In the last period of the Great Patriotic War, great services were rendered to the troops of Ivan-Willis - this was the name of the Soviet off-road vehicles GAZ-67 and GAZ-67B (aka Bobik), and the Lend-Lease American all-wheel drive trucks “Studebaker” US-6
The mechanical engine appeared in the army a long time ago, and the oldest task solved with its help was the supply of troops. Steam tractors have been delivering cargo to British troops since the Crimean War. At the beginning of the 20th century, a car with a gasoline engine entered the army, and by the end of the century the family of militarized "cars", outwardly not very similar to their civilian counterparts, had grown greatly.
On the eve of the First World War, a number of armies already had automobile units. So far, it was mainly about the motorization of rear services and headquarters, although it was already planned to use cars for self-propelled radio stations and searchlights, for installing guns, for evacuating the wounded. With the beginning of the war, they transferred troops, towed artillery pieces and various trailers, and delivered repair equipment to the site. That is, even then the range of tasks solved by cars in the army was determined. In the interwar period, motorization in the form of the widespread introduction of wheeled and tracked vehicles into the troops became one of the main concerns of all advanced armies, regardless of their chosen strategic concepts. The operations of the Second World War can no longer be imagined without the massive use of military vehicles (BAT).
Over the past six decades, several generations of BAT have changed, and the number and volume of tasks it solves has grown in accordance with the development of means and methods of warfare. Modern military equipment is usually divided by type into special wheeled chassis and wheeled tractors, military tracked vehicles of the transport and traction class, multi-purpose vehicles, mobile vehicles for technical support (repair and recovery vehicles, technical assistance vehicles, mobile workshops, maintenance equipment). By types - on wheeled and tracked. All this diversity necessary for the troops is formed in all countries in different ways. We will consider only certain types of army vehicles.
It is quite natural for the armed forces of developed countries to be armed with domestically produced equipment, or at least the necessary service network for servicing foreign-made military equipment. The car park of the Russian Army in 2005 was estimated at about 460 thousand cars - Soviet and Russian production. As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of the manufacturers ended up in the “near abroad”, and the operation and repair of such an extensive fleet cannot be made dependent on external conditions. For example, they had to abandon the cars of the Ukrainian Kremenchug Automobile Plant (KrAZ). But the Belarusian enterprises - the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) and the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT) - have managed to maintain close relations with the Russian armed forces. It has long been known that the BAT fleet requires as much unification as possible in order not to complicate the processes of delivery, training, procurement, operation, and repair. Meanwhile, in a motorized rifle regiment, for example, 5-6 types of vehicles from different manufacturers with their own operational characteristics are still used. Therefore, for cars for various purposes (from small to large), they tend to select several basic chassis.
HMMWV M998A2 (4x4) - armoring using hinged panels (1 - front armor plates, 2 - trunk protection, 3 - underbody protection, 4 - armored doors, 5 - crankcase protection and wheel arch liners). Weight without armor - 2, 544 tons, carrying capacity - 1, 25-1, 5 tons, engine - diesel, 170 hp. sec., highway speed - up to 113 km / h
Indispensable SUVs
The familiar phrase "sophisticated jeep" carries with it an internal contradiction. After all, initially "jeeps" are just alien to any "bells and whistles". Cars with a 4x4 wheel arrangement (that is, four wheels with all-wheel drive for all) of the most simplified design, increased cross-country ability and high "endurance" began service in the Second World War as commanding, reconnaissance, ambulance, transport vehicles, mobile communications, tractors field implements and light trailers. The origin of the word "jeep" has long been debated. According to one of the versions, this word comes either from the English abbreviation "GP" - GP ("general purpose"), or from the designation of the GPW "Ford" model - an analogue of the MV "Willis".
The cars that appeared shortly after the Second World War were the heirs of the first mass-produced jeeps. To this day, such veterans created in the 1950s-1960s are widely used in their various modifications, such as, say, the American M151 with a carrying capacity of up to 554 kilograms or the British Land Rover (up to 790 kilograms), or the Soviet UAZ-53 (two people plus 600 kilograms of cargo). But the ways of waging war are changing, and new generations of cars are required.
So, in the USA after the Vietnamese campaign they decided to abandon the descendants of "old Willis" in favor of a fundamentally new machine. The result is perhaps the most publicized military jeep of the past quarter century, the HMMWV (an acronym for Highly Mobile Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), commissioned by American Motors General in 1983. This machine is also known by the nickname "Humvee" or under the name "Hammer" ("hammer"), although "Hummers" are generally called commercial modifications. The military М998 HMMWV very successfully combined a powerful diesel engine, independent wheel suspension with wide-profile low-pressure tires and inserts for running on flat tires, a wide wheelbase, the ability to transmit high torque to the wheels, high ground clearance and a low height of the body itself made of aluminum alloys. Also, as advantages, it is worth mentioning the minimum overhangs of the hull in front and behind the wheels, a four-seater cab and a rather spacious cargo compartment. True, the low silhouette had to pay with the transmission tunnel, which took up a significant amount of the cabin. A typical requirement presented to the car is that the driver can drive it with an injury to one arm and one leg. This is facilitated by an automatic transmission and a set of controls. The air intake with the air filter raised above the bonnet increases the depth of the ford and improves work in dusty conditions (dry steppe, desert). The HMMWV family has 15 basic modifications with a common chassis, engine and transmission: 8 of them are combat vehicles carrying weapons on board, the rest are ambulances, staff, and so on. A total of 44 replaceable modules are used in the family. This made it possible to replace not only the main predecessor - the massive M151 jeep, which HMMWV surpassed in terms of carrying capacity almost three times - but also a whole range of vehicles and significantly unify the vehicle fleet of connections. Various modifications of "Humvees" serve in more than 30 countries, although this is perhaps the most expensive military jeep on the planet.
The armored modifications of this car changed as follows: initially, it was provided for bulletproof booking of patrol cars using steel, kevlar and polycarbonate bulletproof glasses. But in the 1990s, an increase in booking began - mainly as a response to the experience endured by American soldiers from the next military campaign conducted by America in a particular country. After the events in Somalia, the M1109 appeared with bulletproof and splinterproof armor. Then the M1114 was built on the heavy chassis HMMWV M1113, in which the O'Gara-Hess and Eisenhardt company supplemented the anti-mine bullet protection. These vehicles were tested in Bosnia, followed by the M1116 with even more enhanced armor protection: together with the M1114, it was needed in Afghanistan and Iraq. The press described, for example, an illustrative case, when in Afghanistan a patrol officer M1114 ran into an anti-tank mine, lost wheels, the body was damaged, but none of the four fighters in the cockpit was injured - the reservation worked "for five." Demand for such vehicles rose sharply in 2004-2005, when occupying patrols in Iraq came under fire so often that contract drivers allegedly even refused to travel, and army workshops strengthened the Humvee's booking with artisanal methods. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the HMMWV was created with the expectation of slightly different tasks. Armor, which can raise the chassis of the jeep, while maintaining mobility and acceptable carrying capacity, will still not protect against an RPG cumulative grenade and powerful land mines. This, incidentally, applies to a number of light armored personnel carriers. Well, on the streets of a city or suburb, on a mountain road, any car without cover will be too vulnerable - therefore it is not surprising to use other methods of protection. In "hot spots" you can find, for example, jeeps with the doors removed - the door will still not protect from a grenade or a shock wave, and it may also hit passengers and the driver itself, and the chances of leaving an attacked car without doors are much greater.
Ultra-low LuAZ-967M (4x4), aka TPK, USSR. Weight - 930 kg, carrying capacity - 320 kg + driver, engine - gasoline, 37 liters. sec., speed - up to 75 km / h on the highway, 3-4 km / h afloat, cruising range on the highway - 370 km
However, the demand for reservations for multipurpose army vehicles, including jeeps, is growing. Here are some figures: the Armor Holding company from 1993 to mid-2006 "hung" armor on about 17.5 thousand Humvees, of which 14 thousand - after 2003 (mainly in modifications M1114 and M1116), and from January 2004 to June 2006 produced more than 1,800 removable armored sets for them.
During the war in Iraq, the HMMWV offered their own booking option in South Africa, focusing on protection from high-explosive mines. Which was logical - in South Africa, considerable experience has been gained in mine protection of wheeled vehicles, and for HMMWV it became almost the main problem.
A sign of the times - a multi-purpose light vehicle LMV (weighing, however, 6, 7 tons) of the Italian company "Iveco" has mine protection already in the basic configuration.
The US recently planned to replace part of HMMWV and HEMTT LHS trucks, and several firms have begun developing vehicles under two related programs - FFTS UV up to 2.5 tonnes and FFTS MSV up to 11 tonnes. In addition to the higher carrying capacity, the new SUV was required to have a reinforced suspension (so that it could withstand a set of removable armor), as well as a more powerful electric generator for powering radio and optoelectronic equipment. But navigation, surveillance, reconnaissance and communications are also part of the "defense". Large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, portable ATGMs sometimes turn low visibility, high mobility and modern observation devices into a much more important parameter of light vehicles than their armor protection.
Jeeps are a dual-use technique. Most military jeeps have civilian modifications, often more numerous. Evidence of this is the German family of G-class Mercedes, and Hummers, and the Soviet UAZ-469, which was originally developed in military and “national economic” versions.
GAZ-64 car
Tigers and Barça
The first serial military off-road vehicle 4x4 appeared in the USSR in 1941 in the form of the GAZ-61, followed by the GAZ-64, -67 and -67B. However, during the Great Patriotic War, Lend-Lease "Willis", "Ford", "Dodge three quarters" in the troops turned out to be much more. In 1953, the production of GAZ-69 began. The interest in cross-country vehicles was constantly growing - if in 1956 5 different basic models were produced in the USSR, then in 1970 already 11.
Impact buggy FLYER R-12 of Singapore production, used in the USA. Weight - 2, 47 tons, crew - 3 people, engine - diesel, 81 hp. sec., speed - up to 110 km / h, cruising range - 500 km
In 1972, the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant began production of the UAZ-469, which is still serving with dignity. The test runs passed by the UAZ-469 are very indicative - along the Great Silk Road, the Sahara, the Karakum desert, Siberia. During a race across the Caucasus in 1974, UAZs even climbed (well, almost) Elbrus, climbing 4,000 meters. A caustic joke "what the Russians will not invent so as not to build good roads" - this is just about them. But the army is not going to act only along the roads. The military version of the UAZ-469 differs from the civil one by additional wheel gears, which made it possible to increase ground clearance and increase cross-country ability, a preheater, and shielded electrical equipment. In various modifications, the UAZ was delivered to more than 80 countries of the world. Noticeably yielding to many foreign SUVs in terms of comfort, quite shaking on the move, it had the most important quality for a "jeep" - cross-country ability, reliability and maintainability. Lieutenant General Yu. P. For example, Prishchepo recalled how in Ethiopia, when overcoming the "wadi" - the bed of a shallow rivulet with sand and silt - Land Rovers (very good cars) were firmly entrenched, and the UAZ, skidding, nevertheless passed and helped the Land Rovers with a tug.
During production, various changes were made to the car. In 1985, the UAZ-469 was modernized (a modification of the UAZ-3151) by installing an 80 hp engine. with. (against 75-77 in the previous UAZ-469) and making a number of changes to the transmission, chassis, controls. Later, more changes were made, which generally improved the driving and operational qualities of the machine. Military modifications of this brand included a general-purpose vehicle, a command-staff vehicle, a radiation and chemical reconnaissance vehicle, and others. Among the special equipment for it can be mentioned a road induction mine detector and a set of railway "passages" for driving a car on a railway track with a wide domestic gauge of 1,520 or "Stephenson's" of 1,435 millimeters.
In the 1990s, a number of attempts were made to modernize the old "goat" UAZ-469 (UAZ-3151), primarily for the commercial market. But they did not forget the military tasks either - the conflicts in which the Russian army participated simply did not allow them to be forgotten.
Hammer-like GAZ-29752 "Tiger" (4x4), used by riot police and the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Weight - 5 tons, carrying capacity - 1.5 tons (or up to 10 people), engine - diesel, 197 or 205 liters. sec., speed - up to 125-140 km / h, fuel range - up to 1,000 km
The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant installed a new 137-horsepower engine with electronic injection on the car in combination with a 5-speed gearbox, gear axles, front spring and rear leaf spring suspensions. A new model has appeared - UAZ-3159 "Bars". Corporation "Zashchita" supplied "Bars", intended for the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with hidden or open local booking of the cockpit.
UAZ-3159 "Bars"
On the basis of "Bars" with an increased track gauge, the UAZ-2966 was created, supplied to the troops since 2004 and also having the ability to install reservations. By the way, the spacing of the wheels in width is associated not only with the stability of the machine on the move, "fitting" into the track or the layout of components and assemblies. It also contributes to protection - when hitting a mine, it is less likely that the torn-off wheel will hit the cabin, and the explosion itself occurs farther from the seats of the crew and passengers. In Chechnya and Dagestan, the Russian army faced the same problems of mine warfare and shelling from automatic weapons and grenade launchers as the Soviet army in Afghanistan. But local reservations paid off. You can recall the case described in the press. The "Bars" of the Ufa OMON came under fire from bandits in Chechnya. After the battle, the car counted more than one and a half hundred hits. But everyone in the cockpit survived.
An interesting development by the Gorky Automobile Plant and its subsidiary "Industrial Computer Technologies" of a heavier SUV GAZ-2975 "Tiger" with a carrying capacity of up to 1.5 tons (close to the "Humvee") using BTR-80 units, independent torsion bar suspension of wheels. In addition to greater reliability, this gave the car excellent cross-country ability, which is facilitated by a very solid ground clearance of 400 millimeters (for the army UAZ-469 - 300), and a tire pressure control system. True, the wheels and manual transmission were imported. The export version of the Tiger also received an American turbocharged Cummings diesel, but for delivery to the "native" armed forces, the GAZ-562 engine (produced under license from the Austrian Steyr), also turbocharged, with 197 horsepower can be installed. This is how the "Tigers" supplied to the riot police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are equipped. They also have armor that protects against pistol and small-caliber automatic bullets. Before us is a cross between a jeep and a light armored personnel carrier for police operations in dangerous areas. The British armored vehicle "Shorland" on the chassis "Land Rover Defender" is one of the analogues.
Battle gnomes
Other types of troops require highly mobile and small-sized vehicles as tractors and transporters. For the airborne troops, for example, this need was clear from the moment they appeared. It is not surprising that jeeps were created for them, which can be called ultra-small, their main advantages are the ability to be transferred by any military transport aircraft and transport helicopter, landing on light parachute platforms, and low visibility on the ground. These include the American M274 "Mechanical Mule" with a 21 horsepower engine, the French "Lor Fardi" FL 500 with a 28-horsepower engine. A very original Austrian "Steyr-Puch" 700 AR "Haflinger" with an engine of 22-27 horsepower was intended for operations in the mountains. The original move was made by the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1970s, adopting the "Kraka" 640 car of the "Faun" company with an opposed two-cylinder engine and a folding frame, which was originally created as … an agricultural walk-behind tractor. Nevertheless, "Kraka" served as both a transporter and a platform for installing heavy weapons - recoilless guns, anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) "Tou" or "Milan", 20-mm automatic cannon Rh202. However, in the end, "Krak" had to be replaced by heavier vehicles and small airborne armored vehicles.
Light chassis (4x4) "Faun" KRAKA 640, Germany. Weight - 1.61 tons, carrying capacity - 0.75 tons (or up to 6 people), engine - gasoline, 26 liters. sec., speed - up to 55 km / h, cruising range - about 200 km
In the USSR, the development of an ultra-small SUV began in the 1950s with the task of creating an inconspicuous "leading edge transporter" (TPK); however, an agricultural career was also envisioned for him. In the 1960s, a floating SUV LuAZ-967 produced by the Lutsk Automobile Plant with a squat pontoon body and a four-cylinder air-cooled engine appeared in the Soviet Army. TPK served for the evacuation of the wounded, the supply of ammunition, military equipment, as well as the installation of certain types of weapons - ATGM "Konkurs" or "Metis", automatic grenade launcher AGS-17. The driver could drive the car while lying down. Small dimensions and weight, combined with good maneuverability and buoyancy, made the TPK convenient for landing, the winch and removable walkways increased maneuverability, the winch could pull cargo and the wounded to the car. And TPK still received an agricultural modification - in the form of non-floating vehicles LuAZ-969 and ZAZ-969.
It would seem that by now small-sized jeeps have completed their military career. Recently, however, the US Marine Corps recalled them. The MV-22 vertical take-off and landing aircraft adopted for its armament can hardly accommodate an HMMWV jeep, which means that the landing force is left without vehicles and heavy weapons. As an option, it was proposed to use a light jeep "Grauler", created on the basis of the aggregates of an old jeep M151 - a curious turn in the career of the heirs of "Willis". The name "Grauler" turns out to be quite appropriate here, because this is what they call "an old-fashioned four-wheeled cab".
Impact buggy
Cars armed with machine guns or automatic cannons were designed at the very beginning of the 20th century. Their real samples have found combat use in the course of two world wars and a number of local wars. For example, during World War II, the Red and American armies not without success used Willys armed with machine guns in battle, British commandos successfully used jeeps heavily armed with machine guns in North Africa. Not to mention the numerous anti-aircraft machine gun mounts on the vehicle chassis.
Panhard SPV on G270 CDI chassis for French special forces. Weight - 4.0 tons, capacity - 6-8 people, engine - diesel, 210 liters. sec., speed - up to 120 km / h, cruising range - 800 km, mine protection of the bottom
A new surge of interest in highly mobile armed off-road vehicles occurred in the 1970s-1980s in connection with the formation of "light" formations and rapid reaction forces, the expansion of the use of special forces and airborne troops. The vehicles were entrusted with the tasks of reconnaissance and patrolling, the destruction of manpower and military equipment, laser target designation for high-precision ammunition, raids and search and rescue operations behind enemy lines. The lack of armor protection was supposed to compensate for mobility (due to the high specific power of the engine, independent wheel suspension, low specific pressure) and low visibility, which was provided by a low silhouette and a low noise level. A medium transport helicopter was supposed to carry two cars with crews inside. It is clear that here armored vehicles could not compete with unarmored ones. Since then, there have been several generations of impact vehicles.
The buggy, a light sports car, distinguished by its very small size and weight, high speed, cross-country ability and stability, aroused great interest in the quality of the chassis of such a car. The FAV, LSV and ALSV "Chinout" machines, which were consistently tested by the Americans, are an example. ALSV at speeds up to 130 kilometers per hour and acceleration from standstill to 50 kilometers per hour in 8 seconds can carry 3-4 people, 12.7 mm (М2НВ) and 7, 62 mm (М240G) machine guns, that is, weapons, comparable to Humvee. At the same time, it has a commercial diesel engine and transmission, an electronic control system, communication and navigation facilities. The Jordanian attack vehicle AB3 "Black Iris" differs not only in the 4x2 wheel arrangement and the squat body, but also in the frame at the stern for transporting a light motorcycle.
The original strike machine "Desert Raider" was presented at the turn of the XXI century by the Israeli company AIL. The car looks like an elongated buggy, but with a 6x6 wheel arrangement - two front wheels with independent suspension and four rear wheels, suspended in pairs on balancers. The crew is located in a rhombus - the driver along the axis of the car, machine gunners are on the rear sides, 1-2 more people with weapons or transported property can be accommodated on the platform behind the driver. Strange, but the layout of this large insect resembles a Soviet tracked airborne combat vehicle. An important feature of the "Desert Raider", which managed to get the army name "Tomer", is the location of the engine and the exhaust system, which reduce the thermal and acoustic signature of the vehicle. Armament can include 2-3 machine guns of 5, 56 ("Negev") or 7, 62 (MAG) millimeters, as well as one ATGM.
Speed or Armor?
Buggy and chassis like the Desert Raider, which are small strike vehicles, are good for driving on sandy terrain, and their ability to transport ammunition, fuel and lubricants and food is limited. Much more versatile and reliable are attack vehicles of the "medium" (up to 4.5 tons) and "heavy" (up to 6 tons) class based on army jeeps and even four-wheel drive trucks.
M-626 / G "Desert Raider" car (6x6), Israel. Weight - 2, 6 tons, engine - gasoline, 150 hp. with., or diesel, 107 liters. sec., speed - up to 110 km / h, cruising range - 600 km
For example, we can recall the vehicles of the British special operations forces. During the Falklands War, they used traditional Land Rover jeeps. But the C-130 aircraft could take on board no more than two such machines, and up to seven cars with crews were required. For the 22nd British SAS regiment, light LSVs were made. They were launched in 1991 in the Persian Gulf. However, already there, the British still preferred a much more capacious old jeep "Pink Panther" on the chassis of a long-wheelbase "Land Rover" - in addition to weapons and a few people, it carried smoke grenade launchers, cans of fuel and water, navigation equipment, and outboard trunks for property. They were used in combination with Canon motorcycles and support vehicles on the chassis of the German Unimog truck. Good old Land Rovers are used by British patrols in Iraq.
In the "shock" version, the American HMMWV was also offered, on which they installed in different versions - bend our fingers - 40-mm MK19 automatic grenade launcher, 7, 62-mm machine gun M60, 12, 7-mm M2HB, 12, 7-mm multi-barreled GAU- 19 / A, 30-mm ASP (R) -30 cannon, Tou ATGM. But the basic HMMWV turned out to be heavy. Therefore, its modification HMMWV / SOV for special operations forces has a shortened and "narrowed" base, open top, safety arcs and installations for automatic weapons. For Great Britain, on a HMMWV ECV chassis of reduced width, a Shadow car was developed with the ability to install a stabilized platform with automatic small arms, recoilless weapons or anti-tank systems. At the same time, the US Marine Corps adopted the IFAT "high-speed assault vehicle" on the chassis of the German Mercedes GDT 290, capable of transporting 6 fully equipped soldiers, as well as 12.7 mm M2NV machine gun and 7.62 mm M240G or 40 mm grenade launcher Mk19. And most importantly, the IFAT fits perfectly into a medium transport helicopter.
Impact buggy ALSV, USA. Weight - 2.35 tons, crew - 3 people, engine - diesel, 140 hp. sec., speed - up to 130 km / h, cruising range - 500 km
On the chassis G270 of the same G-series "Mercedes" in Germany, they built impact vehicles LIV and LIV (SO) weighing 2, 55-3, 3 tons of modular design. Four transportable support jacks allow in the field to supply a combat module with a missile system, a protected module for transporting soldiers, reconnaissance equipment, a tank for fuels and lubricants, a set of repair and evacuation equipment, and an electric generator. You can install an automatic cannon or an automatic grenade launcher.
Naturally, they also decided to provide strike vehicles with light armor. In front of the same ALSV, non-metallic armor panels can be mounted. Attack jeeps can carry combat-resistant tires, a mine protection kit, and removable bulletproof armor. That is, the development of an all-terrain chassis, on the one hand, and means of armor protection and destruction, on the other, nevertheless brought medium and heavy attack vehicles closer to light armored vehicles. This was also facilitated by the interest in automatic cannons of 20-30 mm caliber as a group weapon of subunits. The British, say, on the Unimog chassis put the Vector GAI 20-mm cannon, and on the Land Rover Defender 110 chassis, the WMIK stabilized platform with a 20- or 30-mm cannon or paired 12, 7 and 7, 62 can be installed -mm machine guns.
UAZ-469 with machine-gun armament was used by the Soviet special forces in Afghanistan. On the basis of the Russian UAZ-3159 with an extended track, the Scorpion-2 car with enlarged doors (to facilitate leaving the car), a turret for installing a machine gun with a caliber from 7.62 (PKTM) to 14.5 mm (KPVT) is presented.
Finally, it is difficult to count the number of improvised "strike machines" generated by local wars. Afghan spooks, for example, used Toyota, Semur, and Datsun jeeps and pickups with heavy machine guns or recoilless guns for raids and as nomadic fire weapons. There are also curiosities like the MLRS offered by Ukrainian manufacturers on the chassis of the old LuAZik with … an aviation block of unguided missiles.
