Ural's advantages
Probably on the second step in lethality after the Grad, Damba and Prima multiple launch rocket systems are Urals with ZU-23-2 automatic cannons installed in the back. For the first time, the need for their appearance was talked about in Afghanistan, and their real heyday awaited during the conflict in the Chechen Republic. At the same time, it was the bonnet Ural that was better suited for this purpose than any other technique. Firstly, the layout with the driver's cab behind the front axle, in contrast to the KAMAZ, gave a considerable advantage when undermining under the front wheel. Secondly, the mass of the "Ural" made it possible to withstand the recoil from prolonged volleys of a paired 23-millimeter artillery mount at any angle to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle without any problem. The ZIL-131 was also converted into homemade gantrucks, but due to its smaller size and weight, it was inferior to the Ural in versatility.
Usually, the ZU-23-2 was removed from the wheel drive and attached to the truck body by the forces of military repair units. This modification of the "Ural" was not standard in the Russian army. Nevertheless, due to the lack of tanks and other armored vehicles to escort the columns to guard the military commandant's offices, it was precisely such improvised self-propelled artillery installations that were allocated. Local battles on communications have become a real problem for regular military formations around the world, and Russia is no exception. In the Chechen wars, up to 40-60% of personnel and military equipment were involved precisely in the fight against militants along the routes of movement of numerous columns. Usually, security equipment (tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles) moved in a convoy every 5-10 vehicles, given the high traffic, such specialized equipment was not enough. Therefore, they poisoned the Urals with anti-aircraft installations in the cargo compartment as support - they were often the only armed vehicles in columns of 5-10 transports.
Gantraki, by the way, inflicted with their hurricane fire not only significant damage to the enemy, but also acted as a psychological weapon. Usually, a couple of ZU-23-2 volleys in the direction of the enemy were quite enough for the bandit group to leave its positions. The advantage of such mobile gun mounts was the relatively low cost and high firepower, exceeding that of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. At the same time, despite the lack of serious reservations, the statistics on losses spoke of the high efficiency of such machines. This was largely due to the fact that anti-aircraft guns could work on targets at a fairly serious distance from the enemy and it was difficult to conduct aimed return fire with small arms. At the same time, if the enemy approached at a distance of aimed fire from a machine gun or a rifle, in most cases he was destroyed by the ZU-23-2 crew. (It is no coincidence that in the very near future, factory gantrucks based on Ural and KamAZ trucks will appear in the Russian army - the decision to adopt such equipment was made on the basis of Syrian combat experience.) An excellent "antimaterial" effect of the 23-mm cannon was also discovered here. an avalanche of shells to destroy various shahidmobiles, jeeps-gantrucks and other improvised terrorist equipment.
Since the days of Afghanistan, the main requirement for the design of the Ural-gantraks has been the installation of a twin cannon in such a way that the angle of fire in the rear hemisphere was at least 180 degrees. In the front part of the body, about a third of its length, there was a van with a tarpaulin open at the back. It kept tools, spare parts, duffel bags, ammunition and mattresses for personnel to rest. The crew usually consisted of a commander, a driver and two or three crew numbers. Of course, such a mobile gun mount, open to all the winds, required at least a local reservation. To do this, in the front part, the body was protected with thick steel sheets or, if there was such an opportunity, hatches or fragments of armor of broken equipment. Also used were body armor, hung on the backs of the seats and in front of the shooter. They also tried to reinforce the sides of the body with steel sheets, thick boards, sandbags, and sometimes even scrap rails.
Ural changes the engine
After describing the artillery installations based on the on-board "Ural", it is worth returning to the early 90s, when an engine plant in Naberezhnye Chelny burned down and a conveyor line got up in Miass due to a lack of power units. As already mentioned in the previous parts of the cycle, UralAZ engineers decided to install a YaMZ-236M2 diesel engine under the hood of a truck. This engine was a V-shaped 6-cylinder and 30 hp. with. was weaker than its predecessor from KamAZ. At the same time, the air filter, due to the size of the engine, did not fit into the engine compartment of the "Ural" and had to be taken out onto the right wing - this was a characteristic difference between the new cars with the index 4320-10. The power-to-weight ratio of such vehicles, naturally, decreased, and as an alternative, trucks began to be equipped with 8-cylinder 15-liter YaMZ-238M2 diesel engines with a capacity of 240 hp. with. The engine was larger than the KamAZ-740, and the nose of the Ural had to be lengthened under its dimensions, which somewhat changed the original harmonious appearance of the vehicle. From that moment on, all cars of the 4320 family acquired a characteristic elongated engine hood, for which they deservedly bore the nickname "Crocodiles".
The six-cylinder YaMZ engine perfectly suited the new lightweight modification "Ural-43206", in which one rear axle was docked. This truck, which began life on an assembly line in 1996, was intended for the border troops and was supposed to replace the aging GAZ-66. The two-axle "Ural" is a dynamic vehicle (speed up to 85 km / h), distinguished by relatively high efficiency and costing less money to the military budget. However, the removal of the axle made it possible to place no more than 4, 2 tons in the body, which, however, was quite enough for the border guards.
Ural wears armor
"Ural", as one of the most belligerent trucks in the Soviet Army, was the first to try on armoring. This happened during the hostilities in Afghanistan and included the protection of the vital components of the vehicle: the cab, the body, the engine compartment and the fuel tanks. At first, local repair units were connected to this, but later the armor was mounted already in Miass itself, in 21 research institutes and a number of other nearby military factories.
The armoring logic of the Uralov, developed in Afghanistan, did not undergo any special changes during the first Chechen war - all the same, individual elements of the vehicle were armored locally. But already in August 1999, with the start of the second campaign, the situation changed. Now the "Urals" of the Internal Troops and the Ministry of Defense were defended in a new way. Full armoring of the hood and cockpit, with the installation of small bullet-proof glass blocks instead of the standard windshield, became typical. An armored box open on top with loopholes from the BTR-60PB was installed in the body, often protected by the third or fourth booking class. Entry and exit from such an armored module was carried out through the aft swing doors, and the open roof allowed firing over the sides. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was much more serious about booking the Uralov than in the army.
First, the cockpit was fully armored and often equipped with a commander's hatch in the roof. At the same time, the armor was thicker (up to the fifth booking level) than in army vehicles. How could this be explained? The internal troops could not boast of having heavy armored vehicles, and there were often problems with light ones. And sometimes they had to fight on a par with army units with a well-trained and equipped enemy. That is why the internal troops were much more attentive to the armoring of wheeled vehicles. Of course, this ultimately negatively affected the resource of the overweight "Urals", but the effectiveness of such solutions has been repeatedly proven in combat conditions. The heat balance of the engines, which, locked in a thick armored box, often overheated and failed prematurely, was not always taken into account during the booking process of the Ural. In addition to thicker armor, the protected modules in the bodies of the "Ural" internal troops were equipped with armored double-glazed windows.
In the army modifications of the protected Urals, priority could be given not to thick armor, but to maintaining the carrying capacity, since the Urals were involved in the transportation of ammunition and other military equipment. In general, during the second Chechen campaign, the Urals were made into real armored personnel carriers, costing much less than traditional ones, as well as having indisputable advantages: the ability to comfortably transport personnel, high mobility, versatility and carrying capacity. The quintessence of a relatively inexpensive armored car of this kind was the modern Ural Federal-42590 and Federal 93. At the other extreme in terms of cost is the explosion-proof Typhoon-U. The modern Russian army understands the need to arm the majority of wheeled vehicles, and the Ural family is in the forefront here.
