Russia Unveils BTR-22 8×8 With 30 mm Cannon and Integrated Drone Defense in Riyadh.

Russia used the 2026 World Defense Show in Riyadh to showcase the BTR-22 8x8 armored personnel carrier, positioning it as a next-generation export vehicle with modular weapon options. The design highlights lessons from recent high-intensity combat, particularly drone threats and survivability inside contested battlespaces.

Riyadh’s World Defense Show has become a proving ground where export ambitions meet the harsh logic of modern land warfare, and Army Recognition was on site as Russia rolled out its BTR-22 8x8 for close inspection on the outdoor display line. Rosoboronexport confirmed on February 2, 2026, that the vehicle was being positioned as a new-generation armoured personnel carrier for international customers, offered with either the familiar BTR-82A weapon station or the newer Ballista remotely controlled weapon station. In its export configuration, Ballista can mount the 2A42 30 mm cannon and can be paired with two anti-tank guided missiles, a combination intended to give mechanised infantry units organic reach against armour, fortified positions, and drone-spotted firing points without sacrificing troop-carrying capacity.
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The BTR-22 8x8 shown at WDS Riyadh features a 30 mm automatic cannon with a 7,62 mm coaxial machine gun, thermal sights, and all-round cameras for day-night engagement, delivering mobile fire support for dismounts against infantry, firing points, and light armour while retaining amphibious, rapid-reaction APC mobility (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).

Army Recognition observed the BTR-22 on the show’s outdoor display line in a desert finish, presented as an 8x8 designed to move motor rifle troops under armour while keeping enough firepower on tap to fight for the dismount point. The stand briefing materials and the data card provided alongside the vehicle describe a 20-ton class platform carrying a three-person crew and eight passengers, with an emphasis on improved observation for commander, driver, and gunner through thermal imagers and a stitched all-around camera view for situational awareness. In the configuration displayed, the armament suite is built around a 30 mm automatic cannon paired with a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, reflecting a familiar Russian approach to combining suppressive fire with the ability to defeat light armour at combat ranges.

The key story is not simply that the BTR-22 carries a 30 mm gun, but how the weapon is intended to be employed. In the baseline fit associated with the 2A72 cannon, the system is optimised for controlled bursts rather than brute cyclic rate, supporting accurate fire against infantry, firing points, and lightly protected vehicles while the carrier is moving. Rosoboronexport’s own messaging is that export customers can step up to Ballista with the 2A42 and add missiles, turning the vehicle from an APC with teeth into a more assertive fire support platform able to threaten heavier targets and force enemy crews to fight buttoned up. That modular approach matters for buyers who want a common hull for both mechanised infantry lift and a limited number of heavy platoon vehicles to overwatch assaults.

The survivability narrative is equally deliberate: reporting presented alongside the vehicle describes additional side armour, net-based protective screens, and an overhead anti-drone cage, paired with an electronic warfare suite intended to disrupt FPV drones. This reflects a design reacting directly to the realities of recent high-intensity conflicts. The same material states the vehicle is intended to withstand hits from 12.7 mm armour-piercing ammunition and features improved anti-mine protection claimed to resist the blast of a 6 kg TNT charge, with anti-blast seating for the embarked infantry. In simple tactical terms, the BTR-22 is being packaged as an APC that expects to operate inside the drone-and-fragment envelope, not outside it, and therefore layers electronic effects and physical standoff protection rather than relying solely on base armour thickness.

Developmentally, the BTR-22 sits in the gap between Russia’s mass legacy fleet and its heavier, slower-moving next-generation ambitions. Industry and media reporting trace the vehicle’s public debut to Army-2023, with a more mature, protection-enhanced presentation at Army-2024 and claims that the platform had completed factory and range testing and was ready for serial production. Separate sightings tied to major Russian military exercises suggest the programme has moved beyond static display into at least limited field evaluation, a signal Moscow often uses to show momentum even before large-scale procurement is visible. The pattern is familiar, as a rapid, iterative wheel-APC refresh that prioritises producibility and incremental survivability upgrades over a clean-sheet leap in size and cost.

A country buying BTR-22 would be purchasing a combined arms workhorse rather than a niche infantry fighting vehicle. Its amphibious mobility and road speed in excess of 85 km per hour are geared to wide-area security missions, rapid reinforcement, convoy escort, and mechanised infantry raids across long distances, especially in regions where roads and hardpack tracks dominate manoeuvre. The most credible employment model is to field it as the backbone of wheeled battalions, with 30 mm-armed vehicles providing organic suppressive fire while dismounts clear complex terrain, and a small number of missile-equipped variants acting as mobile anti-armour or bunker-busting overwatch. Rosoboronexport’s decision to market the BTR-22 alongside digital artillery command and control tools underlines the wider Russian sales argument that the vehicle is meant to be one node in a networked, drone-cued kill chain rather than a standalone troop carrier with a cannon.

According to publicly available operator information, Russia is the only confirmed user, with the vehicle positioned as a potential replacement for the BTR-80 and BTR-82 families and aggressively showcased to export audiences in the Middle East. Any acquisition decision, however, is inseparable from politics. Rosoboronexport remains under extensive Western sanctions, and prospective buyers must weigh financing, sustainment, and secondary-sanctions exposure against whatever pricing, delivery timelines, or technology partnership terms Moscow offers. In pure capability terms, BTR-22’s most direct competitors are modern Western and regional 8x8 platforms that pair higher growth margin and protection options with higher unit cost and often heavier weight. Russia’s counter argument is a good-enough, fast-to-field platform that borrows Western-style layout logic, keeps troop egress safer with a rear exit, and scales lethality through turret options rather than a larger and more expensive hull.