Russian Ministry of Defense shows interest about the BTR-87 armoured personnel carriers, said General Director of “Military-Industrial Company” (VPK) Alexander Krasovitsky.
The BTR-87 is an amphibious wheeled armored personnel carrier being developed for the potential foreign customers. In a departure with the previous BTR-80 series of vehicles, the engine located in the front instead of the rear. Engine location was a significant drawback of BTR vehicles, where soldiers had to exit the vehicles through cramped side doors, which put them directly in the line of enemy fire.
According to Russian military experts, the development of BTR-87 is a coherent project. The upgraded vehicle is estimated to be in high demand by financially constraint potential foreign customers, as it has good cost-effectiveness ratio (comparable to the related ratio of BTR-80A/BTR-82A).