Russo-Ukrainian War: The BTR-70DI Defender APC

Source: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

     A Ukrainian BTR-70DI “Defender”, also known as the BTR-7 “Defender”, belonging to the 151st. Mechanized Brigade. Photographed during a training exercise early in 2025, the BTR-70DI is a Ukrainian produced modernization of the Soviet BTR-70 8x8 armored personnel carrier (APC) and first appeared in 2011. Though Ukroboronprom offers refurbished BTR-70 vehicles in its export catalog, Ukroboronprom emphasizes the BTR-70DI with its upgrades and ability to be fitted with optional weapon fits that make it more lethal than the BTR-70 from which it is derived.

     Externally, the BTR-70DI looks much like the BTR-70 except that the hull was adapted to use the side hatches of a BTR-80. The BTR-70 does not have side hatches which means the troops within need to dismount by climbing out of roof hatches then clamber down the back or sides of the vehicle. The BTR-80 style side hatches are split. The upper portion of the hatch opens to the left, offering a small measure of protection as soldiers exit. The bottom half drops down, acting as a step. Total crew is three men (commander, driver, gunner) and up to seven infantrymen.

     “Under the hood”, the 13.6-ton BTR-70DI swaps out the two Soviet era 3M3-4905 petrol engines for two FPT Iveco Tector 4-cylinder, inline diesel engines with each generating 150 horsepower. The engines are paired to a mechanical transmission with a 6-speed gearbox. On roads, the BTR-70DI can achieve a top speed of 62 miles per hour while off-road (terrain depending), the maximum speed is 37 miles per hour. The BTR-70DI retains the amphibious ability of the BTR-70 with its rear mounted water jet able to propel the BTR-70DI to a top water speed of 6 miles per hour. Enough fuel is carried to provide for a maximum cruise range of 497 miles.

     The armor thickness of the BTR-70DI is classified. It uses RHA (rolled homogeneous armor) but one can assume the level of protection is similar to the BTR-70 and thus armor thickness frontally is 9mm thick while the sides and rear support 7mm thick armor as does the roof and floor. However, the floor is reinforced to STANAG 4569 Level 3 protection, allowing the BTR-70DI to withstand mines with up to 18 pounds of explosive. The turret has 6mm thick armor along the front arc. Because of the sloping on the front of the vehicle, the effective thickness of the armor is able to resist up to 12.7mm ammunition. The remainder of the protection is good against some small arms calibers and shell splinters. Other protective equipment includes an automatic fire extinguishing system and a filter ventilation system for NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) defense. As an optional piece of defensive equipment, the BTR-70DI can be fitted with the Zaslon APS (Active Protection System) which can detect incoming anti-tank missiles.

     The “out of the box” armament is shown here, consisting of BPU-1 turret fitted with a KPVT 14.5mm heavy machine-gun and a co-axial PKT 7.62mm machine-gun. The usual ammunition load is 500 rounds for the KPVT and 2,000 rounds for the PKT. The guns sit within a biplanar, electromechanical stabilizer mount with elevation and traverse controls being electromechanically powered. If need be, the turret and weapons can be manually controlled. The gunner is provided with the “Track” sighting system consisting of a day/night sight and laser rangefinder. Both the vehicle commander and gunner share the video feeds provided by the “Panorama” observation system that is tied into the “Track” system. This is in addition to the more standard TNPO-115 style vision blocks. The effective range of the KPVT is 1.9 miles with a maximum range of 2.5 miles. Rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute. The B-32 API (Armor-Piercing Incendiary) round can penetrate 32mm of RHA at 500 meters. Of course, Ukroboronprom offers two optional weapon load-outs.

     The first option is the Bug RWS (Remote Weapon Station) and this retains the KPVT and PKT but adds a AG-17 Plamya 30mm automatic grenade launcher (with 87 rounds) and two rails for the Barrier ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile). Also known as the Stugna-P or Skif, the Barrier ATGM can be guided via laser beam or set to engage automatically upon launch. Maximum range in daylight is 3 miles while at night, 1.9 miles. The 130mm RK-2S tandem-charge HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) missile's warhead can drill through 1,000mm of RHA armor after explosive reactive armor (ERA). The Bug RWS has two Barrier ATGMs on the rails with another two missiles carried within the BTR-70DI for reloading. The PKT machine-gun's ammunition quantity drops to 1,500 rounds.

     The second option is the Ingul RWS and this replaces the KPVT with a ZTM-2 30mm automatic cannon, the Ukrainian produced version of the Russian Shipunov 2A42. 360 rounds are provided and the ZTM-2 has a rate of fire as low as 200 rounds per minute up to 800 rounds per minute. The ZTM-2 has a dual feed, allowing for a mix of ammunition. The usual is the 3UBR6 APBC-T (Armor-Piercing, Ballistic Cap – Tracer) round that can defeat 20mm of RHA at a 60 degree slope at .4 of a mile while the 3UOF8 HEI (High-Explosive Incendiary) round can be fired out to 2.5 miles. The co-axial PKT is retained with 1,500 rounds of ammunition as well as two rails for the Barrier ATGM (two missiles ready to fire, two reloads stored in the vehicle). A Tucha smoke discharger system is fitted to the front of the turret face with two banks of three smoke grenade launcher tubes.

     Other equipment includes an air-conditioning system for crew comfort, a R-173M radio station, R-173Pv radio receiver, AVSK intercom set for the crew, independent suspension, and all-wheel drive.

Russo-Ukrainian War: VCC-2 APC, "Donechchyna" Battalion, National Police of Ukraine

Source: National Police of Ukraine.

     Operating somewhere in Donetsk Oblast is this VCC-2 armored personnel carrier (APC), in service with the special forces “Donechchyna” Battalion of the National Police of Ukraine. Such units are, more or less, similar to SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) teams within many police forces in the U.S. Such personnel are trained to deal with high risk threats that regular police officers are not equipped to handle. Like SWAT teams, Ukrainian National Police special forces units receive additional training in heavy weapons, usage and deployment of armored vehicles, and other tasks and skills which are above the regular training of rank and file policemen. The VCC-2 is an Italian variant of the U.S. M113 APC and to date, a little over ten VCC-2 have been received from Italy as part of the country's military aid packages.

     The biggest modification was replacing the M113's Chrysler 75M engine and Allison TX-200-2A transmission with a more powerful General Motors 6V53 Model 5063-5299 6-cylinder, water-cooled diesel engine and paired it with a Allison TX-100-1 transmission with a 8-speed gear box (6 forward, 2 reverse). This drive train is the same as used in the M113A1. This gives the VCC-2 a top road speed of 40 miles per hour and in being amphibious, the top water speed is 3 miles per hour in calm water. Propulsion in water is via the VCC-2's tracks. 95 gallons of internal fuel provide for a maximum cruise range of 317 miles. The VCC-2 uses fiberglass fuel tanks in the rear of the vehicle with dual fuel lines into the engine for a measure of redundancy if there is a problem with one of the fuel tanks. The fuel system, along with rearranging the interior of the troop compartment, reduces the troop capacity to six men (instead of eleven). The crew of the VCC-2 consists of the commander, driver, and the gunner.

     For protection, the VCC-2 retains the welded hull consisting of the same rolled 5083/5086 H32 aluminum armor of the M113. From the front, armor thickness is 38mm at a slope between 30 degrees (lower front) and 45 degrees (upper front). The sides, which have no sloping, support between 31mm to 44mm while the rear of the VCC-2 has 38mm of armor with a 9 degree slope (upper rear) and 8 degrees of slope (lower rear). The top of the hull has 38mm thick armor while the bottom has 28mm of armor. To boost the level of protection, the VCC-2 has appliqué steel armor between 5mm to 6mm thick fitted directly onto the front and sides of the vehicle. The VCC-2 can shed up to 12.7mm ball ammunition (which is not armor-piercing) at 200 meters.

     For armament, the gunner is provided with a open-topped turret which, here, supports a Browning M2A1 12.7mm heavy machine-gun. On each side of the VCC-2 are two firing ports which allow soldiers within the troop compartment to utilize their small arms. Just above the firing ports are bullet-proof vision blocks. A fifth firing port is located in the drop-down rear ramp which makes up the majority of the back of the VCC-2.

     The commander's cupola is on the left side of the roof, behind the driver's hatch, and even with the gunner's cupola/turret on the right. He is provided with five M17 periscopes but the gunner's cupola limits the commander's field of view. The driver has four M17 periscopes and a single, fully traversable M19 infrared periscope for night driving. All of these vision devices are as the M113. Further Italian modifications include two roof-mounted exhaust fans to evacuate smoke from the interior and updated electrical systems.

     Ukrainian modifications include a rather intricate camouflage paint scheme and fitted to the roof towards the left rear are five antennas for drone jammers.

Sources:

http://web.tiscali.it/stefano67/vcc2.htm

http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m113.html