Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
The BTR-82A is a modified version of the BTR-80, which itself is an evolution of BTR-70 so it makes sense to start in the past. In fact, let’s go all the way back to the 1950s. Back then, the Soviet Army was equipped with an armored six-wheeled variant of the ZIS-151 truck called BTR-152. BTR stands simply for “bronetransporter”, commonly translated as “armored personnel carrier” or simply “APC.” It had a lot of weaknesses, the chief amongst them being the inability to keep up with tanks and other tracked vehicles in difficult terrain, especially when crossing trenches and other obstacles. Despite this, it was a successful vehicle produced between 1950 well into the 1960s that was widely exported and license-built in China.
The BMP-2M is currently in use by the Russian military (notably the VDV) and is still in production. Overall, it seems that around 200-300 were built in total (including the Algerian contract) so it is nowhere near as common as the BTR-82A. To makes things even more complicated, there are two other BMP-2Ms developed by Kurganmashzavod – these are called BMP-2M (sb4-2) and BMP-2M (sb4-3) and are intended for export only. They are offered with additional set of cage armor that has since made its way to the Russian BMP-2M configuration.
The T-90M Proryv Main Battle Tank is the latest modernization of the older T-90 series of MBTs and the most modern Russian tank currently in service. The modernization started in the early 2010s as a part of the Proryv-3 program (Proryv-2 being the T-90MS) with the first prototypes being ready in 2016.
The BTR-82A is a modified version of the BTR-80, which itself is an evolution of BTR-70 so it makes sense to start in the past. In fact, let’s go all the way back to the 1950s. Back then, the Soviet Army was equipped with an armored six-wheeled variant of the ZIS-151 truck called BTR-152. BTR stands simply for “bronetransporter”, commonly translated as “armored personnel carrier” or simply “APC.” It had a lot of weaknesses, the chief amongst them being the inability to keep up with tanks and other tracked vehicles in difficult terrain, especially when crossing trenches and other obstacles. Despite this, it was a successful vehicle produced between 1950 well into the 1960s that was widely exported and license-built in China.
The BMP-2M is currently in use by the Russian military (notably the VDV) and is still in production. Overall, it seems that around 200-300 were built in total (including the Algerian contract) so it is nowhere near as common as the BTR-82A. To makes things even more complicated, there are two other BMP-2Ms developed by Kurganmashzavod – these are called BMP-2M (sb4-2) and BMP-2M (sb4-3) and are intended for export only. They are offered with additional set of cage armor that has since made its way to the Russian BMP-2M configuration.
The T-90M Proryv Main Battle Tank is the latest modernization of the older T-90 series of MBTs and the most modern Russian tank currently in service. The modernization started in the early 2010s as a part of the Proryv-3 program (Proryv-2 being the T-90MS) with the first prototypes being ready in 2016.
