Today we have on our agenda a truly Russian technique - sledges. And not simple, but self-propelled, which are equipped with an internal combustion engine with a pushing propeller. That is, the snowmobile. And still not simple, but armored.
The history of the appearance of domestic snowmobiles dates back to the era of tsarist Russia. Indeed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, following the advent of compact internal combustion engines, the first snowmobiles were developed and built, which were by no means intended for military needs, but as light recreational and sports carriages.
Nevertheless, the vast expanses of the Russian Empire with a weak road network, the harsh climatic conditions of the Russian North have long posed the task of designers to create a reliable and high-speed winter vehicle. Therefore, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1912, at the Russian-Baltic Plant, the serial production of the first domestic transport snowmobiles began. However, in the war, snowmobiles were used very little, the first combat use was recorded in 1915, but a significant number of facts of the use of snowmobiles for military purposes have not been preserved in history.
The first Soviet design of a snowmobile from Tupolev appeared in 1919, and by the 1930s, technologies and design ideas were brought to implementation in a series.
The forerunner of the NKL-26 was the NKL-16 snowmobile designed by N. M. Andreev.
The NKL-16 snow sled was widely used on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, especially in the winter of 1941/42. They were used for operational communications, the delivery of military cargo, they were used for patrol, landing and combat operations.
During the transfer of landings, the snowmobiles not only took fighters with full weapons on board, but also towed 18-20 skiers on special cables. In combat conditions, they towed trailed drags along the sides, in which soldiers with a maxim machine gun and a second crew number with the necessary ammunition were accommodated. In addition, soldiers sitting in the car could fire from machine guns through the hatches opening in the roof of the hull.
The disadvantage of the NKL-16 was the lack of its own weapons and armor, therefore, in December 1941 - January 1942, under the leadership of N. M. Andreev and M. V.
Already in January 1942, on the ice of Lake Ladoga, snowmobiles were working to transfer cargo to Leningrad, and combat snowmobiles of the NKL-26 type were patrolling and guarding the road of life. With the beginning of the war, on the basis of the NKL-6 transport snowmobiles, special reconnaissance snowmobiles NKL-26 were developed.
After the end of the war, most of the transport snowmobiles were transferred for use in the national economy. A significant part of NKL-26 and NKL-16 was transferred to the Ministry of Communications of the RSFSR. They served the delivery of mail on regular lines along the Amur, Lena, Ob, Severnaya Dvina, Mezen, Pechora and other places where it was impossible to use ordinary transport vehicles. The production of the snowmobile was discontinued in 1959.
The NKL-26 sleigh had a 10-mm armored hull, which provided anti-bullet and anti-fragmentation protection.
The armament consisted of one machine gun DT (Degtyarev tank), caliber 7, 62 mm on a turret, providing an almost circular sector of fire. The stock of cartridges is 10 magazines and 10 RGD-33 grenades.
The sleds were driven by the M-11 engine, similar to that installed on the Po-2 aircraft. Motor with a capacity of 110 h.p. provided a sled with a speed of up to 70 km / h on a flat surface and 30-35 km / h on an uneven surface.
An electric starter and a generator were additionally installed on the engine for starting from the driver's seat. Their place is to the left and right of the outer sides of the lower cylinders. The engine was mated with another unit - an air heater at the inlet to the carburetor. Its installation improved the operation of the engine at low temperatures, eliminating the depletion of the working mixture entering the cylinders, and freezing of the suction channels and the carburetor.
The first models were produced with a wooden body with four independently suspended steering skis. The frame was assembled from transverse frames and longitudinal stringers, and then sheathed with 10 mm waterproof plywood.
Its front part was protected by an armored shield reinforced at an angle of 60 ° to the vertical - a sheet of bulletproof armor 10 mm thick. In the shield, in front of the driver, there was an inspection hatch with a flap, in which a narrow slot was made. The only door was located to the left of the driver, along the sides there were two small windows made of ordinary glass for side viewing.
In the roof of the corps, above the commander, there was a round hole, equipped with a reinforced edging. An annular base was attached to the edging, on which a turret for a DT machine gun was installed. The turret had an armored shield with a figured cutout for a machine gun.
The swing mechanism provided a horizontal angle of fire up to 300 °; 60 ° fell on the area of the rotating propeller.
There were attempts to increase the firepower of the NKL-26, for example, by using guides with rockets.
In the rear, behind the commander's compartment, there was a gas tank.
The undercarriage of the snowmobile consisted of four skis of the same size, semi-axles and spring telescopic shock-absorbing struts. Open skis, T-shaped cross-section, interchangeable. The front is wider than the rear, which helps to reduce lateral friction when driving on loose snow.
The snowmobile was controlled using the steering wheel, through a system of cables and levers. When the wheel rotated, all four skis turned simultaneously, which dramatically increased maneuverability.
They were in service with combat aerosled battalions, which operated together with combined arms units (mainly with skiers) and independently performed tasks in the combat support service - reconnaissance, communications, pursuit, and so on.
The NKL-26 snow sled was designed for a crew of two - the vehicle commander, who simultaneously performs the functions of a shooter in combat operations, and a driver-mechanic.
Emergency kit just in case: spare propeller and skis. In case of an accident or lack of fuel.
In general, NKL-16 and NKL-26 served quite successfully. And they continued their work after the war.
This (and possibly the only one in the country) copy of the NKL-26 can be seen in the exposition of the Museum of Patriotic Military History in the village of Padikovo, Istra District, Moscow Region.
Perhaps, somewhere in the country in museums in the North, there are still individual copies, but these sledges in the museum of military history in Padikovo have been completely restored and are in full working order.
