From the beginning of the 1970s to the end of the 90s, the special design bureau of the Bryansk Automobile Plant developed several families of land four-axle multi-purpose vehicles with high cross-country ability. They were also created within the framework of the experimental design theme "Basis", but gradually the incomprehensible military code "Voschina" - the so-called thin wax sheets for bees' combs - spread to them.
Artillery tractor BAZ-69531 in the Russian Armed Forces (photo by S. Andreev)
All these secret machines were created in the harsh conditions of the "Iron Curtain", the absence of domestic units and materials, constant throwing from one layout to another and difficult searches for new solutions. From a constructive point of view, they were an intermediate link from the legendary 135 series to more advanced cars with one power unit and independent suspension, although they also retained the archaic onboard transmission for a long time.
In the 1980s, destructive restructuring and disarmament were added to the technical challenges. As a result, despite tremendous efforts, this technique did not justify itself, it was not mass-produced in the Soviet, and later in the Russian army, not widespread.
BAZ-6950 series chassis vehicles (1976-1999)
In the mid-1970s, the Bryansk Automobile Plant secretly presented prototypes of its future heavy land range BAZ-6950 of the Osnova family with an 8x8 wheel arrangement for transport support for the Soviet army. All work was carried out under the guidance of the chief designer Ivan Lyudvigovich Yurin, the leading designer was A. S. Koptyukh.
Until a new fiberglass cabin for future cars was ready, the first in 1976 was the 12-ton truck BAZ-6952 with an all-metal cabin from the MAZ-537 tractor. Then a trial batch was assembled with flatbed bodies and vans. Until 1980, the machines passed acceptance tests at 21 research institutes, which opened the way for the new BAZ-6950 family.
Winter tests of a 12-ton 400-horsepower vehicle BAZ-6952. 1977 year
Experienced four-axle chassis BAZ-6952 with a multi-purpose box body
The short history of the basic 12-ton chassis BAZ-6950 began in the late 1970s. Unlike the BAZ-6944 amphibian unified with it, it was equipped with a powerful spar frame and a fiberglass cabin brought forward with a reverse slope of three frontal windows. Behind it housed a 400-horsepower V8 diesel, a torque converter with a 5-speed gearbox and an open frame assembly or onboard platform.
Experienced 400-strong truck BAZ-6950 with an onboard platform. 1980 year
Military chassis BAZ-6950 with a plastic cabin (photo by K. Dunaev)
The BAZ-6950 chassis, which did not differ in high tactical and technical data and was released in single copies, was practically not used in the army. The only military superstructure for it was the SKN-6950 Rodinka manned frame-metal van with wide side bevels to accommodate the headquarters complexes. In reality, the only one among them was the Polyana-D4 control center, which was part of the automated control complex of the anti-aircraft missile brigade.
BAZ-6950 car in the repair shop of the Bryansk Automobile Plant. 2007 year
BAZ-6950 with an inhabited pressurized body SKN-6950 "Birthmark"
To replace the 6950 model, a 14-ton prototype BAZ-6950M was created, which after long tests and improvements in 1985 appeared in a twin-engine version BAZ-69501, on which the military had high hopes. It was a fundamentally new machine, on which the old heavy tank engine was replaced by two lighter and cheaper serial diesel engines KamAZ-740 with a capacity of 210 hp each, working with two 5-speed gearboxes. The car, which completely satisfied the military, was headed by the new Osnova-1 family, which bore the Voshchina code.
In fact, everything turned out the other way around: BAZ-60501 simply did not have time to prove itself and justify all hopes. For it appeared in the times of perestroika, which were fatal for the Soviet military-industrial complex, which nullified all the prospects for its use in the Soviet army and reduced the number of superstructures to a minimum. To this misfortune was added a strong fire in April 1993, which destroyed the KamAZ engine shop. As a result, the range of special equipment on this chassis turned out to be more sketchy sketches and bold projects than “living” equipment.
Upgraded 14-ton truck BAZ-69501 with onboard transmission
The most advanced superstructure was the SKN-6950 van body for the modernized command post of the Polyana-D4M complex to control the Buk and S-300 anti-aircraft systems. He could simultaneously display up to 80 air targets and accompany 272 flying objects. In such bodies were also placed the command post "Maneuver" and the 7V440 combat guidance vehicle of the Air Force systems.
BAZ-69501 chassis with a body for a control point. 1990 (from the author's archive)
The interior of the command post of the Polyana-D4M complex (from the author's archive)
The most important project of the Volgograd plant "Barricades" on the BAZ-69501 chassis was the self-propelled launcher (SPU) 9P76 of the promising operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) "Iskander" with one or two missiles placed in a completely enclosed body. In 1991, the only SPU prototype was assembled with the factory designation Br-1555-1, which made several launches at the Kapustin Yar test site. It was decided to transfer the refinement of this system to the more advanced BAZ-6954 chassis, which is discussed below. On the basis of BAZ-69501, they also designed the Uragan-1 multiple launch rocket system and the transport and launch vehicle with the Pchela-1 reconnaissance aircraft.
Model launcher Br-1555-1 on the BAZ-69501 chassis. 1991 year
In 1990, the development of BAZ-69501 was the 13-ton long-wheelbase chassis BAZ-69502, which became the last new development of SKB, made in Soviet times. Unlike its predecessor, this machine for the first time received a fundamentally new closed 4-seater frame-metal cabin from the BAZ-6954 model with increased resistance to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion and two hatches in the roof for boarding and disembarking the crew. The chassis was planned to be used as a ground version of the SPU complex "Oka" and the installation of 9P76 for the promising system "Iskander".
Truck BAZ-69502 with an all-metal cab without doors. 1990 year
The emergence of a new 14-ton special chassis BAZ-69506 with a fiberglass cabin was explained by a hasty search for a replacement for the BAZ-69501 car with two KAMAZ engines, the supply of which had ceased after a devastating fire. Without thinking twice, the Bryansk designers boldly returned 30 years ago and mounted a 300 hp Yaroslavl diesel engine on it, which first appeared on the first-born BAZ-135MB. In those harsh times, the car managed to pass acceptance tests, but then it was not used.
Onboard 14-ton BAZ-69506 with one 300-horsepower diesel engine. 1994 year
In the late 1980s, when military orders rolled down, several dual-purpose vehicles were created on the BAZ-69501 chassis, devoid of military paraphernalia. The most original was the 11-tonne national economic truck BAZ-6951P, in which two 260-horsepower KamAZ diesel engines were mounted in the central part of the frame under the cargo platform between the third and fourth pairs of wheels. This made it possible to balance the axle load, reduce the noise in the cab and increase the installation length of the frame, but the engines overheated during operation.
BAZ-6951P chassis with two engines under the cargo platform (from the archive of N. Shcherbakov)
Experienced twin-engine car BAZ-6951P (from the archive of N. Shcherbakov)
On the 12-ton multi-purpose vehicle BAZ-69501P, the traditional layout with two Kama engines was used. Of other vehicles, the BAZ-69505 chassis could be used for military purposes with the equipment of the ATZ-5609 tanker with a tank with a capacity of 17 thousand liters.
BAZ-69501P flatbed truck of classic layout (from the archive of N. Shcherbakov)
Tests of BAZ-60501P with two 210-horsepower engines (from the archive of N. Shcherbakov)
Tanker ATZ-5609 on the BAZ-69505 chassis (from the archive of N. Shcherbakov)
Special chassis BAZ-6948 / BAZ-6954 (1986-1997)
The special Bryansk chassis included several four-axle vehicles, which were the most original search designs, designed for the prospect of their further implementation in new generations of vehicles for carrying missile systems.
The first range, created under the leadership of chief designer Yuri Ivanovich Mosin, consisted of a 14-ton chassis with two 210-horsepower KamAZ-740 engines for the new Oka-U missile system of increased accuracy. Their prototypes BAZ-6944M and BAZ-6944M20 for the launcher and charging machine, respectively, were assembled and tested in 1986. A year after the modifications, they were renamed BAZ-6948 and BAZ-69481.
On the way to deep unification, they embodied the unique idea of Soviet engineers, which was considered a new mainstream in the creation of multi-axle vehicles and had no foreign analogues. It consisted in using the BAZ-6944 amphibious displacement hull for land vehicles, but without sealing, water cannons and other units from amphibious vehicles.
Hull 14-ton chassis BAZ-6948 for TZM complex "Oka-U". 1987 year
In 1987, on the BAZ-69481 chassis, a capacious case was mounted for the Oka-U prototype launcher. The open aft compartment of the BAZ-6948 vehicle was used to transport two missiles. Meanwhile, the refusal to release the Oka missile systems during the period of disarmament and exacerbation of friendship with the West forced the revision of these systems to be curtailed. However, two years later, after the completion of state tests, both vehicles were prudently put into service. In the future, the best qualities of the Oka and Oka-U complexes were implemented in the even more powerful and accurate Iskander missile systems.
Land vehicle BAZ-69481 with a high load-bearing body. 1987 year
Tests of the BAZ-69481 chassis for the launcher of the Oka-U complex
In 1990, the second range was made by the only sample of the 17-ton BAZ-6954 car with 210-horsepower engines and a steel cabin brought forward. He served for the installation of advanced types of weapons and was an exception to all previous developments. Its design under the leadership of the chief designer Viktor Pavlovich Trusov was carried out within the framework of the new factory research theme "Facet", but the military still attributed the car to the "Voshchina" family.
The structurally elongated BAZ-6954 was a development of the BAZ-69501 chassis and was unified with the BAZ-69502 machine created simultaneously with it, in which the hatches in the roof of the frame-panel cab were replaced with ordinary doors. BAZ-6954 met the strength requirements for the effects of all factors of weapons of mass destruction and was tested for resistance to the shock wave of a nuclear explosion.
Long-wheelbase twin-engine 420-strong truck BAZ-6954
In 1992, the Barrikady plant on the BAZ-6954 chassis assembled a prototype SPU 9P76 of the Iskander complex with one missile and a front-mounted gas turbine electric generator. A year later, at the Kapustin Yar test site, he made eight test launches, and according to their results, the terms of reference for the well-known Iskander-M missile system was approved.
Launcher 9P76 tactical complex "Iskander". 1992 year
Artillery tractors of the BAZ-6953 series (1987-1996)
Another exception to the rule was the first special artillery tractors in the USSR, created by converting the BAZ-69501 chassis into ballast vehicles for towing heavy artillery systems and trailers weighing up to 15 tons. This is how lightweight, high-speed and more maneuverable short-base vehicles of the BAZ-6953 series with a shifted forward a plastic cabin and an all-metal cargo platform. They appeared at the turning point of the late 1980s and early 1990s and entered the armed forces in very small numbers.
The first BAZ-6953 tractor with two 210-horsepower engines was developed in 1987 under the leadership of Yuri Mosin within the framework of the "Basis-1" theme and belonged to the "Voshchina" military family. The car could work as part of road trains with a gross weight of up to 45 tons and transport over 10 tons of ammunition and combat crew of towed systems in the back. The maximum speed of a single tractor on the highway reached 75 km / h, and a loaded road train - 65 km / h.
The chassis of the BAZ-6953 short-base twin-engine artillery tractor. 1987 year
Ballast tractor BAZ-6953 for towing 15-ton artillery pieces
The main purpose of the BAZ-6953 was to tow heavy artillery systems of 152 mm caliber - a four-wheeled gun "Hyacinth-B" and a single-axle howitzer "Msta-B" with a combat crew of up to eight people. The car also worked with a standard 11-ton trailer ChMZAP-8335.4 for mounting special bodies. The production of BAZ-6953 continued until the summer of 1993, when all engine reserves were exhausted due to a fire at KamAZ.
BAZ-6953 tows a four-wheeled 152-mm cannon 2A36 "Hyacinth-B"
Tests of the car on the rise with a trailed gun "Hyacinth-B"
Tests of the BAZ-6953 tractor in conjunction with a heavy four-wheeled cannon
A year later, the car was revived in the guise of a modified BAZ-69531 model designed by Viktor Trusov, created by replacing two previous KamAZ engines with one 300-horsepower YaMZ-238N diesel engine. The cab, body and all other units corresponded to the BAZ-6953 model, and the external differences from the previous car consisted mainly in the form of the front cab trim.
The prototype of the artillery tractor BAZ-69531 (from the avenue V / O "Avtoexport")
Serial version of the modernized single-engine tractor BAZ-69531
Tractor BAZ-69531 in the Ryazan Museum of Military Vehicles (photo by M. Shelepenkov)
A few versions of artillery tractors included the BAZ-69532 version with a reinforced cargo platform, capable of operating as part of road trains with a gross weight of up to 70 tons. In the late 1980s, an experienced short-base multipurpose tractor BAZ-69501PT was assembled for the national economy on the BAZ-6953 chassis. Unlike military vehicles, military equipment, awning, partitions and benches in an onboard metal body were not mounted on it.
