In Runet, photos of an unusual vehicle built on the basis of the MAZ-543 four-axle chassis periodically pop up. Gigantic equipment today rusts in the open air on the territory of the V. V. Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy, near the village of Nikolo-Uryupino in the Moscow region. On the Internet, you can often stumble upon conversations that an unusual exhibit is a command and staff vehicle (KShM), but this is not entirely true. Before us is an example of mobile fortification: a real bunker on wheels, a unique technique of its kind - a protected vehicle for Redoubt control points.
Mobile fortification
The term "mobile fortification" itself appeared in the 19th century in France, and then it reached Russia. As you might guess from the name, we are talking about such fortifications that can be moved or transported from place to place depending on the emerging needs. In the 20th century, along with the widespread mechanization and motorization of troops, mobile fortification began to play with new colors. Indeed, maneuver warfare dictated its own terms: the military needed fortifications that could be quickly relocated from place to place during operational movement or redeployment of troops. In the Soviet Union, work in this direction began already in the late 1950s.
Technological progress also played a role. In the second half of the 1970s, the armies of many countries adopted new fire and reconnaissance-strike systems, which make it possible to effectively and accurately strike point targets located on the ground. High-precision weapons, which posed a danger to command posts and command and control posts, were becoming increasingly important. Against this background, the relevance of protecting control points only increased. The result of work in this area was the creation of a protected vehicle for command and control points "Redut", the base for which was the MAZ-543 eight-wheeled chassis produced by the Minsk Automobile Plant. (Until 1991, MAZ included an enterprise specializing in the production of heavy off-road equipment of large carrying capacity. Today it is MZKT - Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant.)
Hopper chassis on wheels
One of the directions in the field of creating a mobile fortification for control points was the creation of a special protected vehicle with a single protective body. Such a machine, as conceived by the developers, received a built-in system and deepening mechanisms in order to independently get out of the soil cover, and was based on a high-carrying capacity and cross-country vehicle chassis. By that time, similar chassis were already available in the arsenal of the Soviet military. We are talking about the MAZ-543 four-axle chassis, which entered serial production back in 1962; by the early 1970s, the chassis had already been upgraded to the MAZ-543M version.
MAZ-543M chassis
To be absolutely precise, a rare prototype MAZ-543V chassis was used for the "bunker on wheels". The new chassis differed from the previous models in a fundamentally different layout, the payload was 19.6 tons. In the future, it was the MAZ-543V chassis that became the basis for the mass MAZ-543M, the peak of production of which was in 1987. The new chassis differed from previous models, both mass-produced and small-scale and experimental, by the presence of only one two-seater cabin moved forward, located next to the engine compartment (the right cabin disappeared, only the left one remained). The layout presented by the designers of the Minsk Automobile Plant made it possible to lengthen the mounting part of the frame, facilitating and simplifying the process of installing larger equipment on the chassis. A total of 233 copies of such a chassis were assembled at MAZ, one of which served as the basis for the protected Redoubt vehicle.
The emergence of a new multi-axle off-road vehicle was directly related to the development of the Soviet missile program. Back in the summer of 1959, the USSR began work on the creation of a solid-fuel operational-tactical missile "Temp", which could hit targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers. Initially, the designers planned to launch missiles from the launch pad located on the semi-trailer of the MAZ-535V four-axle tractor-tractor, but during the design it became clear that the military could not satisfy the technical capabilities of such a system. For this reason, to accommodate the Temp-S OTRK launcher, it was decided to develop a completely new multi-axle vehicle, designated MAZ-543. The created car turned out to be so successful that some modifications of the car are still mass-produced, according to the official website of the MZKT.
Protected vehicle "Redut" based on MAZ-543V chassis
The first prototype of the new car was presented already in 1961, and next year the serial production of MAZ-543 began and its triumphal march in the army, and then in the civil service. All cars of the family differed in the same wheelbase size - 7, 7 meters, and the total length of the MAZ-543 was almost 11, 465 meters. The heart of the four-axle vehicle with 8x8 wheel arrangement was the V-shaped 12-cylinder diesel engine D12A-525A, which developed a maximum power of 525 hp. (386 kW). The engine power was enough to accelerate a car with a total weight of 39 tons to 60 km / h when driving on the highway, while fuel consumption was 80 liters for every 100 kilometers.
Considering the length of the car, the turning radius of 13.5 meters doesn't seem like a big deal. The ground clearance of the 8-wheeled vehicle was 440 mm. MAZ-543 could easily overcome fords up to 1, 1 meter deep without preliminary preparation, as well as climbs up to 30 degrees. All four axles of the car were driven, the wheels were single-sided, to increase the cross-country ability on various soils, they were equipped with wide-profile tires with a developed tread.
Protected machine "Redoubt" in a prepared pit
The car developed in Minsk at the turn of the 60s of the last century turned out to be so successful that it gave rise to a family of military and civilian vehicles, some of which were full-fledged combat units that received the entire set of weapons and equipment for solving fire missions. In total, more than 60 military superstructures for various purposes were designed on the MAZ-543 chassis and its modifications. The most famous are the S-300 air defense missile system, the Scud tactical missile, the Rubezh anti-ship missile system, the Bereg artillery complex, the Smerch and Uragan MLRS.
Protected machine for control points "Redoubt"
Having decided on the choice of chassis, the developers of the Central Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (Central Research and Testing Institute of Engineering Troops) began to create a reliable mobile well-protected command and control center, work on this topic received the code "Redoubt" and began in 1975. The concept of the project was to create a protected vehicle based on a chassis of increased carrying capacity and cross-country ability. The new development of Soviet designers met the tasks of protecting the control points of the operational level from modern means of engaging a potential enemy and ensuring the operation of the main elements of the launcher. The designers envisaged the possibility of using the protected machine "Redoubt" on the surface, in a shelter and in a pit with soil covering to provide additional protection with the possibility of self-exiting.
The process of burying the protected machine "Redoubt"
The refinement of the new special-purpose vehicle continued until 1979, when the experimental model became a participant in exercises and demonstrations of military equipment. It is believed that the protected machine "Redut" in the form in which the car can be seen in photographs today was assembled by workers and engineers at the 542nd engineering weapons plant in Nakhabino. The assembled experimental sample of an unusual car was a voluminous protective body with a vestibule and a soil spreader located on the roof, located on the basis of the MAZ-543V 8-wheel chassis. To implement the author's concept of using a mobile fortification object, four side, two rear and one front brackets with hydraulic jacks for vertical movement were welded to the car chassis. The hydraulic equipment installed on the machine, together with a soil spreader on the roof, ensured the exit of the car from under the dirt deboning and the subsequent exit from the pit. For the efficient operation of the control center, officers and crew, the car was equipped with heating, ventilation, and exhaust systems. Inside the protected body were officers' workplaces and autonomous life support equipment.
As conceived by the developers, the maximum level of protection was provided in the case when the protected vehicle for the Redoubt control points drove into the excavation previously dug for it, after which it was additionally covered with earth using engineering means. Ground cover is one of the simplest and most common methods of protection in fortification. The soil is unique in that it has natural properties that allow it to intercept the impact force of bullets and fragments of shells and mines, reduce the pressure of the shock wave of a nearby explosion, reduce the effect of penetrating radiation, etc. According to the magazine "Technics and Arms", the time for placing the "Redut" in the already prepared foundation pit, followed by crumbling with soil, was half an hour, the same amount was required for the car to get out of the earthen shelter, which turned the car into a full-fledged bunker.
Exit to the surface of the protected machine "Redut"
The useful area of the protected body was 26 square meters, the capacity was estimated at 10 people, the car's crew consisted of two people. At the beginning of May 1979, an experimental vehicle under its own power arrived from Nakhabino to Minsk, where, by the decision of the commander of the Belarusian Military District, it underwent a process of additional equipment. For the commander, a separate table was installed inside the protective body - 204x130 cm with three aviation seats, a Record V-312 TV set and an ES-7927-01 display. On the officers' desks, special retractable shelves with telephones were placed, and the radio stations R-130, R-123 and R-111 appeared in the communications compartment. After the completion of the installation of new equipment and furniture, the car moved to the training center, where from May 30 to July 2, 1979, it was repeatedly demonstrated to representatives of the high command of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union.
Many officers came out for the fact that "Redoubt" went into mass production, but this was not destined to come true. It is believed that the end of the project was put by the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov, who was present at the show of new engineering equipment. The Marshal believed that the launch of such a car in the series would be associated with high capital costs. At the same time, the fate of the car could be influenced by the fact that there was no visual demonstration of the Redoubt's abilities in front of the top officials of the Ministry of Defense, the car did not get out from under the dirt deboning. Perhaps this also had the most negative impact on the fate and development of mobile fortification in the Soviet Union. The last time a protected vehicle for command and control posts of the operational echelon "Redut" took part in demonstrations of military equipment was in 1987, but the further sad fate of this unique vehicle is already known to you.
Control center workplaces in the Redoubt car
