BTR-3Е

The BTR-3 is a Ukrainian 8x8 wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) armed with a BM-3M "Storm" combat module featuring a 30-mm automatic cannon.

The development of the APC started in 2000 upon the request of the UAE-based ADCOM Manufacturing Company Ltd. and was accepted into service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2015.

The BTR-3 was developed under the name BTR-3U“Guardian” as well as technical requirements from ADCOM, which acted as the project coordinator. The company prepared the product for the participation in the competition for the supply of the APCs for the UAE Marine Corps. The design documentation was developed by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB), which designed the chassis and integrated all systems and armaments of the vehicle. The first vehicle was based on the BTR-94, an upgraded version of the BTR-80 developed for Jordan at the Kharkiv Transport Machine Building Plant named after Malyshev, in the design bureau of the 65th department.The BTR-3 was completed in 2002 with the participation of the KMDB, ADCOM, the State Scientific and Technical Center for Artillery and Small Arms (Ukraine), Deutz AG (Germany), and Allison Transmission (USA). Ten enterprises of the Ukrainian defence industry concern “Ukroboronprom” are involved in the production of the BTR-3, which is assembled at the Kyiv Armory Plant.

The operating costs of the BTR-3E are lower than those of the BTR-4, amounting to approximately 5,000 Ukrainian hryvnias per month in June 2014. As of the beginning of 2015, Ukrainian defence industry enterprises had mastered the production of 90% of the components and parts of the BTR-3. According to the director of the Kyiv Armory Plant, V. Lysytsia, as a result of twelve months of intensive use in combat conditions, almost 740 changes were made to the BTR-3 design by the beginning of November 2015, eliminating identified shortcomings, improving combat effectiveness and production technology (including changes to the location of welded joints). In addition, work has begun on the development of a prototype APCS-3 with a German-made MAN engine.

In early November 2015, at the Defence& Security-2015 arms exhibition, it was announced that Ukraine intended to start production of APCS-3E1 in Thailand.

In mid-2015, by order of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the APCS-3 was accepted for supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but has not yet been put into service.

According to the recommendations of the developer – State Enterprise “Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau”, Ukrainian, Belgian, Polish, and Finnish steel can be used to manufacture hull. However, the BTR hullmust be made of armor from only one manufacturer.

As of 2017, it was known that the armored personnel carrier hull is welded from unhardened ATI500AR steel, and then the welded hullis transferred to Lozova Forging and Mechanical Plant, where the entire hullundergoes a hardening process in special furnaces, resulting in HB500MOD steel. Thus, the BTR-3DA armored hull is made of HB500MOD steel, which is obtained from ATI500AR after hardening.

The BTR-3DA modification has an improved crew armor protection (the number of layers of internal additional protection has increased from 7 to 18), and improved protection against fragments.

The BTR-3U is equipped with a single-seat unified combat module "Shkval", in which a number of weapon systems are installed, including a 30mm cannon, a 7.62mm paired machine gun, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher, and anti-tank guided weapons. The module was developed by the State Scientific and Technical Center for Artillery and Small Arms of Ukraine.

The design of the "Shkval" combat module is very flexible, which makes it easy to replace the existing weapons with others (for example, replace wire-guided "Konkurs" rockets with wire-guided "Red Arrow" rockets or other rockets, including those guided by a laser beam).

The 30mm dual-feed cannon has a ready-to-use ammunition kit with 350 rounds. The ammunition kit for the 7.62mm paired machine gun consists of 2500 rounds. A 30mm grenade launcher is installed on the left side of the turret, which has 29 grenades ready for use, and an additional 87 grenades are carried in reserve (three magazines, each containing 29 grenades). Six 81mm smoke/aerosol grenade launchers, which are activated by an electric trigger, are installed three on each side of the turret for firing forward.

The BTR-3E1 can be equipped with a single-seat turret module BM-3M “Shturm” with stabilization of the weapon block in two planes.The module's armament ensures the destruction of armored vehicles, manpower and helicopters of the enemy. The “Shturm” combat module developed by the Morozov Design Bureau under the leadership of M.D. Borysiuk is one of the most compact and at the same time the most powerful of the existing modules of this class. Another of its distinctive features is the small internal volume of the combat compartment.

The module is equipped with a 30mm ZTM-1 cannon, a 7.62mm KT machine gun, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher KBA-117, and the guided weapon system with four rockets “Barrier”, which have armor penetration with dynamic defence of no less than 800mm. The rifled small-caliber automatic dual-feed 30mm cannon is equipped with a 350-round ammunition kit of various types (APFSDS-T, HEI-T, HE-T). The 7.62mm machine gun ammunition kit consists of 2000 rounds. A 30mm automatic grenade launcher KBA-117 is mounted on the left side of the module.

The fire control system consists of the OTP-20 optoelectronic sight complex integrated with the “Barrier” anti-tank missile system and the SUU-500 weapon stabilizer in the vertical and horizontal planes, enabling firing while on the move. Three 81mm smoke or aerosol grenades “Khmara” are installed on the turret on each side, which are activated by an electrical trigger.

Testing of the BTR-3 model with the “Parus” turret module has begun. The module is equipped with a 30mm KBA-1 cannon, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher, a 7.62mm machine gun, and the “Barrier” guided weapon system with two rockets.

The remotely controlled combat module “Parus” is similar to the “Shturm” in characteristics. The main structural difference is that “Parus” does not take up space inside the base vehicle.

The power compartment of the armored personnel carrier consists of a Deutz BF6M1015 diesel engine with a power of 326 hp, connected to an Allison MD3066 automatic transmission. The power unit and transmission are manufactured by the Kharkiv Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering named after O. Morozov (with technical support from the companies Deutz AG and Allison Transmission). The vehicle can also be equipped with a Mercedes-Benz engine upon request.

The vehicle is floating and is propelled by a waterjet engine installed in the stern part of the hull. To prepare the vehicle for crossing a water obstacle, the driver raises the water deflector without leaving the vehicle and turns on the drainage pumps. Six infantrymen are accommodated in the troop compartment, entering and exiting the vehicle through doors on both sides of the hull. The lower part of the doors lowers down to form a step, while the upper part opens sideways along the vehicle's direction of movement. There are also hatches on the roof. Weapon stations with observation devices are installed on the sides and front of the vehicle.

The BTR-3DA is a further development of the armored personnel carrier taking into account the experience gained during the war in eastern Ukraine.

The BTR-3DA armored personnel carrier is faster and more maneuverable than its predecessors, with improved crew protection, an optoelectronic module with television and thermal imaging channels. This makes it possible to fire at night. An additional power unit allows the combat module to be operated without using the main power plant.

In the first half of 2016, the State Enterprise "Kyiv Armored Plant" produced the first two deeply modernized BTR-3DA. These armored personnel carriers were equipped with a liquid-cooled Deutz BF6M1015CP four-stroke six-cylinder diesel engine and an Allison 3200SP automatic transmission.

In April 2016, the field trials of the BTR-3K command variant, based on the BTR-3DA, were completed.

Thanks to the Deutz engine (360 hp) installed on the BTR-3DA, the maneuverability and cross-country capabilities of the modernized vehicle have improved. The BTR-3DA climbed a slope with an angle of 30 degrees, crossed a ditch 2 meters wide and an obstacle 0.7 meters high. Moreover, with a combat weight of 16.5 tons, the BTR-3DA armored personnel carrier achieved a maximum speed of 104 km/h on the highway.

The BTR-3DA armored personnel carrier is equipped with the BM-3 “Shturm” turret module with weapon block stabilization in two planes (stabilization is provided by a modern high-precision digital stabilizer SVU-504S using solid-state gyros and digital ballistic computer).To enhance its firepower, a 30mm automatic cannon ZTM-1 (with a 350-round ammunition supply) has been installed on it. Additionally, two launchers for Barrier anti-tank guided missiles, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher KBA-117, and a paired KT-7.62mm machine gun (with a 2000-round ammunition supply) are located on the combat module. The combat module of the BTR-3DA armored personnel carrier also includes television aiming devices and thermal imaging equipment to enable firing at night. The panoramic view system allows the crew members to keep the surrounding area in view at an expanded angle (almost 360 degrees).

The BTR-3E was approved by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015, but during its use in the military, a number of comments and drawbacks, totaling more than 700, were identified and expressed. To address them, the combat vehicle's equipment was modified, new systems were added, and existing ones were improved according to the recommendations of the Ukrainian military.

In December 2021, it became known that the BTR-3DA model was undergoing state tests necessary for its adoption into service.

The BTR-3 was used during the russian-Ukrainian war.

In early October 2022, a video was released in the public domain showing how soldiers of the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine were using their BTR-3E to tow a trophy BMP-2, which belonged to the defeated 4th kantemirovskaya tank division of the russian army.