BTR-D

Tovarisch, it doesn't look magical to me

Created when the Soviets realized their Airborne IFVs couldn't carry enough people.

In Team Yankee

The BTR-D is the magic school bus of the VDV units, called upon to carry the heavy weapons of the VDV infantry companies because someone forgot to put space for the infantry in their 'infantry' fighting vehicles.

Overall its another relatively tame and unremarkable metal box, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say about it honestly. It's got the same armor as it's BMD counterparts, it's a bit slower but still serviceably fast (with a 3+ cross check!!), and its ironically got the same transport capacity as the BMDs. You have to bring these things if you want to bring all the fun toys the BMDs get, but as metal boxes go they aren't bad, and being part of the same transport detachment means you can mistaken target to these guys from your more valuable BMDs to protect your firepower.

Speaking of firepower, this thing's not got much, mounting an automatic grenade launcher and a spare MG for effectively an RoF 4/2 MG. This doesn't get pinned, so in a defensive list it could be useful as a way to boost your defensive firepower, but with fp 6, don't expect them to dig out enemy infantry or really do anything outside of opportunity shots.

All in all, a trusty metal box, not much more to say.

BTR-ZD

The BTR-ZD is a modification of the BTR-D with racks to carry MANPADS and twin 23mm autocannons welded to the top.

How many VDV does it take to shoot their fellows out of the air?

In Real Life

Much like its turreted brother, the BTR-D is a specialized vehicle intended to transport airborne troops right after a combat drop. Now you might be thinking "Isn't that the point of the BMD?" Well, not exactly. The problem with the BMD is that the thing can only transport 4 soldiers, which in practice means it can only really transport 3 soldiers. This isn't exactly a fail when you remember the issue of weight of things like ammunition, fuel, and crew. Paradropping what is in effect a tank is kind of difficult. That being said, the Soviets did acknowledge transport issue by creating the BTR-D (Literally Armored Transporter of the Airborne). To create this vehicle, the Soviets removed the turret of the of the BMD and used the saved weight to elongate the body to house 10 soldiers. With the turret removed, the BTR-D doesn't have much in the way of armament outside of machineguns. But then again that makes sense. The BMD is meant to do the fighting, the BTR-D does the transporting. As for variants, the BTR-D actually has quite a few for being such a niche vehicle. Most variants of the BTR-D are support style vehicles, intended to do things like cargo hauling or communications. But the RD and ZD are combative. The RD (also called Robot) is intended for anti-tank work, carrying two weapons and ammo racks. The crew are expected to dismount and fire their weapons, but a pintle is provided to fire from the vehicle. The ZD is a little more interesting. Much like the RD, the vehicle has ammo racks for missiles. Unlike the RD, the ZD allows the vehicle to mount an autocannon to the roof of the vehicle. Bear in mind, the autocannon isn't attached to the vehicle, but instead being transported. This is why if you see pictures of the ZD, it looked like the Autocannons are lashed to the hull. Thats because the Autocannon's are intended to be removed. There is also the Nona, which turns the vehicle into a mortar vehicle. If you are wondering if NATO has any similar vehicle...well no, but yes. Technically the M113 is the NATO equivalent of the BTR-D, what with both being tracked transports that have been adapted for different work. But that's about as far as it goes. Until you read about the Aero Gavin, which is what happens when a so-called military expert refuses to accept helicopters are a thing and wants a M113 that can fly under its own power. Which is to say it's a pipe dream that has never been taken seriously.