At the end of 1930, the Experimental Design and Testing Bureau of the Department of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army (OKIB UMM), headed by Nikolai Ivanovich Dyrenkov, began work on the topic of chemical armored vehicles. Subsequently, the Compressor plant was attracted to this direction. The result of this work was the emergence of several interesting prototypes - but none of these projects went into series.
On an accessible chassis
In the early thirties, our country was struggling with a shortage of vehicles and other equipment, which is why the UMM of the Red Army was working on the issue of using available vehicles as the basis for armored vehicles of different classes. Thus, the first Soviet chemical tank developed by OKIB was built on the basis of the Kommunar tractor. In a similar way, it was planned to make new armored cars.
For new chemical armored vehicles, OKIB chose two existing 6x4 chassis at once. These were Ford-Timken and Moreland TX6 cars. Their characteristics corresponded to the design loads, and in addition, they were available in sufficient quantities and could be used in new projects. By that time, "Ford-Timken" and "Moreland" had managed to master some military specialties, and now they had to become the base for chemical armored cars.
OKIB projects
In the middle of 1931, OKIB UMM began the development of two armored cars on different chassis. The TX6 was based on a sample called the D-18. A similar development at Ford-Timken was named D-39. The projects provided for the removal of all "superfluous" standard parts, instead of which new devices of one kind or another were mounted.
The armored cars were supposed to have bulletproof protection made of rolled sheets with a thickness of 6 to 8 mm. The engine casing and the cabin were assembled from the armor panels. An armored casing for the target equipment was placed on the cargo platform of the chassis. Thus, the D-18 and D-39 armored cars could work at the front line, giving the crew and cargo protection from bullets.
During the construction of the D-18 and D-39, the power set, propulsion system, transmission and chassis of the base chassis did not change, due to which the main characteristics remained the same. However, most of the carrying capacity was spent on the armored hull and chemical equipment, which affected the mass of the liquid load.
On the D-18 armored car, the cargo area with booking was given under two tanks with a total capacity of 1100 liters. On the D-39, it was possible to install only one 800-liter tank. The pumping equipment of the KS-18 type produced by the Compressor plant was responsible for spraying the chemicals. It consisted of a horseshoe-shaped aft sprayer for spraying CWA and a spray column for degassing or setting up smoke screens. The operation of the spraying devices was provided by a centrifugal pump driven by an engine.
Depending on the task at hand, the D-18 and D-39 could take on board various fluids. The sprayer for CWA provided contamination of a strip with a width of up to 25 m; the speed of movement should not exceed 3-5 km / h. During degassing, the spray column processed a strip 8 m wide.
The combat characteristics of armored cars directly depended on the capacity of the tanks. So, D-18 with a large stock of chemicals could create an infection zone with a length of 450-500 m or degass an area with a length of 350-400 m. Smoke-forming mixture S-IV was enough for setting the curtains for half an hour. The D-39 armored car had a tank of smaller capacity and corresponding characteristics.
Prototypes D-18 and D-39 did not have any weapons for self-defense. Perhaps in the future they could get a DT machine gun on one or another installation.
The crew consisted of only two people. The driver-mechanic was responsible for driving the vehicle, and the commander was supposed to control the operation of the chemical equipment. With a machine gun, the commander could also become a shooter.
The development of the D-18 and D-39 machines began in mid-1931, but soon faced organizational problems. The prototype D-18 was built only in the fall of the following 1932. A little later, we completed the assembly of the D-39. To save money, both armored cars were built without the use of armor. Their hulls were made of structural steel to obtain the calculated mass.
On December 1, 1932, OKIB UMM was disbanded. Two projects of chemical armored vehicles were transferred to the design bureau of the Compressor plant. He participated in their development as a supplier of key components, and therefore had to cope with further work. Also in the future, this enterprise could create new projects.
At the turn of 1932-33. field tests of two armored cars took place. The machines demonstrated satisfactory characteristics and coped with the tasks of spraying conventional CWA or degassing the area. At the same time, the Ford-Timken and Moreland TX6 car chassis performed poorly on rough terrain. In addition, the characteristic architecture and insufficiently strong armor limited the combat survivability.
In their current form, the D-18 and D-39 were not of interest to the army, but could become the basis for new developments. The design bureau of the Kompressor plant took into account the experience of testing two samples from OKIB UMM and made conclusions, after which it created its own machines of the same class.
Armored cars "Compressor"
In the first months of 1933, the Compressor began developing its own chemical armored car. This sample remained in history under the names BHM-1000 and BHM-1. The letters in the index meant "armored chemical vehicle", and the numbers indicated the capacity of the CWA tanks or the project number. From the point of view of general ideas, the BHM-1000 project repeated the development of OKIB. The differences were in the list of units used.
The KB "Compressor" considered it inappropriate to use a foreign chassis. The basis for the BHM-1000 was the domestic AMO-3 truck. Such a chassis was not inferior to imported ones in terms of carrying capacity, but it was decided to leave it without armor. Perhaps it could be added after testing and determining the approximate characteristics.
In place of the standard AMO-3 body, a metal tank with a capacity of 1000 liters was placed. A KS-18 complex with a pump and spray devices was also installed there. The use of such a system made it possible to maintain the performance characteristics of previous machines. Also, the capabilities and functions on the battlefield have not changed.
Armament on the prototype was not installed. For its installation, it was necessary to refine the standard cab of the base truck, and such a step could be considered unnecessary at the current stage of work.
In the same 1933, the BKhM-1000 chemical machine without armor and weapons was tested. The characteristics of the chemical apparatus were confirmed and generally met the requirements. However, there were problems with the chassis again. The AMO-3 truck, even without armor, did not always cope with the load. The car could hardly move off-road, and the installation of protection would completely spoil its mobility.
A BHM-1000 product with such qualities was not of interest to the Red Army. However, the production of a small batch of such machines was ordered for use as training machines. This order was completed in the shortest possible time, and soon the chemical units were able to practice combat work on completely new specialized equipment.
Shortly after the BHM-1000, a prototype appeared under the name BHM-800. It was built on a Ford Timken chassis using the same solutions as in the previous project. A tank with a capacity of 800 liters and a KS-18 system were installed on a serial truck. It was assumed that the BHM-800 will be similar in characteristics to the BHM-1000 - with the exception of the parameters associated with the payload.
The unarmored BKhM-800 was tested and showed approximately the same results as the BKhM-1000 and D-39. The target equipment again confirmed its characteristics, and the chassis again showed the impossibility of normal off-road operation. The future of another project was in doubt.
After the completion of the field tests, the BHM-1000 and BHM-800 were slightly modified in their original form. As an experiment, they were equipped with protection in the form of structural steel housings. As in the OKIB projects, armor plates with a thickness of 6-8 mm were used. The installation of the hulls led to an increase in mass and a decrease in mobility. As such, the two "armored chemical vehicles" had no future.
New solutions
The projects of OKIB UMM and the Compressor plant made it possible to test a number of not very successful ideas, as well as to find solutions suitable for further elaboration. As for the prototype equipment, all four prototypes, apparently, were converted into trucks for use for their intended purpose.
The designers from the bureau of the Compressor plant have confirmed in practice that the KS-18 system is capable of solving the assigned tasks, but for its successful application a new base vehicle is needed. The search for new chassis began, and in addition, the development of a special armored hull, corresponding to the assigned tasks, began.
The result of all these works was the appearance of the chemical armored vehicle KS-18. It was not devoid of shortcomings, but still met the customer's requirements and was even built in a limited series. In addition, the series went to the so-called. filling stations - machines for degassing the area on an unprotected chassis. Thus, the projects D-18, D-39, BHM-1000 and BHM-800 still led to the desired results, albeit indirectly.
