1977 included 40 BTR-152s appropriated from the Soviet Army's reserve stocks. These vehicles were mostly BTR-152Vs but also included the BTR-152A anti-aircraft variant. The Soviet Union donated at least six BTR-152s to Mozambique shortly after that country's independence in the mid-1970s. Mozambican BTR-152s were deployed against Rhodesian Security Forces conducting cross-border raids, as well as in search and destroy operations mounted near Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) strongholds. It is likely that all Mozambique's BTR-152s were eliminated by land mines or Rhodesian air strikes; they were not in service long before being superseded by the BTR-60. A second shipment of BTR-152s was delivered to the People's Forces of Liberation of Mozambique (FPLM) in 1983, but it remains unclear whether these were deployed in front-line service. During the Lebanese Civil War, both Lebanese militias and Syrian Army used BTR-152s. Description The BTR-152 is a modified truck chassis with an armored hull and an open-topped troop compartment. The sides and rear of the troop compartment are vertical, with corners sloping inwards to deflect shell fragments. There are firing ports on each side of the troop compartment and two rear doors for rapid debarking. Infantrymen can fire their individual weapons from the relative protection of the vehicle, and exit through these doors or by jumping over the sides. The crew consists of a driver and a single passenger, who operates the radios. Two types of seating arrangements were available: the first consists of wooden benches on either side of the troop compartment facing inwards; the second consisted of three rows of seats facing forward. Both the driver and the radio operator seated to his right are provided with individual windscreens and, when in combat, these are covered by twin armored shutters with integral vision blocks. Crew members exit the vehicle through side doors, the tops of which are hinged and fold down for observation purposes. The BTR-152's armor plate is fabricated of welded steel and ranges from to in thickness. This protects the crew and passengers from small arms fire, shell fragments, grenades, and anti-personnel mines, but is ineffective against larger shell fragments or even heavy machine gun fire. Late production hulls may have been manufactured from steel plate with a thickness of up to . The vehicle is sometimes fitted with a winch that has a maximum capacity of 5 tonnes and a 70m cable. Depending on the variant, BTR-152s can tow field