I have a book on the BMP that says that it could be penetrated at close range by heavy machine gun fire. Having been unable to find a book on the BTR series, were those vehicles similarly vulnerable?

From experience? .50 cal sliced right through it. That was regular ball ammo.

This is old "Public AFV forum" news. How old news?

From Micropose's "M1 Tank Platoon" PC tank simulation video game in 1989, http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Tank_Platoon

...a 12.7mm bullet fired from a M2 heavy machine gun can destroy the BTRs at close range, so says that game's manual printed in...1989. Future PC tank sims even modeled SLAP (Saboted, Light Armor Piercing) 12.7mm rounds. (Yup, they don't make those tank sim games like they used to).

The "M1 Tank Platoon" game portrayed this very well as M1's 12.7mm rounds were realistically modeled to penetrate BTRs at a certain distance in the game.

So I would say BTR armor protection of 7.62mm AP front and 7.62mm ball all around resistance and probably the same armor resistance with the BMP.

BTRs, BMPs, and BMDs were a threat to NATO during the Cold War because NATO infantry often didn't carry anything heavier than a 7.62mm medium machine gun (M60 and M240). Now HMMWVs and JLTVs carry M2s, MK-19s, TOWs, AT-4s, LAWs, Javelins, etc.

The only comparable NATO vehicle at the time was the LAV-25 with similar 7.62mm-proof armor, but LAVA2s have been up-armored to resist 14.5mm AP rounds all around with ceramic and steel applique. Hence the U.S. Army adopted the Cold War term for LAV-25s as, "Too light to fight!" and didn't want them, but the USMC did. Which ironically the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne adopted "gifted" USMC 25mm LAVA2s in 2018...30 years later.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/30/reactivated-unit-gives-82nd-airborne-an-armored-component-that-packs-a-marine-corps-style-punch

Thanks. This was what I expected, but I like making sure, having a ready-to-build Dragon BTR-70.