"Shell" (armored personnel carrier): technical characteristics (photo)

The idea to arm and then book a car for participation in hostilities was born some time after its creation. Back in 1897 in Russia inventor Dvinitsky proved the possibility of installing a quick-firing small-caliber gun on the machine. Despite the fact that it was subsequently confirmed by successful tests, the commission from the Artillery Committee did not recommend the design of even a prototype of a new combat vehicle. How and when did the first armored vehicle appear? What were the early models of cars and what did they look like today? About this later in the article.

Historical facts

The first battle-worthy armored vehicle was a "military motor car". It was demonstrated in London, in 1902, on April 4, an engineer from England Simms. This project was developed by the summer of 1898. The car was protected by a six-millimeter armored case of an open type, three machine guns were closed with shields. The power of the four-cylinder engine, powered by heavy fuel, reached 16 liters. from. However, the War Department of England was just as short-sighted as the Russian one, rejecting the idea of Simms. But in the same year, 1989, a French company built a party of semi-armored armed trucks.

The first armored personnel carriers of Russia

The construction of these machines of the First World was led by Dobrzhansky. They were designed at the Russian-Baltic plant. The carrying capacity of the machines reached two tons. The colonel was familiar with the process of manufacturing armored trucks at the French factory "Creusot". Moreover, Dobrzhansky even participated in their design. In Russia, weapons and car reservations were carried out at that time near St. Petersburg, in Kolpino, at the Izhora plant. Due to the fact that the front needed protected machines, the chassis of the serial trucks was simply lined with a chromium-nickel rolled steel sheet that did not penetrate with a pointed bullet from two hundred paces. Protection to the body was attached to the rivets. When building it was necessary to abandon the rotating tower. As weapons, three machine guns of the "Maxim" system were used. They were installed in the embrasures of the front sheet and sides.

Special Purpose Cars

Sanitary transport armored personnel carriers (APCs) were designed at the Izhora plant in 1939. It was designed to transport troops, wounded and various cargoes. In the batch production and did not arrive. It was created on the basis of a truck GAZ-AA with a "box" body, welded from six-millimeter armor plates. For the landing of the crew, consisting of an assault and two men, there were two doors along the sides of the hull, and one in the rear wall. The total weight of the car was 5.24 tons. The engine's engine power was 40 liters. With., And the speed of movement reached forty kilometers per hour. Increased patency was provided by removable coarse chain. When driving on a good road, they were attached over the rear wheelbase along the hull. The car was equipped with a radio station. The capacity of its fuel tanks is more than one hundred liters. This volume provided a reserve of traffic along the highway for a distance of 250 kilometers.

Postwar technology

The experience of the offensives of 1944-1945 showed that it is necessary to support armored units in the form of additional units of motorized infantry. The best solution was the use of cross-country vehicles, which had an easy reservation, which provided protection for fighters from splinters and bullets of small arms. The development of the first such car was carried out under the guidance of Rubtsov - the leading designer at the time. The development of the first domestic armored car, the index of which was "object 141", was carried out in the KB of the Gorky Automobile Plant on the basis of GAZ-63. The two-axle model with all the wheelbases was designed to transport eight infantrymen. The machine had on top an open case, which was welded from sheets of 6-8 millimeters. The rear wall was equipped with a landing door, for the crew entrances were equipped on the sides of the car.

BTR-MDM "Shell"

This machine, which has the index "object 955", is designed in the design bureau of the tractor plant in Volgograd. The weight and dimensions of the car provide a rapid overcoming of the water obstacle and air transportability. "Shell" - an armored personnel carrier designed to replace the "D" model in the troops. The machine is equipped with a 7.62mm machine gun. It is located in the tower installation of the commander-gunner. The left front end is equipped with an additional one of the same machine gun.

Housing

"Shell" - armored personnel carrier, sheathed with welded sheets. In the middle and front part there is a felling with the landing and the crew of the car. Special caches are arranged above the tracks. The engine-transmission compartment is located in the rear of the hull. In the stern there is a hatch through which the team dismounts. In the front of the car there is a driver's seat. To exit it in the roof arranged three hatches. They are located above the driver-mechanic and landing sites. On the left there is a tower on the roof. Under it is the place of commander-gunner. For the tower system, an external power supply system is provided, as well as a vertical guidance mechanism. In the central part of the car there are two side seats on the sides (three on each side). In them is the landing. In addition, along the sides are equipped with brackets, in which stretchers are installed with the wounded.

Communication and guidance devices

Surveillance is carried out by the driver-mechanic. "Shell" - an armored personnel carrier equipped with three periscope instruments. The central surveillance device can be replaced with a night vision device. In front of the car in front of the hatch on the right there is a sight, through which the light from the course machine gun is fired. The tower installation is also equipped with a gunner's sighting system for shooting and monitoring the terrain.

Transmission and engine

"Shell" - an armored personnel carrier equipped with a power plant. It is located in the rear of the car (in the engine-transmission compartment). The engine of the car is opposite, it is equipped with a fan cooling system and a turbo-supercharging. In one block with the motor there is a mechanism providing rotation and transmission. It includes a two-shaft reversible gearbox and a drive with a jet engine propeller shaft .

Chassis

The machine "Shell-M" is equipped from each side with four supporting and five support rollers. They are covered with fine-coded caterpillar belts with rubber-metal hinges. The support rollers are mounted on pneumatic springs. BTR "Shell-M" has a variable three-mode clearance: maximum, working and minimum.

Conclusion

There are several modifications of the car. Basic - "BTR-MD" - is designed on the basis of the combat car of the model "D". The upgraded version is designed on the basis of the combat landing vehicle "BDM-4M". Two units of this equipment were placed at the disposal of the military-landing troops in 2013. Until the end of the first half of the current year, 2014, ten BTRs "Rakushka-M" must be transferred to the airborne forces.