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Russia's KBP Instrument Design Bureau has unveiled a new variant of the BTR-90 wheeled 8x8 armored personnel carrier. This mounts a two-man turret with the same armament as the BTR-3 (i.e., a 100mm gun-launcher and a 30mm autocannon, plus a 7.62mm machinegun). The vehicle has a total of 10 personnel on board: driver and one rifleman in front, commander and gunner in the turret, six riflemen in back. Because of the depth of the turret basket, the turret sits on an armored pedestal rising several inches above the top deck. The 100mm gun has 34 rounds of ready-use ammunition plus 18 in reserve, along with four guided projectiles in the turret and four more in reserve. The company also noted new ammunition for both weapons. The 100mm gun-launcher will be able to fire the new laser-guided projectile with tandem shaped-charge warheads. It can reportedly penetrate explosive reactive armor at 5500m. The 30mm autocannon has a new armor-piercing discarding-sabot round.--Stephen V Cole