In 1930-32, Soviet organizations and enterprises dealt with the subject of chemical armored vehicles. The experimental design and test bureau of the Red Army Mechanization and Motorization Department and the Kompressor plant (Moscow) jointly created four projects of such equipment, but they all turned out to be unsuccessful. Nevertheless, with their help, it was possible to accumulate the necessary experience and, on its basis, make a full-fledged chemical armored car. The KS-18 car was able to get into the series and serve in the army.
Benefit from failure
Projects D-18, D-39, BHM-1000 and BHM-800 developed by OKIB and "Compressor" proposed to build chemical armored vehicles based on several types of trucks. Instead of a body, a tank for chemical warfare agents was mounted on the chassis, and equipment for spraying them was placed next to it. Some of these projects involved the use of armored cabins and tanks.
Tests of several prototypes have shown their inconsistency. The chassis worked fine only on the road, but not on rough terrain. The armor protected people and chemicals, but reduced the carrying capacity. There was no armament for self-defense.
Based on the results of the analysis of the tests, the requirements for the following chemical armored car were determined. As before, it was proposed to use a serial truck chassis, but this time with a higher carrying capacity. The car had to be booked and armed with a machine gun. The chemical tank and spray devices had to be placed under the armor.
In this form, the "chemical attack" armored car could solve all its tasks with minimal risk. He had to spray CWA, perform degassing or install smoke screens, incl. at the forefront.
KS-18 project
In 1934, the plant of crushing and grinding equipment in Vyksa received an assignment to develop a new chemical armored car. The basis for this sample was taken by a ZIS-6 truck with a carrying capacity of 6 tons, on which a tank and KS-18 spray equipment from the Kompressor plant were installed. According to some reports, several of these machines were built, and they were used to a limited extent in the Red Army as training ones.
The chemical machine based on the ZIS-6 possessed the necessary characteristics for further development. In this regard, in 1935, the Military Chemical Directorate of the Red Army instructed the DRO plant to equip this sample with armor and weapons.
The chemical armored car project "inherited" the name from the KS-18 chemical spraying system. In some sources, it is also referred to as BHM-1. It is curious that this name is sometimes found in the context of the BHM-1000 project. These circumstances can lead to specific situations: an armored car can be confused with an unprotected vehicle or even with chemical equipment for both samples.
The ZIS-6 chassis was built on the basis of a frame and had a 6x4 wheel arrangement. The powertrain included a 73 hp engine. and a four-speed gearbox. Power was transmitted to two rear driving axles with the possibility of selection for additional equipment. The ZIS-6 in its original configuration had a curb weight of more than 4, 2 tons and could carry cargo weighing 4 tons.
A riveted armored body was mounted on the serial chassis. The armor sheets were made by a related enterprise, and their installation on the frame was carried out by the DRO plant. The body consisted of parts with a thickness of 4 to 8 mm and could provide protection only against bullets or shrapnel. Probably, when developing the hull, the issues of increasing survivability were taken into account, which affected its design and layout.
The bow of the hull served as a protected hood and covered the power plant. Behind it was a manned compartment-cabin of greater height. At the rear of the chassis, an armored casing of a lower height with a sloping roof was placed. Inside this casing was a CWA tank. By increasing the length of the container and its casing, the designers were able to reduce their height. Due to this, the main projections of the tank were reduced, and the likelihood of its destruction was also reduced. Devices of the KS-18 system were placed next to the tank.
The tank held 1000 liters of liquid chemical. The KS-18 equipment included a centrifugal pump driven by an engine and spraying devices. A horseshoe-shaped spray was intended to infect the area. Degassing was carried out using a spray column. The same devices were proposed to be used when setting up smoke screens.
The sprayer for CWA from KS-18 made it possible to simultaneously "fill" a strip with a width of up to 20-25 m. 1000 liters of the chemical was enough for a section 450-470 m long. One tank filling made it possible to degass a strip 8 m wide and 330-350 m long. The S-IV mixture provided the setting of the smoke screen for 27-29 minutes.
For self-defense, the KS-18 armored car received one DT machine gun in a ball mount on the frontal sheet of the cockpit for firing into the front hemisphere. The crew consisted of two people, a driver and a commander, who was also a gunner, radio operator and operator of chemical equipment. The cockpit had a 71-TK radio station with a handrail antenna encircling the roof.
The KS-18 chemical armored car had a length of about 6 m with a width and height of about 2 m. The mass is unknown; apparently, this parameter was at the level of 6-7 tons and did not exceed the total mass of the ZIS-6 truck. The car could reach speeds of up to 45-50 km / h and overcome small obstacles. Mobility in rough terrain was limited by the characteristics of the chassis.
Production and operation
In 1935-37, experienced KS-18 armored cars were tested, during which they showed the required characteristics, and in addition, demonstrated the advantages of the new chassis over the previous ones. The armored car received a recommendation for adoption and production.
The first serial KS-18 went to the troops in 1937. The production of such equipment lasted for about two years. During this time, the plant DRO with the participation of "Compressor" and ZIS built 94 armored cars. This technique was intended for the combat support companies of tank brigades. According to the staff, each company was supposed to have 4 armored cars, but not all units were fully equipped.
Armored vehicles KS-18 remained in service until the start of World War II and, together with other equipment, took the battle. During the war, the Red Army did not use chemical weapons, and therefore the KS-18 did not contaminate the area. They also did not have to perform degassing. Apparently, armored cars from the tank brigades could perform the functions of reconnaissance and patrol vehicles, as well as install smoke screens.
There is information about the use of KS-18 in the Crimea. In the first weeks of the war, there were at least two such armored cars from the 463rd flamethrower-chemical company. It is reported that by that time the vehicles had lost their chemical equipment and had become "ordinary" armored vehicles. As of November 10, there were about 30 armored cars of several types in Sevastopol. Perhaps among them were the few KS-18s who managed to survive the previous battles.
The situation at the front and specific fighting qualities predetermined the fate of the KS-18 vehicles. Such a technique, solving unusual tasks for it, died in battles. Also, the machines could fail for technical reasons. According to various estimates, by the end of 1941, there were no chemical armored cars of this model left in the Red Army. Thus, of the 94 built chemical armored vehicles of the KS-18 type, not one survived even until the middle of the war.
End of concept
In August 1941, the State Defense Committee, by its decree, instructed several people's commissariats to develop and put into series a new version of a chemical armored car with the transfer of the first vehicle before November 1. However, at that time, the industry was loaded with other work and evacuation, which made it impossible to develop a new project. Soon, such a task was officially canceled, which put an end to the long program of creating chemical armored cars.
As a result, the chemical armored vehicle KS-18 took an interesting place in the history of Soviet armored vehicles. It was the first example of its class to enter service. He turned out to be the only development of this kind that took part in real battles. And with all this, he became the last representative of his class in the Red Army. It was not possible to create a new armored car to replace the KS-18, and then our army abandoned this entire direction.
