Ukrainian Army receives new batch of upgraded BTR-80 APCs

The armored vehicles were equipped with the latest Ukrainian-made surveillance, navigation and communication systems

Ukrainian state-owned defense industrial group UkrOboronProm announced Thursday that its owned subsidiary, SE Mykolayiv Armoured Plant, handed over another batch of repaired and upgraded BTR-80 armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The Defense Blog website said the plant’s specialists overhauled the Soviet-era armored personnel carriers, restored the operation of all components and units, and installed the latest Ukrainian-made surveillance, navigation and communication systems.

“Following improving the tactical and technical characteristics, armored personnel carriers have become more convenient to operate in a night-time, as they are equipped with the latest thermal sighting system. Visibility and target recognition has also been significantly improved. And the new BTR-80 digital communication devices comply with NATO standards. The upgraded armored personnel carriers have already been handed over to our military," said the director of the Mykolayiv Armoured Plant, Yuri Kravchenko.

The BTR-80 8×8 armored personnel carrier, manufactured by the Arzamas machinery Construction Plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, is intended to carry personnel on the battlefield and provide close fire support. It can also carry out reconnaissance, combat support and patrol missions. It entered service with the Soviet Army in the late 1980s and has since been used in a number of military conflicts, including UN peacekeeping operations.