March 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed himself as

4872-442: The first of the new High Commands, for the Far East, was created at Ulan-Ude in Buryatia under Army General Vasily Petrov . In September 1984, three more were established to control multi-Front operations in Europe (the Western and South-Western Strategic Directions) and at Baku to supervise three southern military districts. Western analysts expected these new headquarters to control multiple Fronts in time of war, and usually

4959-428: The forces in Mongolia (totaling five divisions and 75,000 troops) were to be reduced, but the remainder was to come from units inside the Soviet Union. There were major problems encountered in trying to organise the return of 500,000 personnel into civilian life, including where the returned soldiers were to live, housing, jobs, and training assistance. Then the developing withdrawals from Czechoslovakia and Hungary and

5046-409: The front of the vehicle. The hull of the OT-62 TOPAS is made of all-welded rolled steel with the crew compartment at the front, troop compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the rear. It can transport up to sixteen fully equipped infantrymen who sit on benches which run across the full width of the troop compartment. Their primary way of mounting and dismounting the APC is by climbing over

5133-423: The government spend roughly 2.5–3.0% of the yearly military budget on funding the war in Afghanistan, increasing steadily in cost until its peak in 1986. The Soviet Army also suffered from deep losses in morale and public approval due to the conflict and its failure. Many injured and disabled veterans of the war returned to the Soviet Union facing public scrutiny and difficulty re-entering civilian society, creating

5220-399: The greatest opportunity for terrorist organizations to procure weapons was in the former Soviet Union. In 2007, the World Bank estimated that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million were of the Kalashnikov family , and 75 million were AKMs . However, only about 5 million of these were manufactured in the former USSR. In 1990 and 1991,

5307-427: The infantry force was cut significantly. A total of 130 rifle divisions were disbanded in the Groups of Forces in Eastern Europe in summer 1945, as well as 2nd Guards Airborne Division , and by the end of 1946, another 193 rifle divisions ceased to exist. Five or more rifle divisions disbanded contributed to the formation of NKVD convoy divisions, some used for escorting Japanese prisoners of war . The Tank Corps of

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5394-402: The late war period were converted to tank divisions, and from 1957 the rifle divisions were converted to motor rifle divisions (MRDs). MRDs had three motorized rifle regiments and a tank regiment, for a total of ten motor rifle battalions and six tank battalions; tank divisions had the proportions reversed. The Land Forces Main Command was created for the first time in March 1946. Marshal of

5481-427: The left hand side of the front of the engine deck. This upgrade can also be applied to BTR-50PU vehicles. This vehicle has a greater combat capability, lower fuel consumption and a higher power-to-weight ratio . The vehicle can operate in temperatures between −40 °C and +55 °C and has an increased road speed of 75 km/h. As a result of all these changes the vehicle is now higher—3.085 m (the second variant

5568-490: The mid-1970s to the end of the USSR (see table). Yet, the greatest Soviet Army concentration was in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , which suppressed the anti-Soviet Uprising of 1953 in East Germany . East European Groups of Forces were the Northern Group of Forces in Poland, and the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary , which put down the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . In 1958, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Romania . The Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia

5655-420: The nation. While the Soviet government initially hoped to secure Afghanistan's towns and road networks, stabilize the communist regime, and withdraw from the region within the span of one year, they experienced major difficulties in the region, due to rough terrain and fierce guerrilla resistance. Soviet presence would reach near 115,000 troops by the mid-1980s, and the complications of the war increased, causing

5742-416: The new Russian minister of defence, marking a crucial step in the creation of the new Russian Armed Forces , comprising the bulk of what was left of the Soviet Armed Forces. The last vestiges of the old Soviet command structure were finally dissolved in June 1993, when the paper Commonwealth of Independent States Military Headquarters was reorganized as a staff for facilitating CIS military cooperation. In

5829-461: The new divisional organisation; and finally the troop level in the European part of the USSR would drop by 200,000, and by 60,000 in the southern part of the country. A number of motor-rifle formations would be converted into machine gun and artillery forces intended for defensive purposes only. Three-quarters of the troops in Mongolia would be withdrawn and disbanded, including all the air force units there. The Armed Forces were extensively involved in

5916-401: The next few years, the former Soviet Ground Forces withdrew from central and Eastern Europe (including the Baltic states ), as well as from the newly independent post-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan , Armenia , Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan . Now- Russian Ground Forces remained in Tajikistan , Georgia and Transnistria (in Moldova ). After the dissolution of

6003-407: The rear and the idler at the front. The road wheels are hollow to ensure additional amphibious abilities. Usage of hollow road wheels increased APC's buoyancy by 30%. There are no track-return rollers. The first and last road wheels have a hydraulic shock absorber and the steel tracks with a single pin have 96 chain links each when new. There is a small, thin, horizontal skirt over each track. OT-62 has

6090-401: The remainder lower strength formations. The Soviet system anticipated a war preparation period which would bring the strength of the Ground Forces up to about three million. Soviet planning for most of the Cold War period would have seen Armies of four to five divisions operating in Fronts made up of around four armies (and roughly equivalent to Western Army Groups ). On 8 February 1979,

6177-424: The remainder of the Cold War, shaping them for a potential confrontation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After 1956, Nikita Khrushchev , General Secretary of the Communist Party , reduced the Ground Forces to build up the Strategic Rocket Forces , emphasizing the armed forces' nuclear capabilities. He removed Marshal Georgy Zhukov from the Politburo in 1957 for opposing these reductions in

6264-446: The remainder tank divisions. There were also a large number of artillery divisions, separate artillery brigades, engineer formations, and other combat support formations. However, only relatively few formations were fully war ready. By 1983, Soviet divisions were divided into either "Ready" or "Not Ready" categories, each with three subcategories. The internal military districts usually contained only one or two fully Ready divisions, with

6351-442: The right, at the front of the engine compartment and one at the rear. The total fuel capacity is 400 liters. The vehicle has four mounts for external fuel tanks located on the rear of the hull. The two on the hull corners are for a flat external tanks, whereas the two in the center are for a drum-type of tank. The BTR-50 is amphibious thanks to its flat, boat-shaped hull, which is hermetically sealed and ensures minimal resistance when

6438-510: The same quantity of ammunition but in two batches of 1,000 rounds). The ATGM system has a minimum range of 100 m and maximum range of 4,000 m with four missiles. The automatic grenade launcher has a maximum range of 1,700 m. The vehicle uses a number of instruments with its armament. These include the TKN-5 day/night sight with a laser rangefinder, the PZU-7 day sight for firing at air and ground targets and

6525-451: The sides of the hull and going through two rectangular roof hatches. However, OT-62 TOPAS has side hatches in the sides of the superstructure, making for a good alternative to the rectangular roof hatches; thus it doesn't have the protection issue of BTR-50 APC in which the passengers didn't have any kind of alternative route in and out. The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has three vision blocks and periscopes located at

6612-427: The sides. The vehicle is equipped with an IR driving light and an IR searchlight. It lags behind other Soviet armored fighting vehicles as it has no fire protection systems and, with the exception of the BTR-50PK variant, it has no nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) protection systems, which significantly reduces its effectiveness. The BTR-50 was developed in 1952 and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1954. It

6699-412: The status of most NCOs. Instead the Soviet system relied very heavily on junior officers. Soviet Armed Forces life could be "grim and dangerous": a Western researcher talking to former Soviet officers was told, in effect that this was because they did not "value human life". By the middle of the 1980s, the Ground Forces contained about 210 divisions . About three-quarters were motor rifle divisions and

6786-401: The top of the sloping glacis plate. During night operations the center periscope is switched for the TVN-28 night vision device, which gives the driver a clear vision up to 60 meters. The driver also has a small hatch that opens upwards and, while it can't be used for the driver to leave the vehicle, it can be opened in relatively safe areas for extra vision. When in combat the hatch is closed and

6873-414: The vehicle, it can be opened in relatively safe areas for extra vision. In combat, the hatch is closed and the driver can use a vision block. There is an emergency hatch under the driver's seat. The commander, who sits on the left side of the vehicle at the front, has three vision blocks and periscopes in a projecting bay. On top of this bay is a cupola that opens forward and can be locked vertically. It has

6960-449: The vertical axis (the second variant has a two axis stabilization) and have electro-mechanical aiming drives. Both have a maximum effective range of 4,000 m and can be elevated or depressed between −10° and +60° or −4° and +60°. The vehicle carries 150 rounds (the second variant carries 350 rounds). Both machine guns have a maximum effective range of 1,600 m. The vehicle carries 2,000 rounds in four batches of 500, (the second variant carries

7047-438: The war, the Soviets sent North Vietnam annual arms shipments worth $ 450 million. From July 1965 to the end of 1974, fighting in Vietnam was observed by some 6,500 officers and generals, as well as more than 4,500 soldiers and sergeants of the Soviet Armed Forces. In addition, Soviet military schools and academies began training Vietnamese soldiers—in all more than 10,000 military personnel. The KGB had also helped develop

7134-447: The water stream to the forward-directed exits at the sides of the hull, thus enabling the vehicle to turn or float in reverse. For example: to go left, the left water-jet is covered; to go right, the right water-jet is covered; and to make a 180° turn, the left water-jet sucks in water and the right water-jet pushes it out. This system was designed by N. Konowalow., and is the same system as in the PT-76 amphibious light tank. The vehicle has

7221-699: Was designed by N. Konowalow. It is the same system as the one used in the PT-76. The vehicle's low freeboard of 15 to 20 cm and lack of a snorkel means that it can only swim in the calmest waters. Its armor is composed of homogeneous, cold rolled, welded steel—it is very thin by modern standards, 13 mm at the front, 10 mm on the sides and top and 7 mm at the rear. While its maximum armor could protect it against small arms fire and small artillery shell fragments, it cannot protect it against .50-caliber machine gun bullets and larger shell fragments. Although its front armor might protect it against 7.62 mm small arms fire, that same fire can sometimes penetrate

7308-637: Was established after Warsaw Pact intervention against the Prague Spring of 1968. In 1969, in the far east of the Soviet Union, the Sino-Soviet border conflict (1969) prompted establishment of a 16th military district, the Central Asian Military District, at Alma-Ata , Kazakhstan. From 1947 to 1989, Western intelligence agencies estimated that the Soviet Ground Forces' strength remained c. 2.8 million to c. 5.3 million men. In 1989

7395-559: Was first shown in public in November 1957. It served in the motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions and mechanized brigades in the Soviet and East German armies. A typical mechanized brigade consisted of three battalions, each of which had 30 APCs and a command vehicle. They were replaced in front line service by the BMP-1 IFV . Command vehicle variants were employed by many Warsaw Pact armies. BTR-50s were used by Egypt and Syria during

7482-593: Was instead fitted on the commander's cupola. It also has two mounts for shovels on either side of the front of the vehicle as well as two mounts for pickaxes on the left side of the superstructure. A stowage bucket is placed centrally in the front of the engine deck. The OT-62 entered in service with the Czechoslovak Army in 1964, and with the Polish Army in 1966 as the TOPAS-2AP. The OT-62 was exported to Bulgaria, and

7569-490: Was used to develop a new tracked armoured personnel carrier for Czechoslovak army and Ludowe Wojsko Polskie (LWP). The work started in 1958 and the first prototype was completed in 1962. After it passed the trials it was accepted and received the name TOPAS. Because the standard TOPAS vehicle used by the LWP (Polish People's Army) was unarmed, the design bureau of Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna (WAT) (Military Technical Academy) designed

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