More information about the park here: www.parkvojaskezgodovine.si twitter.com/pvz_pivka, facebook.com/parkvojaskezgodovine, kzfaq.info/love/Yzz0BwnsGzkfsogc9I54_Q and instagram.com/parkvojaskezgodovine/

I drove a MTLB when I was younger and in the military. It did easily över 80 km/h and we had one in the garage doing over 100km/h after some modifications.

My understanding is that the MT-LB has gained popularity in the post-Soviet Russian Army because it has slightly better mobility off-road than the BMP series thanks to having wider tracks, especially in places with softer ground or heavy snow. With a reduction in towed AT guns presumably extra vehicles were available to be used as APCs, and possibly also to allow conversion of some MRR from BTRs to fully tracked formations.

The MT-LB family is a bit like the M113 family , a kind of tracked Swiss army knife.

good way to remember the MT-LB: Mini-Turret Long Body

I went thru infantry school in the early 90s, and was trained as an M-47 Dragon gunner, spent a lot of time looking at vehicle ID flash cards and remember thinking how old the LBS looked 30 years ago. Have been amazed to see how many are still being used.

I drove a wide-track variant of this in my time during conscription! It's such a nice off-road vehicle Don't know how it'd fair in combat though, being a battle taxi and all

Such machines were build in my home town in Bulgaria. My father used to be engineer in the factory. I will never forget riding in them during test runs in the near test field.

Älli-tälli was a nice enough vehicle to fall asleep in. No joke, during exercises in transit I fell asleep in the back on top of the camo net. On the way back I rode on top with my boot on the hatch edge and holding on to one of the cargo lines. And that was the basic MT-LBv, not the fancy command models.

You need to do more of these ride-alongs. That grin tells me all I need to know about how much fun it was.

The MT-LB was produced in the "9th of May" plant near Cherven Bryag in Bulgaria, as well as the 2s1 SPH, and BMP-23 IFV's. In the 1980's, around 200 vehicles per month were produced there.

”In this image there are three MT-LB prime mover-cum-armoured personnel carriers, and they cannot be seen. Due to their low sillouette they may be hiding behind the shed, inside the shed, behind the hill or inside any of a dozen shrubberies. However, geopositional data we aquired from the drivers' use of walkie-talkies informed us where they were.” **bushes and the shed explodes with comical screaming**

I feel like the title of this video perfectly sums up the vehicle, I see it all the time, but have never seen anybody talk about it lol

The high losses of MT-LB can also be attributed to both the 80th and 200th Russian Arctic Brigades that use the MT-LB as their main infantry vehicle as it is more suited to arctic warfare. Both brigades contributed Battalion Combat Teams around Kharkiv and suffured heavy losses.

If you know Vitaly V. Kuzmin personally, please thank him for putting up so many pictures of tanks for the world to use. I think the MT-LB is an intriguing vehicle. Simple and with many uses. A bit like the M113. It is a case in point that an army is not just flashy tanks and aircraft, but a whole lot of supporting vehicles aswell.

An all-around OUTSTANDING CHASSIS. Just outstanding. As prolific as an M113, and probably more versatile CHASSIS (PT76, ASU57, ZSU-23-4, SAM transporters, towing cannons, civilian vehicles), etc. I would submit that it is probably the BEST CHASSIS in the tracked vehicle family World-wide.

Holy crap, our favorite KZfaqr just played the Monty Python/John Cleese "MTLB trying not to be seen" card (6:40).

Every news outlet has been calling these tanks recently lol. Deeply familiar with the MT-LB myself being recently retired US Army. Extremely mobile and agile, it's one of the most useful APC's due to it's design including towing both AT guns and Heavy (120mm and above) mortars. Make great recovery vehicles too. I've been watching the improvement program for these with great interest!

Thanks Bernhard from NZ 🇳🇿. Another extremely useful video. Keep up the good work.

The MT-LBv variant also has wider tracks, it can literally drive through a bog! It was quite a shock to US army when we did that during exercises in Finland

Love the sympathetic little PKT turret on these things. But yeah, it's a multipurpose APC/Tractor thing with decent carrying capacity, especially with that nice flat roof, without ridiculously high silhouette like M113. It can resist small arms fire, so that's a nice thing to have compared to a truck.

Thank you for this! As a kid, for some reason my favourite soviet vehicles were always the MT-LB and MT-LBu Great video!

When I use to teach VACR-Visual Aircraft Recognition and AVR-Armored Vehicle Recognition, the MT-LB was a snoozer to those who take out vehicles. I could see the A-10 pilots shutting down and turning away disinterested. "I'd rather shoot a truck". This was before they started slapping a lot of crap on them, like ADA systems.

Thanks for this video with good info about mt-lb. Greetings from Slovenia; not from Pivka but anyway

Indeed they were produced in Bulgaria. My father was working on these in the Karlovo Traktor Plant. I think there was one more factory in Bulgaria, but I'll have to check again. Edit: As another commenter said, it was the "9th of May" plant near Cherven Bryag.

During my decade as an infantry officer in the 90s I can honestly say we never heard of less considered this vehicle. Maybe my memory is failing but this was clearly always considered a rear echelon utility vehicle by the west, never something to really concern the arms corps.

The unfailing MTLB, the best cheap transport of Wargame

During conscription my company (but different platoon) had several communication vehicles of the MT-LB type. Depending on which factory had produced it, the length of the vehicle could vary with up to half a meter and cables could run on different sides of the interior of the vehicle, making repairs annoying for the mechanics.

I want one, as a unique offroad/camping setup.

Really nice to see some modern stuff!

when they decided that towed artillery is not good enough the Russians just slapped a cannon on the MT - LB and called it 2S1 'Gvozdika' 122mm Self Propelled Gun. yes there was production of МТ - ЛБ in Bulgaria and we have also made an IFV out of it. its called "BMP 23".

I drove a MT-LB back in the 90s at the US National Training Center. My National Guard unit was tasked to be OpFor in the training of otehr National Guard units scheduledfor deployment in Desert Storm. I was shocked at how crude was the vehicle. It uses laterals (two levers that you use to steer), but still had a manual transmission. In mountain or killy switchbacks, you use two hands to steer while you shifted with the otehr hand. LOL Also, tehr ewas no clutch. YOu basically slammed the vehicle into gear. If the gearing got jammed, you openned up the engin hatch and bang teh transmission into gear with a mallet. In the US, if you have to change tracks or track pads, you would unbolt the pad pins, repalce the track pads, reinsert the pin, and bolt it tight. For the MT-LB, you sawed off the pin head, replace your track pad, insert a new pin and on person would hold a mallet against the head of the pin while the otehr guy mushrooms the other end. If anyone asks what I did during Desert Storm, I can say I was part of a missile team creditted with the destruction of 23 American armored vehicles. Of course, it was all simulated during an exercise with MILES gear. LOL

Tooled around for a while in one of these ( actually in the MT-LB/v variant) in the FDF, it's been creepy seeing so many burned out or peeled open.

My old M577 had a drop down table mounted on the side of the vehicle originally. My FDC used it once then dismounted it and tossed into the storage shed with the camo net.

Its so nice to hear that you were in Pivka. You should come back, some things have changed since 2017.

In Finland we call MT-LBv "Taistelusammakko"/Combat frog.

Thanks for commenting on the less glamorous but nevertheless not less important part of the equipment relevant to the contemporary events. I was wondering about their ever-presence in the news, and now it makes sense.

Thanks 👍

Nice video. Actually, would be good to see a review of key tanks, AFVs, IFVs and other equipment being utilized in the current conflict in Ukraine. Both equipment being used by both sides, as well as equipment unique to each side. Such sober analysis/narration would be very helpful. And as events/time/facts allow, would be interesting to gain insights on the conflict in terms of effectiveness of equipment, formations, tactics, strategies, logistics of the adversaries- again, if remotely possible, in cutting through the fog of war and propaganda.

Good old Battle Frog.

The question is: do you really want a table if you don't need one? The inside of these vehicles are pretty cramped as it is.

Great video, thank you Military History not Visualized! Very comprehensive and great to get some original footage of this vehicle up close - I hope you enjoyed the journey but bet it was very bumpy! I'm a long time subscriber - first time commenter - One thing that I didn't get about your narration was the reference to John Cleese - I know he's renowned for being tall and ungainly but is your reference from a film or something? Keep up the good work and thanks!

Yes, as mentioned in earlier comments, this vehicle has some of the best cross country ability of any Russian vehicles. This is especially true given that we are coming into the mud season in Ukrainian!

as a driver of 1 mtlb, i can say it was a fun little "tank" to drive in winter, when u learned not to gear down to turn i sharp turns... just drift hehe, and the best thing in winter was the driver had the controls of the heating system, and the idiots in the back always froze XD ,

I bought a truck 1/48 of the British RAF, on its description it said that it was one of the forgotten workhorses of the armies, where everyone was talking about tanks and planes but nobody would talk about the trucks that made them able to drive or arrive to combat

How not too be seen. Epic!!!

It may be relevant to note that the Russian Military released a statement a few years ago on their intent to replace MT-LBs in service with an entirely new replacement. Since then I haven't seen much reported on this - so assume that its likely an ongoing project, or has been deemed unnecessary within the current budget. Whilst the MT-LB is considered primarily a prime mover, within Russian and Ukrainian doctrine it could be used as a replacement for BMPs within a platoon. Where there's been plenty of evidence of this occurring since the vehicle entered production and as part of recent events. As far as I'm aware, there has been no production vehicle that has received an armour package to bring it in line with modern IFVs - though there has been prototypes displayed at military expos and of course plenty of field modifications that added various types of add on armour. Similarly, and this is a point perhaps intentionally only briefly covered in this video, MT-LBs have been up-armed. It may be significant to mention that Russian modernised MT-LBs (which of course aren't every vehicle in service with them) replace the turret with a hatch fitted with a 12.7mm machine gun. As have vehicles with rear mounted turrets shared with the BTR-82A been recorded in Ukraine in use by Russian forces. The Ukrainians operate a similar vehicle - fitted with a remotely operated turret. Additionally there are mortar armed variants and distinctively a multiple rocket launcher system variant - fitted with rockets taken from helicopters -, a variant that fits a howitzer to the roof (in the style of a self propelled anti-tank gun, as one might have seen in WWII), among others, that have been formally produced by factories. Oh, and one last detail that's relevant. The MT-LB shares parts with common Soviet trucks - which was intentional. Which made it popular within the Eastern Bloc and beyond for its ease of maintenance (similar to many other Soviet era vehicles that did this and continue to chug along to this day...).

A very interesting video coming from a current MT-LB/v driver in the Finnish Army 🇫🇮

Looks like a very useful utility vehicle for the rear echelon. Not so good near the leading edge of the battle. The fact that from a distance it looks like an AFV makes it an easy target for every portable anti tank weapon in Ukraines arsenal including the M72 LAW.

I'am one of these people.I was aware that this Vehicle exists, but was surprised that it is still so widely used

trololo driven that in highway around 55-60kph and my commander checked that with GPS :D (the speedometer went haywire in those speeds). And my MT-LB was V variant with wider tracks.

The MT-LB is good for one thing. You can shove as much stuff as you want inside and then ontop of the vehicle and it will still get through any mud area. A great vehicle when you need to get something to somebody holding a defence off the roads. Ive seen people complain about its armor , but again , was never meant to go into combat. At most maybe go in and carry wounded out. But not more then that.

Comparing pop cans to Red Bull cans. Nice video.

MT-LB used to be produced in Poland (since 1976) but almost exclusively for export. Most of them went to USSR. So somewhat ironically some of those Russian MT-LBs might have been produced in Poland. Polish Armed Forces didn't accept the base version of MT-LB into service mostly because Polish artillery doctrine already then rejected towed artillery as obsolete thus there was no need for this kind of vehicle. But there were some small numbers of support vehicles based on MT-LB chassis ordered.

Danke for the Cleese!

I was always wondering what the turretless bmp like vehicles where, now I know

I have feeling that many MT-LBs will be converted into drone carriers in the near future. It's got the space and if Russians can shove jammers in it and turn the MT-LB into a mobile command post, then one or even a few drones with an operator on-board won't be a problem.

The high loss ratios of MT-LB is also due to, for example, the 80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade, that operates around Kharkiv, wich is equipped with MT-LB as IFV Over the last few videos i get the impression, that there as been a change in austrian law due to your regular insistence on being the sole owner and producer of the material

2s1 Gvozdika SPH base is based on MT-LB, Poland tried to create light Anti-aircraft platform out of it in Sopel and Stalagmit systems, now it's a base for many Polish command vehicles like Łowcza-3, medical evacuation vehicles, engineering vehicles like WPT Mors TRI Durian, mine layer Kroton, and in 2009 new LPG (light tracked carrier) was created based upon MT-LB and it's basis for 120mm mortar, command vehicles and so on.

I can asure you that the MT-LB is talked about in the Norwegian military, since the 200th MIB in Pechenga is (or was) equipped with the MT-LBV. The 200th mechanized infantry brigade is the largest unit, close to the Norwegian border. Of course in 2022 the 20th MIB has been more or less annhiliated in the Ukraine. The MT-LBV is a version with wider tracks for better mobility on snow.

When I went to the Parola Tank Museum in Finland recently I got to climb in the MT-LB they have parked in front of the main building entrance. I was astonished by how small the interior is. Granted I'm probably taller (1m75/5ft9) than the standard Soviet mechanized infantryman of the time and I have quite broad shoulders for my size. In addition this not being my first time getting in a tank I was overly cautious with my head making the whole thing probably feels artificially smaller. But damn I had to move on all four to get anywhere inside and I went through the path around the engine compartment to go from the Driver/Commander compartment to the infantry compartment by a mix of growling on my side and inevitably knocking my head on something. This in full gear would have probably get me some time to get used to, but at least I would have got a helmet.

There is also a MT-LB 6MB fitted with the 30mm autocanon from the BTR 82.

Zsu - 57 - 2 man that's awesome!!

Another difference is that you can attach a seed spreader, grain hopper, insecticide tank and other useful agriculture attachments to the MTLBu but not the MT-LB. Don't believe me? Ask a Ukrainian farmer

Sweden got these at the same time they got the BMP-1s/Pbv501s you made a video about, also former East German ones. Sweden liked these better then the BMP-1s, both for it better terrain capability in deep snow and for its vesitility. I guess by the 90s the BMP-1 was already so obsolete that the versitility provided by the MT-LB outshined the nominally higher combat capabillity of the BMP-1. Sweden did us them as APC:s, since the units that got them would otherwise have been mounted in trucks.

The MT-LB is also the basis for the 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika howitzer that is one of the most numerous artillery pieces worldwide with thousands produced

We were taught the MTLB was more of a lightly armored troop transport for field artillery and such, more than a "Armored Fighting VEH".

The ATGM and Shorad variants are perfect uses for this vic

Sweden bought a bunch of the MT-LB as a battle taxi filler but it was only used for a few years. It was sold off/scrapped like the the bmp 1 (also ex ddr surplus) now partly sent by Czech republic to the Ukraine. It has better terrain capability then wheeled

What made me surprised though is how really widespread this vehicle was used by the Russian in the Ukraine War compared to BTRs as frontliner. Like what u said i thought this was more likely used as logistic and field gun carrier way behind frontline.

My math/science teacher was an afv crewman inside an mt lb in sweden

I have read somewhere, that these vehicles are nick named "the mass grave" in the Russian army. 💥

Perhaps some of the knocked-out MT-LB (& MT-LBu) are in such poor condition that they are being mistaken for blown-up BMP pattern vehicles? ...or the other way around, if they're opened-up like a flower and burnt to the ground, the only real obvious difference would be the width of the tracks.

Might not be the best looking or well armored vehicle, but it does seem quite versatile given its large, flat roof and spacious interior. Everything from ATGMs to AT guns to naval AA turrets have been slapped onto these. Oh, and the funny Ukrainian one with helicopter rocket pods.

To the Author: While an interesting video of the real thing (which I've never seen in person), I learned about Russian army equipment from a MilSim game. So I thank you for confirming my limited knowledge on this equipment. With that said however, another (unnamed) KZfaq'r who's covering the Russo-Ukraine War doesn't seem to be too knowledgeable on their equipment either. I attempted to correct his mistake(s) when he called a BTR a BMP. So... I think it would be a great idea for you to help correct this ignorance too! 😅 I would like to see something covering the general differences between: - Tanks (T-62, T-72, T-80, T-90) - BMP - BTR - MTLB (covered here, thanks!) - BDRM For me, the easiest way to tell them apart was by their tracks (BMP) and wheels (BTR & BDRM). I found them to be highly effective vehicles in the MilSim, but you had to know how to use them too! 😉👍

They are bringing this relic out to use now.

Pancake

i had my training with the mt-lb in year 2000 with the swedish army for 10months .i started with the mt-lb and later i was moved to the mt-lbu . one of the big diffrences is the engine ,the mt-lbu has a turbocharger and is much more powerful then the mt-lb ,what i can remind is that the mt-lbu almost did 90km/h as max speed and almost impossible to keep it on the road :😁

Interesting

We called these "meat by the pound" during Task 14: Vehicle Recognition. I only ever saw them in Bosnia-- painted UN white, usually-- or in armor museums.

I strongly suspect these numbers are also including Ukrainian losses. To suggest otherwise would imply the Russians have lost something like ten percent of their total mechanized forces, which is dubious in the extreme. We have two armies here using mostly the same equipment, and half the stuff we see is so blown up so badly there's no real way to tell. Nearly all of this information is going to age like milk left outside on a hot summer day.

Love the Monty Python reference.

there are a variety of interesting armament packages that can be mounted in one of these to turn them into a IFV or fire support vehicle. the likly reason for smaller losses is that its is not as photogenic as it is mainly a utilty vehicle used in various trasnport and command functions so twitter warriors ignore it.

Lots of visualization recently on the MHnV channel

You see a lot in private hands. A great utility vehicle. Dunno about reliability though. Military vehicles usually are....usually. Cheers

Looks like a BTR except it's got tracks n stuff

It is still a great vehicle, but not for fighting. Great for logistics, medical, towing, pioneers etc.

I'm offended by this title and description. It's not Russian, it's Soviet. It was designed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by mostly local engineers, one of them was my grandpops. And fun fact, it's the workhorse of the Ukrainian Army too.

It is a brilliant little multirole vehicle for rear support and transport. Why people slag it off so much beats me. I would love one of these as a big boys toy.

METAL BOXES!!!!

There is also variant called MT-LB/V which has 20cm wider tracks allowing it to cross swamps. I currently have one of them as my daily driver.

Are towed artillery going away? Aside from having some lightweight artillery that can be rapidly deployed by a helo it seems towed arty is disadvantageous to self-propelled arty. Or am I missing something?

Veeheecles? More like heeheehee-icles, because you get a big smile on your face when you ride around in one at the tank museum. 😄

if you didnt know MTLB means "shitbox"

We got these MT-LB's in the Finnish Defence Forces. Decent vehicle.

oh, and another fun fact, no one of them, was the same, some was littlebit longer, some littlebit higher or wider etc, etc

This is the soviet M113, except it cant actually fit a grown adult sitting up.

The crap box, as someone once called it

It's basically like that M113

It is quite an underrated vehicle with great offroad capabilities especially in harsh weather conditions. Anecdotally it has enough power and grip to climb near 90 degree angles up ledges and even trees. I would not be surprised. The mobility is further improved by the MT-LB/V model which sports wider tracks for better traction. The platform is also used as-is for the base of the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer. I can confirm that both vehicles are essentially the same in their components and base functions having been inside both for extended periods of time including under the vehicle and inside the maintenance shaft. Additional information on the MT-LB/U is that it is also used as a command and communications vehicle, more often than not used to house radio and other communication equipment. The regular MT-LB is also used for pretty much everything one can think of ranging from glorified tractor to APC, Medic van and pioneer/combat engineer vehicle among others. The main benefits of the platform can be summed up as: affordability (Cheap, easy and inexpensive to maintain), mobility, versatility, strength and it's low profile. For these reasons the platform remains in wide usage despite it's extremely light armor and old age. That being said, this is not a vehicle I would personally like to ride into an area that will have the enemy carrying even the most rudimentary anti-armor capability (or anything punchier than regular rifle caliber munitions). The armor is very thin and the fuel tanks are uncomfortably close to where you are sitting as a passenger, flanking the crew compartment on both sides and sitting mere inches from your backrest. Not sure if this is improved from that perspective too much in the BMP, which houses the tanks in the crew compartment doors in the back. Makes them less likely to be hit I suppose. You bringing this up was a nice surprise, brought some nostalgia for these hunks of junk.