June 16, 2012: Iraq is buying 500 MT-LB amphibious armored vehicles from Bulgaria. The MT-LB is a 40 year old Russian design, based on the chassis of the even older PT-76 light tank. The MT-LB weighs 12 tons and has thin armor (3-14mm). This gives some protection against 7.62mm bullets and shell fragments. Top speed on roads is 61 kilometers an hour and six kilometers an hour in the water. Armament consists of a 7.62mm machine-gun in a small turret. The crew of two drives the vehicle and operates the machine-gun. The vehicle can carry 11 passengers or two tons of cargo. Iraq is paying $192,000 each for these vehicles, which will probably be used in marchland and along rivers. Over 11,000 MT-LBs were built in Russia, Poland, and Bulgaria, most of them before the Cold War ended in 1991.