Ukraine has a fairly extensive defense industry. The BTR-4 Bucephalus is a Ukrainian amphibious wheeled infantry fighting vehicle in production since 2008. Before the ongoing Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military had hundreds of these armored vehicles in their possession.
Defenders of Ukraine now own fewer of them, but these machines are still fighting to defend the Ukrainian land from Russian invaders.
The BTR-4 Bucephalus has been in service since 2009. Image credit: Mil.gov.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Developed at the Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Agency, the BTR-4 Bucephalus was first shown to the public in 2006. A few years later, the BTR-4 went into serial production. The first Bucephalus entered service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in his 2009 year. The Ukrainian National Guard also uses these infantry fighting vehicles, but since 2014.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian Army use Ukrainian BTR-4 Bucephalus infantry fighting vehicles in the Donetsk region of the Bakhmut sector. Footage of the Ukrainian garrison from inside the BTR-4 Posted in Telegram:
Here you can see the BTR-4 blowing up its crew with its 30 mm cannon. The BTR-4 can effectively do this even at night. In fact, the BTR-4 can do it in virtually any conditions.
The BTR-4 Bucephalus features an 8×8 chassis with excellent off-road capabilities and the ability to swim without preparation. All wheels are driven by 489 or 598 hp engines.
On the road, the BTR-4 can reach a top speed of 110 km/h at 10 km/h in water. Depending on the armor level and weapon set, the Bucephalus weighs between 17.5 and 25 tons. This machine is operated by his crew of three. It can also accommodate 8 people.
The BTR-4 can operate in different climatic conditions, different surface roads or completely off-road. The working ambient temperature range is -40 to +55°C. This means the BTR-4 has no winter to fear.
The BTR-4 is armed with a Russian 30 mm automatic machine gun 2A72. This reminds us that pro-Russian politics once prevailed in Ukraine. On the one hand, this gun definitely isn’t short on ammo. The BTR-4MV1 version was specifically designed to meet NATO standards. This means that in the future Ukraine will not have problems creating her NATO-ready version of her BTR-4.
By the way, Ukraine is not the only user of the BTR-4 Bucephalus. Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Myanmar and, unfortunately, Russia also operate these infantry fighting vehicles.
Oryx, an independent open-source information site, has calculated that Russia was able to capture more than 20 Ukrainian BTR-4 vehicles during the ongoing invasion.
