The BTR-70 with a twin 23 mm cannon was used in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Soviet BTR-70 significantly increased its firepower. The armored personnel carrier received a ZU-23-2 rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun and was successfully used in battles.

Before the advent of the BTR-80, the Seventies had long been the main wheeled means of delivering infantry in units and formations of the Limited Soviet Contingent - the 40th Combined Arms Army, as well as border troops and other forces involved.

Serial production of these machines was established in Gorky in 1976. The following year, in July, they were openly shown for the first time at the Karpaty exercises.

Interestingly, they drove through Red Square for the first time only in November 1980. However, then for six years in a row this technique was a regular participant in the parades.

The BTR-70 was the development of the well-known BTR-60PB, which was supplied to many countries of the world. It also had a power compartment located in the stern with two gasoline engines with a total capacity of 240 hp. The maximum speed on the highway reached 80 km / h, on dirt roads - 30 km/ h. Thanks to the onboard water cannon, when overcoming water obstacles, it could accelerate up to 10 km/h. The fuel reserve was 600 km .

14.5 mm KPVT and 7.62 mm PKT with 500 and 2000 rounds of ammunition, respectively, were used as weapons. Capacity - 10 military personnel. Combat weight - 11500 kg.

Despite the fact that the 40th army received more advanced BTR-80 from the second half of the 80s, its predecessors were massively transferred to the Afghan government forces only when the Soviet troops were withdrawn.

After the fall of the regime in Kabul, rival factions seized the equipment. For example, the fighters of the "Northern Alliance" Ahmad Shah Massoud had an APC-70 with a ZU-23-2. Such weapons are much more powerful than regular ones, they showed themselves especially effectively during the fighting in the mountains. Elements of the BMP-1 body were used to protect the calculation. The armored personnel carrier with guns served until the early 2000s, then, apparently, was decommissioned.

Alexey Moiseev