PMM machine - 2T
Let's say right away that this is not a combat vehicle - this is a simulator. Its creation at the plant began after the chief designer E. Lentsus arrived from another business trip to Moscow.
Evgeny Evgenievich invited the head of the measurement bureau, Yuri Ostapets, to his office and told him that he had seen a simulator in Nakhabino for training drivers to work on OB vehicles. After all, cars are expensive and it is better to start training young drivers on a simulator. The chief designer finished his story with the following words: At the request of Ostapets to tell more about the simulator, E. Lenzius replied:
As they say, I went, looked and realized that the work on the new simulator was up to the designers of the plant. We started working on the idea. The design of the main and defining simulators was entrusted to the measurement bureau. The design of simulators for pontoons, ramps, opening mechanisms and terrain was entrusted to the design departments, as they say, according to their affiliation. A television system was chosen as the device for simulating the visual environment. The system consisted of two television monitors and a cart, which moved around the terrain model using electric motors. Its speed varied depending on the transmission and engine speed. A small-sized video camera for those times was installed on the trolley, transmitting an image of the traffic situation from a model to TVs.
The simulator cabin was taken from a production vehicle with the appropriate modification. Governing bodies, measuring instruments were also regular. The valve simulators had the same effect on the trainee's hand as in the machine. The road conditions, temperature conditions (winter - summer), pre-engine warm-up in winter were simulated, the opening of pontoons and ramps was simulated in full, that is, the most important moments of the learning process. The mistakes of the trainees were registered at the instructor's station automatically.
It should be noted here that the manufacture of electronic blocks of prototypes was carried out using radio amateur technology by the specialists of the bureau, which was not suitable for production if the release becomes serial.
- doubted Viktor Andreevich Vlaskin, deputy chief designer.
To facilitate the task of manufacturing electromechanical units, it was still possible to place orders for the manufacture of boards at a radio plant in the nearby city of Svetlovodsk and at the Calculator plant. At first, most of the original components, with which the plant had never dealt with, were acquired by the bureau's specialists themselves at the enterprises of Kharkov, Svetlovodsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Novgorod.
The installation of the simulator was no less difficult than the assembly of the machine itself, therefore the installation of the simulator at the consumer's premises was carried out by the factory specialists. The development of the PMM-2T simulator made it possible to preserve the vehicle's service life, reduce the cost of the driver training process, and, most importantly, bring this process to a higher, modern level.
Product - 851
In the 80s. last century, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union began to receive tanks and other equipment of a new generation weighing 41 - 46 tons and more. Accordingly, it became necessary to have ferry means of greater carrying capacity than PMM - 2M. In 1986, the department of the chief designer No. 2 received a technical assignment for the design of a new ferry-bridge machine with a carrying capacity of 50 tons - product "851".
The deputy chief designer Viktor Andreevich Vlaskin was appointed to carry out general management of the creation of the product and the project manager was appointed. He gathered the bureau chiefs and leading specialists and began to think how to increase the carrying capacity and at the same time maintain the stability of the machine on the water? It was clear that it was necessary to add volume to the pontoons, but how not to increase the vehicle's own weight and its dimensions for transportation by rail. The solution was found unexpected and simple. In the new product, the boats or pontoons, when deployed, were not next to the main machine, but at some distance. Thus, the total length of the bridge platform has increased from 9.9 to 12 m.
Due to the fact that a space appeared between the pontoons and the hull, the water resistance decreased, because now it flowed around not one large volume, but three small ones. Reduced water resistance means you can increase the speed on the water and the stability of the machine. A prototype was made. On the space between the main car and the pontoons, special bridges were superimposed on top - internal ramps. They were not heavy and the pontoons handled this work by hand.
At the same time, of course, it was necessary to significantly revise the mechanism for opening the pontoons. In order not to increase the weight of the machine, some of the parts were made of aluminum. What was done for the first time - titanium ramps. This material has a low density and high specific strength. However, welders in the pilot plant quickly realized that titanium was difficult to weld because of its high activity. When welding, it was necessary to protect from interaction with gases not only the straightened weld metal, but also all highly heated parts. Soon the issue was resolved: they applied another welding in an argon atmosphere.
Factory tests of the new car began. She performed very well and the results were encouraging. The second prototype was made for carrying out field-military tests. In the first quarter of 1992, two prototypes were sent to Gatchina, near Leningrad.
Meanwhile, new political events burst into the life of the plant's staff, every citizen of the country - the Soviet Union collapsed. The plant workers tried to return the prototypes to the enterprise, but this was not done. At least the money for them was received from the Ministry of Defense. A new unique development then remained unclaimed.
Instead of an epilogue
In March 1992, the plant received a letter from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine dated March 2 under the number 148/3/66. It said that Ukraine had chosen a new military doctrine for itself - a defensive one. And she does not need offensive weapons (which also include landing craft). Therefore, it was proposed to stop the production of engineering equipment.
The suspension of the production of defense equipment, the transition to market relations demanded efforts and will from the plant's staff. The search for new products and the reorganization of production for its release began. But the plant did not exclude the possibility of returning to the orders of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine already.
Such an opportunity, it seemed, appeared in 1993, when the Chinese Ministry of Defense showed interest in the PMM-2M ferry-bridge machines. At the same time, a contract was signed for the supply of two cars. But why does the military department of such a huge country need only two cars? Probably, in order to study the device, it is possible to copy units, details and set up your own production. But then no one delved into such details, because the last batch of cars assembled in late 1991 - early 1992 remained unclaimed at the plant. Therefore, the buyers were happy.
The cars were escorted to China by the head of the electrical equipment bureau Viktor Gontar, the leading engineer of the guaranteed service bureau Viktor Golovnya and the mechanic-driver Sergey Shablin. They had to prepare the machines for operation, train the Chinese military to work on the PMM - 2M. Things went swimmingly.
We arrived in Beijing. The Chinese greeted me cordially, at the very beginning of the work they had a meeting, something like a round table. In the center were the plant's specialists. The military and civilians present began asking questions. They concerned design features, production technology, up to steel grades, machine operation, etc. Then they left for the test site, where there was a special reservoir for testing. A training program for four Chinese crews was drawn up, designed for two weeks. There were also representatives of various institutions, apparently engineers. Whole delegations were brought by buses twice: they simply watched, asked to show one or another maneuver.
Mechanic - driver S. Shablin was a great specialist in this matter. According to the instructions, ferries should be opened on the shore and then enter the water. But Shablin on the move, from the march flew into the water. The car glided lightly and gracefully on the smooth surface of the water, opening its pontoons on the move and turning into a huge floating bridge. And when the car flew out of the water at speed, carrying with it a wave that rolled off the ferry and scattered in millions of splashes, the car seemed like a fabulous alien ship. The Chinese applauded.
Then the Chinese military performed operations to enter and exit the water, roll and transport cargo - tanks. Thus, the trip was successful for both parties. But in the assembly shop, at the delivery site, there were still 16 cars. And in 1996 a new buyer was found, though also Chinese. It was a company that planned to use PMM - 2M in the process of oil and gas production from the offshore shelf: to deliver cargo to and from platforms. On November 25, 1996, a contract was signed for the shipment of the remaining 16 vehicles.
In the summer of 1997, the machines were ready for dispatch. They were loaded onto railway platforms: the base vehicle separately and the removed pontoons also separately. In addition, spare engines, caterpillars, etc. were loaded. The whole plant saw off the cars, even a rally was held. Great hopes were pinned on the contract.
When the train approached the Chinese border, problems began with Russian customs and border guards. It turned out that according to the documents, the machines were designed as dual-use products. In addition to the military sphere, they can also be used for civilian needs. Actually, it was for oil production that they were supposed to be used. It would seem that everything is in order.
But … On the platforms there were PMM-2M ferry-bridge vehicles, which were also in service with the Russian army. And besides, they were also painted in camouflage. While we were negotiating, explaining, drawing up the necessary documents, two months passed. Finally, the train was allowed to cross the border. But then it turned out that the term of the letter of credit had expired. We began to solve this problem.
In the meantime, a group of Kazan Helicopters specialists flew to China to hand over the machines and teach them how to operate. We got to the place, began to wait for the equipment to be bought in order to reactivate, install pontoons and teach the new owners to work on floating machines. Three cars were assembled for display, the rest remained in the customs warehouse. Many representatives came - potential buyers, but no one dared to buy the equipment. So half a year passed. After the specialists from Kazan Helicopters were recalled to the plant.
Then the case of payment for the delivered cars at the request of the Kryukov Carriage Works was considered by the international court. The plant won it. The Chinese side paid what was prescribed by its decision. But it was not possible to bring the matter to its logical conclusion. The state did not support the workers and did not take advantage of the results of the work already done.
This last deal, related to the transfer and landing equipment, remained a bitter lump in the history of the plant. In those years, no one cared about the production of such complex technology, unique not only on a national scale, but also in the world. Conversion was in full swing in the country.
Since 1998, the plant has completely switched to the production of passenger cars. This is a good thing, of course. But today in Ukraine there are practically no enterprises capable of producing engineering, let alone landing equipment, from scratch. It's a shame, because you have to buy from others what you could do yourself.
With regards to the further history of the development of machines of the PMM-2 type, in the Russian army it has a continuation. This is the PDP landing ferry. The PDP ferry is designed and manufactured by JSC KBTM in the city of Omsk. At the end of 2013, it was adopted by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Self-propelled ferry PDP, designed for ferry crossing water obstacles of tanks, missile systems, artillery systems, infantry fighting vehicles and other military equipment. The PDP complex consists of two parts: a low-silhouette tracked conveyor (Product 561P), created using tank units and assemblies, as well as the ferry itself.
The PDP ferry is a three-section structure. When folded, the ferry with a total weight of 29.5 tons fits into the transverse dimensions of the conveyor. When unfolded, the ferry has a length of 16.5 meters and a width of 10.3 m.
The PDP ferry is delivered to the water barrier using a caterpillar conveyor. The ferry is deployed on the water (according to the operating instructions) or on the shore (in practice, in the absence of significant irregularities at the entrance to the water) by opening the ramps of the right and left half-ferries. While on the water, the RPS can take on board a cargo with a total weight of up to 60 tons. Moreover, its draft does not exceed 650 mm. For movement on water, the steam has a 330 hp engine. with. and a propeller. The power plant is located in the stern of the ferry, and on the bow there is a crew cabin, consisting of two people.
Without cargo, the PDP ferry can move at a speed of up to 12 km / h. At full load, the maximum speed drops to 10 km / h. The fuel reserve allows you to work up to 10 hours without refueling. The RAP complex can perform its tasks at a current speed of up to 2.5 m / s and waves of up to two points. If necessary, the PDP ferry can be docked with the links of the PP91 pontoon fleet.
