New Belarus BTR-70MB1 and upgraded variant of BTR-80 8x8 armored vehicles at military parade 2020.

During Belarus's Victory Day military parade of May 9, 2020, a new upgraded version of Soviet-made BTR-70 and BTR-80 8x8 armored personnel carrier vehicles were unveiled to the public. The BTR-70MB1 is a local-made modernized version of the BTR-70 and BTR-80 with a new armour package including wire cage.
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New BTR-70MB1 8x8 armored personnel carrier vehicle at Belarus Victory Day military parade, May 9, 2020. (Picture source print screen video footage Belarus TV)

The BTR-70 8x8 amphibious armoured personnel carrier was shown in public for the first time during the November 1980 parade in Moscow. The vehicle is fitted with a one-man turret armed with 14.5 KPVT and a 7.62 mm PKVT machine gun. It has a crew of three and can accommodate 9 infantrymen.

In January 2017, it was announced that Belarus Army will receive the new BTR-70MB1, a modernized version of the Soviet-made BTR-70. The new vehicle looks very similar to the previous version but motorized with a more powerful engine V-8 KamAZ-7403 V-8 turbocharged diesel developing 260 hp The vehicle will also be fitted with a new transmission and transfer case. Despite an additional weight of 1,500 kg compared to the original BTR-70, the BTR-70MB1 has the capacity to run at a maximum road speed of 92 km/h.

A main feature of the BTR-70MB1, it has two doors on each side of the vehicle between the second and third axles, the upper part of which opens to the front while the lower part folds down to form a step as the Russian-made BTR-80.

The internal volume of the BTR-70MB1 was increased by 14 cm to offer more comfort to the infantrymen. The vehicle can carry a total of 11 military personnel including commander, driver and one gunner.

The hull of the BTR-70MB1 is of all-welded steel armour construction with improved protection over its frontal arc compared to the original BTR-60 series. At the Belarus military Parade of May 9, 2020, the BTR-70MB1 was fitted with a slat armour mounted around the hull and the turret.

The slat armor also called cage armor is designed to protect against anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks. It takes the form of a rigid slatted metal grid fitted around key sections of the vehicle, which disrupts the shaped charge of the warhead by either crushing it, preventing optimal detonation from occurring, or by damaging the fusing mechanism, preventing detonation outright.

New upgraded version of BTR-80 8x8 armored personnel carrier vehicle at Belarus Victory Day military parade, May 9, 2020. (Picture source print screen video footage Belarus TV)

The Belarus version of the BTR-80 shown at a military parade was also fitted with a slat armor around the hull and the turret.

The BTR-80 is an 8x8 Soviet-made wheeled armored personnel carrier that entered into service with the Russian army in the late 1980s. Like the BTR-70 and BTR-60, the BTR-80 has a hull of all-welded steel armour construction. Its layout is similar to the earlier vehicles except that the two petrol engines have been replaced by a single V-8 diesel developing 260 hp, which gives a significant increase in the power-to-weight ratio.

The BTR-80 is also fitted with a one-man turret as the BTR-70, armed with one 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun and one 7.62 mm PKVT coaxial machine gun.

The BTR-80 is fully amphibious and is able to carry eleven personnel including commander, driver, gunner and seven troops.