Armored Vehicles

BTR-40 armored personnel carrier

Also known as
  • BTR-40 APC

The BTR-40 is a Soviet 4x4 armored personnel carrier built by GAZ for light troop transport, reconnaissance, and command duties. This catalog record follows the family's 2014 Yemen Civil War appearance as legacy Yemeni Army armor and notes its place in the early Soviet wheeled APC line.

BTR-40 armored personnel carrier, Wheeled armored personnel carrier, Armored Vehicles
Image source: BTR-40 Latrun image

Role in Conflicts

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
Soviet Union
Type
Wheeled armored personnel carrier
Service note
Early Cold War Soviet APC documented in Yemeni inventory during the 2014-2015 civil-war takeover period
Designer
V. A. Dedkov design team at GAZ
Designed
1947-1950
Produced
1950-1960
Number built
About 8,500 BTR-40 family vehicles
Developed from
GAZ-63 utility truck

Specifications

Crew
Crew of 2 with space for about 8 passengers
Armament
Optional pintle-mounted 7.62 mm SGMB machine guns
Weight
About 5.3 tonnes
Mobility
4x4 wheeled chassis with an 80 hp gasoline engine, about 80 km/h road speed, and about 430 km range
Protection
About 6-8 mm steel armor against small-arms fire and shell splinters
Family Variants

The BTR-40 family grew through anti-aircraft, roofed, and rail variants rather than a single standardized upgrade path.

VariantDocumented changeSource
BTR-40ASelf-propelled anti-aircraft version with a ZTPU-2 twin 14.5 mm KPV mount.BTR-40A - Weaponsystems.net
BTR-40BLater BTR-40 family variant listed by Military Factory.BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier
BTR-40VLater BTR-40 family variant listed by Military Factory.BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier
BTR-40ZhDRail-capable family variant listed by Military Factory.BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier
Type 55Chinese production designation listed by Military Factory.BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier

Sources: BTR-40A - Weaponsystems.net; BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier.

Variants
  • BTR-40
  • BTR-40A
  • BTR-40B
  • BTR-40V
  • BTR-40ZhD
Later APC Families

The BTR-40's original APC role was overtaken by larger Soviet wheeled carriers that could move more infantry and offer better protection.

Compatible itemItem typeCompatibility evidence
BTR-152, Wheeled armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesBTR-152Direct APC successor

Weaponsystems.net says the BTR-152 was designed to supplement and replace the BTR-40 as an armored personnel carrier.

Sources: BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.net

BTR-60, 8x8 amphibious armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesBTR-60Later APC successor

Weaponsystems.net says the BTR-40 was supplemented and replaced by the BTR-60 family from the 1960s onward.

Sources: BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.net

Timeline

BTR-40 armored personnel carrier Key Events

  1. Development at GAZ

    Weaponsystems.net dates BTR-40 development to 1947-1950 and describes it as a postwar APC built around the GAZ-63 chassis.

    Sources: BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.net, BTR-40 4x4 Armored Personnel Carrier

  2. Enters Soviet service

    RM Sotheby's places the BTR-40 in Soviet service in 1950, the same year Weaponsystems.net lists for the baseline vehicle.

    Sources: BTR-40 4x4 Armored Personnel Carrier, BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.net

  3. BTR-40A anti-aircraft derivative appears

    Weaponsystems.net identifies the BTR-40A as a 1950 self-propelled anti-aircraft variant mounted with a ZTPU-2 twin 14.5 mm KPV installation.

    Sources: BTR-40A - Weaponsystems.net

  4. Later APCs replace it in frontline service

    Weaponsystems.net says the BTR-40 was supplemented and replaced by the BTR-152 and BTR-60 from the 1960s onward.

    Sources: BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.net

Media

BTR-40 armored personnel carrier Images

BTR-40 armored personnel carrier, Wheeled armored personnel carrier, Armored Vehicles - view 1
Source: BTR-40 Kyiv museum image
Related Weapon Systems
BTR-152M armored personnel carrier, 6x6 wheeled armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesArmored VehiclesBTR-152M armored personnel carrier6x6 wheeled armored personnel carrierThe BTR-152M armored personnel carrier is a Yemeni-service listing within the Soviet BTR-152 6x6 APC family, retained from older Yemeni Army stocks and documented during the 2014 Yemen Civil War. Public evidence supports a conservative role: legacy protected mobility where serviceable vehicles remained available, plus broader BTR-152-family use as a base for improvised AK-630 or GSh-6-30K naval-gun installations by Yemeni government forces.
Panhard M3 armored personnel carrier, 4x4 amphibious armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesArmored VehiclesPanhard M3 armored personnel carrier4x4 amphibious armored personnel carrierThe Panhard M3 is a French 4x4 amphibious armored personnel carrier developed as an export troop carrier around the Panhard AML armored-car family. The design shared most AML automotive components but moved the powerpack behind the driver to free a rear troop compartment for two crew and up to ten infantry. In 2014 Yemen Civil War sourcing it appears as a legacy Yemeni Army M3 VTT inventory type rather than a newly supplied or incident-specific system, so the conflict row stays limited to protected troop-movement context where serviceable vehicles remained available.

Sources

Handbook Of Pre-War Yemeni Fighting VehiclesPublisher: Oryx | Note: 2014 Yemen Civil War: fielded by the Yemeni Army before the 2014-2015 Houthi takeover and identified as equipment available to Yemeni parties on the battlefield. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40 Armored Personnel CarrierPublisher: Military Factory | Note: Supports BTR-40 origin, designer, production period, production total, role, armament, weight, mobility, armor, and variant background. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40 4x4 Armored Personnel CarrierPublisher: RM Sotheby's | Note: Supports BTR-40 Soviet origin, GAZ-63 truck basis, 1950 service entry, production total, and general mobility and protection background. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40 | Weaponsystems.netPublisher: Weaponsystems.net | Note: Supports BTR-40 development period, GAZ-63 basis, service entry, production background, later replacement by BTR-152 and BTR-60, and baseline vehicle data. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40A - Weaponsystems.netPublisher: Weaponsystems.net | Note: Supports the BTR-40A as a 1950 BTR-40 variant with a ZTPU-2 twin 14.5 mm KPV anti-aircraft mount. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-152 - Weaponsystems.netPublisher: Weaponsystems.net | Note: Supports the later Soviet APC family that supplemented and replaced the BTR-40. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40 Latrun imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and licensing context for the BTR-40 image. | Accessed: 2026-06-26BTR-40 Kyiv museum imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and CC BY-SA 4.0 licensing context for the second BTR-40 gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-06-26