The experience of using the Volna machine in the army showed that, having a wheeled drive, it very often slipped on the swampy, sandy and high banks of the river. And it took a lot of skill of the driver to get out on a solid road. In addition, it was not easy to repair the aluminum pontoons and hull in the field army workshops. In addition, this ferry, like other types of ferries, had an insufficient speed of movement on the water due to the high resistance of the water caused by the significant deepening of the hull and chassis into the water. The large draft of the ferries along the undercarriage also made it difficult to load and unload tanks and other heavy military equipment in conditions of small slopes of the seabed near the coast.
Therefore, the engineers of the department of the chief designer №2 received a new task: to create a tracked vehicle from steel. The best heads of the department went to brainstorm, and the decision was made. The design of the upper pontoon opening system was changed, it became possible to independently dump the upper and lower pontoons onto the railway platform, that is, to transport the pontoons and the car body separately. For the base of the new car that received the index PMM - 2, took a tracked floating transporter PTS - 2M.
The prototype for this vehicle was the PTS-65 floating transporter, created by the plant in the 1950s. and transferred for production to the Lugansk diesel locomotive plant in 1961. The chassis of the PTS - 2M was, in turn, borrowed from the heavy tractor MT - T produced by the Kharkov plant named after Malysheva.
For movement on water, the car was equipped with two screw propellers, which were located in the attachments and, when moving on land, were located in special niches at the stern of the car. The course on the water was held by the rudder, and with a sharp turn on the water, the propellers could turn on one to the front, the other to the rear.
Structurally, the PMM-2 ferry consists of a caterpillar floating conveyor with a waterproof hull of a deck structure, hinged to the hull of two additional pontoons (colloquially called "boats"), with ramps, docking devices and carriageways. In the transport position, the pontoons are located on the body of the machine one above the other.
After the machine enters the water (the machine is able to float with the pontoons in the transport position) or before entering the water with the help of hydraulics, the pontoons are tilted to the sides, forming a three-link steam. The ferry has a three-seat cabin with a filtering unit, a radio station and an internal intercom. The propulsion unit is a two-channel water jet (that is, there are two propellers in the tunnels at the back), which allows the ferry to be highly maneuverable on the water.
By the summer of 1974, two prototypes of the ferry-bridge machine, which had serial numbers 40927 and 40929, were ready. Just like the "Volna - 1" on a wheel drive, the new machine had the main elements: the hull (leading machine), lower and upper boats (pontoons). All the main elements of the hull and boats are made of steel. The machine was controlled on land and on the water, as well as the opening of boats and ramps, was carried out from the cockpit by a mechanic-driver. The locking of the butt devices was done manually.
An experimental set of transitional links was also manufactured for joining the Volna with the links of the PMP fleet. The transitional link was a pontoon with a carriageway, the transoms of which were equipped with docking devices for connection with the Volna - 2 vehicle and the river link of the PMP park.
On the basis of the order of the head of the enterprise, p / box G - 4639 (for reasons of secrecy, this is how the Kryukov Carriage Works was designated in the documentation related to engineering equipment), a commission was created to conduct tests. Its chairman was the chief engineer of the plant Boris Kosyanenko, deputies - the chief designer of OGK-2 Yevgeny Lenzius and his deputy Viktor Vlaskin. The customer was represented by Deputy Senior Military Representative Anatoly Panteleev and Senior Researcher of military unit 12093 (Research Institute of Engineering Troops) Vladimir Zhabrov.
The tests were carried out in the area of Kremenchug. Mileage - on field roads day and night, in various weather conditions. On the water - in the floodplain of the Dnieper River. On the territory of the plant, they practiced loading and securing the car on a railway platform with preliminary unloading of boats. Maintenance and repair of PMM - 2 during the tests was done in the field by the crew and the working group using a mobile workshop.
On the water, the car was tested to accept a load of 40 tons with the support of the ferry on the bottom. A load of 12 tons was loaded onto a car (KrAZ-255B vehicle) and then PMM-2 entered and exited the water with it. We also tried machines as part of a floating bridge, which consisted directly of PMM - 2, transition links and serial PMP links. T-64 tanks and 50-ton IS-3 tanks were allowed to pass over the bridge. It should be noted that the vehicles and the set of transitional links withstood the number of passes of the tanks over the bridge set by the program - 30 times.
Tests lasted from June 1974 to April 1975. Prototypes withstood the total volume of tests. Evgeny Evgenievich Lenzius was a birthday boy. Already from the results of the first tests, it was clear that the car turned out to be wonderful. Although minor flaws were identified, which were quickly eliminated, units were strengthened, etc. The commission, based on the test results, drew up an act in which it recommended that the vehicle be admitted to military trials.
From April to November 1976, there were already 4 vehicles on control tests. They were tested at high flow rates in the area of Salyan in Azerbaijan, in a hot climate in the city of Chardzhou in Turkmenistan and in sea conditions in the area of the Donuzlav spit in the Crimean region. On one of the prototypes, instead of boats, a link of the coastal bridge machine "Lin", developed by that time at Kazan Helicopter Plant, was installed.
In addition, the car was tested for frost resistance. Tested in Zagorsk, outside Moscow. A large freezer was created here, where the entire machine was placed. There she stood for a week at a temperature of minus 40 degrees. A week later, the cell was opened. Test driver Nikolai Lynnik began to start the engine, but he was not in any!
Thus, the Volna - 2 ferry - bridge vehicle successfully passed all the tests and was recommended for adoption. And in 1980, its production began at the Kryukov Carriage Works.
During the production process, a number of design changes were made that made the machine better, simplified the production technology. So, the air system, which provides braking of the machine, was canceled and replaced with a hydraulic servo drive, a new mechanism for opening the lower pontoon was introduced, which made it possible to reduce the number of hydraulic cylinders and reduce the time for preparing the ferry for operation on water.
PMM - 2 or "Wave - 2" turned out to be a wonderful machine. It embodied the thoughts of the best designers of the transfer and landing equipment for all the years. She moved easily over land, quickly turned into a ferry near the coast and was ready to go. Also, there was no need to dock the semi-ferries, as was the case with the GSP. The car was on a caterpillar track, so it was not afraid of off-road conditions, easily overcame sands and slopes, etc.
TTX ferry - bridge machine "Volna - 2"
ferry weight - 36 tons;
lifting capacity - 40 tons;
speed on land - 55 km / h;
overland cruising range - 500 km;
crew - 3 people;
length - 13380 mm;
width - 3300 mm;
height - 3800 mm;
the smallest turning radius on land - 2.75 m;
circulation diameter on water - 28 m;
assembly time - 5 min.
From several self-propelled ferries PMM-2, ferries of increased carrying capacity are assembled:
Ferry from 2 PMM:
lifting capacity - 80 tons;
ferry length - 20 m;
assembly time - 8 min.
Ferry from 3 PMM:
lifting capacity - 120 t;
ferry length - 30 m;
assembly time - 10 min.
However, during the development and testing of the vehicle, the tank industry brought the weight of the medium tank of new models to 42 tons. without reducing the buoyancy reserve. The car was given the designation "Ferry - bridge machine PMM - 2M" (i.e. modernized).
To implement all the improvements in production, it was necessary to conduct tests. And this required large material costs, which they could not find in any way. But as they say, there would be no happiness but misfortune helped: during the production process, the welding shop made a body with deviations in the distance between the butt beams, which made it impossible to use it further. And the customer did not agree to correct the error.
In Soviet times, there was documentation of a special period for all military equipment, which provided for simplifying the design, replacing materials with cheaper ones, expanding tolerances, etc. As a rule, this was all on paper, but in production it was never checked. We decided to take advantage of this.
The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Tyazhmash, naturally, at the suggestion of the plant and the customer's representative, decided to hold a special period on the basis of the plant. Thus, one sample PMM - 2M (factory index PMM - 2M / V (military)) was made from the defective case, with the introduction of all design improvements in it. - 2M.
Thus, the two ministries were able to report to the government on the conduct of the exercises, the plant found a use for the defective hull, and the country received a car with higher technical performance.
In 1985, the PMM - 2M product was put into mass production. The car was released until 1992.
Performance characteristics of the ferry - bridge machine "Volna - 2M"
ferry weight, t 36
lifting capacity, t 42.5
speed on land, km / h 55
cruising range on land, km 500
speed on water without load, km / h 11.5
crew, people 3
length, mm 13380
width, mm 2200
height, mm 3800
smallest turning radius on land, m 2, 75
circulation diameter on water, m 28
assembly time, min 5
From several self-propelled ferries PMM-2M, ferries of increased carrying capacity are assembled:
Ferry from 2 ferry-bridge cars:
lifting capacity - 85 t;
ferry length - 20 m;
assembly time - 8 min.
Ferry from 3 ferry-bridge cars:
lifting capacity - 127.5 tons;
ferry length - 30 m;
assembly time - 10 min.
Self-propelled "tench"
In the late 1970s, a new engineering vehicle, product 83 "Lin", a coastal ferry-bridge vehicle, was proactively designed at OKG-2.
The hull of the vehicle is the base part of PMM - 2. But instead of two pontoons on the Linya deck, there was one collapsible pontoon. With the help of a winch, cables and guide rollers, he was thrown from the machine. Then this ferry with a ramp device and docking elements was attached to the PMM-2, as well as to the pontoons - the links of the PMP park. The coastal pontoon had a powerful carriageway along the deck. The deck itself had a length of more than 10 m, plus ramps thrown ashore.
The coastal link "Lin" was a necessary element of the floating bridge in shallow water. At the same time, the basic machine was used as a boat - tug, with the help of which it was possible to reduce the time for installing the bridge in a strong river current.
In 1978, field tests of "Lin" began in different climatic conditions. So, the winter stage of testing was carried out on the basis of the Tyumen Higher Engineering School. The weather turned out to be severe - the temperature was minus 50 degrees. But the initial inspection of the car did not reveal any violations of its integrity. It's time to start the engine. It was warmed up, but the oil system did not warm up in the time allotted according to the technical conditions. The butter turned into a viscous mass in the cold, like melted butter. It became clear that the oil tank needed to be equipped with a larger heat exchanger.
There was another problem - the transmission was overcooled, and the mechanic - the driver managed to disable the clutch mechanism. But it was quickly replaced, and the replacement took place at an open-air landfill at a temperature of minus 43 degrees.
Product 83 "Lin" according to the results of the Tyumen tests was finalized, fully tested with a positive result, but was not adopted for service. Although there is a technical description in the book "Machines of engineering weapons". There is information that the "lin" was released in a small series for the shock cases created in the early 1980s. But with the beginning of the restructuring, the corps was disbanded, a defensive doctrine was adopted, otherwise a small number of coastal vehicles were mothballed. More detailed information is not available.
TTX BMM "Lin"
weight of the car, t 36
loading capacity of the coastal
links in the bridge line, t 50
speed on land, km / h 55
cruising range on land, km 500
speed on water without load, km / h 11, 5
crew, people 3
length, mm 13450
width, mm 3300
height, mm 3795
link readiness time
to the entrance to the bridge line, min 4 - 7
