BA-I
| BA-I | |
|---|---|
BA-I armoured cars in the front, with FAI armoured cars on the back | |
| Type | Armoured car |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 5 tonnes |
| Length | 4.8 m |
| Width | 2.0 m |
| Height | 2.4 m |
| Crew | 3 |
| Armor | 8 mm |
Main armament | 37mm 7K gun |
Secondary armament | 2x7.62mm DT |
| Engine | GAZ-AA 40 hp (30 kW) |
| Power/weight | 8 hp/ton |
| Suspension | wheeled |
Operational range | 150 km |
| Maximum speed | 63 km/h |
The BA-I (sometimes BAI) is a Soviet three-axle armoured car. Altogether 82 vehicles[1] of this type were built in 1932-1934.
Background
The development of armoured cars with three axles began in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The designers relied on the chassis of the American truck Ford-Timken, which began to enter the Soviet Union in 1931. By the end of the year assembly was taking place at the plant "Gudok Oktyabrya" in Kanavin, near Nizhniy Novgorod. In autumn of the same year at the Repair Base of Nº2 in Moscow armour from the armoured car BA-27 was first attached to the chassis. Following the first, they built about 20 more armoured cars, which received the designation BA-27M.[2] Simultaneously with this activity at The Izhorskij plant, (with the same chassis), several dozen armoured cars D-13, were built, developed by N.I. Dyrenkov.
In 1932 engineer P.N.Syachentov, known for his development of the artillery, designed the universal armoured car BAD-2, which was both amphibious and capable of driving the railroad track. A single copy was built, but not accepted for manufacturing.
The Red Army wanted the armoured cars equipped with a large gun.
Design
In 1932, at the Izhorskij plant, the armoured car "BA-I" (I stands for Izhorskij) was developed by A.D. Kuzmin. In some publications the name of this machine is written together - "BAI". It used the same triaxial chassis of the Ford-Timken. The hull was welded together - using advanced technology for the time. There were doors in the hull and in the rear for crew evacuation.
In the cylindrical welded tower, there was a standard 37-mm tank gun (with 34 rounds) and a machine gun in a ball installation. The second machine gun (DT) was placed in the frontal sheet to the right of the driver. Due to the stepped form of the roof on the hull it was possible to substantially reduce the overall height of combat vehicle.
One additional interesting innovation (an idea that was borrowed from the D-13 armoured car) was the mounting of spare wheels just next to the front wheels. These helped when crossing trenches and rugged terrain. Subsequently this was used from one BA to another, including the BA-10. The BA-I was produced in small numbers in the years 1932-34.
References
- ^ Magnuski Janusz (2001). "Samochody pancerne BA-I/BA-3/BA-6/BA-10". Nowa Technika Wojskowa. 8: 27–31. ISSN 1230-1655.
- ^ The Russian Battlefield - BA-3, BA-6, and BA-9 armoured car