By the middle of 1930, it became clear that the topic of the so-called “wheeled wedges” did not have much prospects. The vehicles, created on the chassis of the American Ford-A, were distinguished by low cross-country ability and frankly weak armor protection for the crew, which did not fit into the requirements of the UMM of the Red Army. At the same time, in America, stricken by the economic crisis, light semi-armored reconnaissance vehicles on a commercial chassis were very popular among designers, and the last models were offered to the American army in 1938. Realizing that the “wheeled wedges” would sooner or later have to be abandoned, engineer Rozhkov (known for creating the BA-27 medium armored car) on his own initiative developed a project for a light armored vehicle and in June 1930 sent it for consideration by the Scientific and Technical Committee. The head of the UMM, I. Khalepsky, ordered to organize a review of the project, which was completed in mid-July.
The advantages of Rozhkov's machine were obvious. Using the same chassis, it received a fully armored hull and a 360-degree turret. The armament, which consisted of one 7.62-mm DT machine gun, remained unchanged, since it was then believed that this would be quite sufficient for a light reconnaissance vehicle. In this regard, it was decided to build a prototype, called “Ford A with turret” or “Ford-A Rozhkova”(we will call the experimental model PAR for short).
The new armored car had a body assembled by welding from rolled armor plates with a thickness of 4 to 6 mm. The layout of the phased array was classic, with the engine compartment located in the front. In the middle part there was a control compartment, where the driver’s seat was located. Due to the lack of space above the driver's seat, which actually rested his head on the ceiling, a hemispherical dome was made.
The commander of the vehicle was located in the combat compartment located in the rear. It served a single DT machine gun mounted in a cylindrical turret with a flat frontal armor plate and a dome similar to the hull one. The ammunition was stowed here, along the sides.
The chassis of the PAR was almost completely similar to the Ford-A truck, the production of which was launched at the Gorky Automobile Plant. The wheel arrangement and transmission remained unchanged. The wheels themselves remained spoked, with conventional (unprotected) tires, and they did not have any additional protection. The armored vehicle was equipped with an in-line gasoline engine with a power of 30 hp.
As you might guess, the assembly of the armored hull was entrusted to the Izhora Plant (IZ), but due to the heavy workload of the enterprise, this task was forwarded to the development and testing bureau under the leadership of N. Dyrenkov. Despite the simultaneous “pushing” of his own D-8 project, Dyrenkov, thanks to his ebullient energy, managed to complete both tasks on time. Already on September 15, 1930, working drawings of the phased array were ready, and by February 18, 1931, the OKIB workshops had completely completed the assembly of two prototypes. During the autumn sea trials, the FAR showed no worse technical data than the D-8 and D-12, while possessing a turret with circular rotation. In such a situation, Dyrenkov, who felt a threat to his projects, gave the machine very little influence. Things got off the ground only in the spring of 1932, when OKIB was disbanded and work on the “Dyrenkovsky” armored vehicles lost its former priority.
By this time, all work on the armored car designed by Rozhkov was nevertheless transferred to IZ, where Izhora engineers, based on the experience of creating the D-8\D-12 and the prototype FAR, developed a new reconnaissance vehicle. Initially, the armored car was described as an “armored Ford-A from the Izhora plant,” differing from the prototype in a new hull and turret. In August 1932, the project was approved by the UMM of the Red Army and, after some modifications, was recommended for mass production. The car name has changed to FAI(or in another way FA-I - “Ford-A Izhora”), while the military assigned its designation RB-2 (type 2 reconnaissance armored vehicle).
By government decision, from January 1932, FAI production was planned to be deployed at IZ, but since 1930 this plant was overloaded with orders for the production of light tanks T-26, BT-2 and T-27 wedges. As a result, the production of FAI had to be mastered by the Vyksa crushing and grinding equipment plant (DRO). It was assumed that in August the assembly and installation of bodies on chassis supplied from GAZ would be organized, and 100 vehicles would be delivered by the end of the year, but as usual, these plans were completely disrupted. One of the main reasons for the delay was the lack of the required amount of equipment and qualified personnel, but in 1932 the IZ design bureau handed over to DRO a package of “raw” working drawings that required numerous modifications. The team of engineers in Vyksa had to make some of the changes to the FAI design themselves, using separate structural elements from the D-12.
As in the previous case, the chassis from Ford-A was transferred without changes - only the rear seat and body were dismantled. The body had a welded structure and was assembled from armor plates with a thickness of 6.75 mm (frontal part) to 3 mm (roof). For boarding the crew there were two rectangular doors on each side, where small hatches were cut out. The driver monitored the surrounding situation through viewing slits made in two hatches in the frontal plate of the hull. There was another similar hatch on the right side of the stern sheet. A trenching tool (shovel and ax) and a spare wheel were attached just below. To improve the work of the crew, two hemispherical domes were installed on the roof of the driver’s compartment, instead of one.
The tower of the new design acquired a more elongated shape, thereby increasing the internal volume while maintaining the dome. The composition of the weapons remained the same, but the crew was increased to 3 people: in the front part there was a commander and a driver, behind them there was a place for a machine gunner, who sat in a canvas loop.
The FAI armored car was equipped with a Ford gasoline engine with a power of 30 hp. and was protected by an armored hood. Cars produced in 1934-1935. were equipped with a double-leaf engine access hatch, and cars of the latest series of 1936-1937. – single-leaf.
The DRO plant managed to produce the first FAI only in February 1932. The car was immediately handed over for sea trials, which were successful for the FAI. In terms of speed and performance, the armored car fully satisfied the requirements of the military, which only convinced the command of the Red Army of the need to have it in service.
According to the new serial construction plan, the DRO plant was again to deliver 100 vehicles during 1933. However, this was not destined to come true - in total, only 10 armored vehicles were assembled (2 in October and 8 in November), but the military commission refused to accept them due to numerous defects. The following year, the number of FAI increased noticeably, since the plant in Vyksa managed not only to “master” the production of 125 cars. Subsequently, the production of FAI only increased and until production was completed in 1936, 697 armored vehicles were manufactured, of which 667 entered army service, and the remaining 30 were transferred to the disposal of the OGPU.
Thus, the FAI for some time became the most popular Soviet armored vehicle, but this did not indicate its high tactical and technical qualities. Having encountered factory defects at the initial stage of acceptance, the military throughout the entire operation of the FAI did not show much satisfaction with the presence of this armored vehicle in the troops. Back in February 1935, the head of the 1st directorate of the UMM of the Red Army, Olshansky, in his letter addressed to the head of the directorate, I. Khalepsky, noted the following:
“Currently, the FAI light armored vehicle (RB-2) is in service with the mechanized units of the Red Army and is being produced in series. According to the data from a number of exercises available in the 1st UMM Directorate, this armored vehicle, being re-centered backwards (turret at the rear), showed negligible maneuverability when driving even on soft ground (softened clay, etc.). In these conditions, an armored vehicle can hardly take even the slightest incline; it cannot move along the deep ruts of the road where a Ford-A car and a D-8 armored vehicle can easily pass.
I ask for your order to stop the serial production of the FAI light armored vehicle and to test for mass production instead of another model of a light armored vehicle with a turret in the middle.”
In other words, the fate of the FAI could have been decided long before the start of the war with Germany, but Khalepsky showed enviable restraint in noting that the cessation of serial production of the FAI was unacceptable due to the lack of a more advanced machine.
However, it cannot be said that there were no attempts to modernize the armored car. Back in 1930, work began on the development of a three-axle version of the FAI with a 6x4 wheel arrangement, the basis for which was the modified Ford-A. The car received the designation FAI-2 and was supposed to have a hull extended by 500 mm, a crew of 3 people and armament of two 7.62 mm DT machine guns. The project remained on paper.
In the summer of 1936, based on the serial FAI, a railway version was released. The initiative to create it belongs to the employees of military warehouse No. 60. The armored tires they presented FAI-zhd had a replaceable drive and differed from a regular armored car only in the presence of a jack and metal bandages worn over the wheels (when driving on the highway, they were attached to the sides of the hull). The experiment turned out to be successful and by 1938, 8 more cars were converted in the same way. All FAI railways entered service with the 5th separate battalion of armored tires and were decommissioned only at the very end of the war. Such a long period of operation of these vehicles is explained by the fact that the 5th Infantry Division was stationed in the Far East and had purely security functions. The old FAI-railways were completely replaced only in August 1945, when the 2nd Army of the Far Eastern Front received new equipment and decided to abandon the use of old types of armored tires.
The most radical modernization was carried out in 1939, when most of the FAI had a lot of wear on the chassis and needed major repairs. Instead of the Ford chassis, a proposal was made to use the chassis from the GAZ-M1 car. For the first time, such modernization was carried out by workshops No. 6 in Bryansk in September 1938. The front axle of the GAZ-M1 was reinforced with additional pads, and in the rear, on the protruding part of the longer frame, a gas tank covered with armor plates was installed, on top of which a spare wheel could be mounted.
Modified armored car, designated FAI-M, was tested at the Kubinka test site from November 1938 to January 1939 and showed quite acceptable characteristics. Despite the increased weight of the vehicle to 2280 kg, the vehicle’s maneuverability on country roads and soft ground has improved, and the maximum speed was 83.1 km/h. The conclusion of the military commission present during the tests stated the following:
“Modernization of the FAI by installing the hull on the M-1 chassis makes it equivalent in its dynamic qualities to the BA-20. However, the use of FAI-M will be limited due to the presence of defective reservations. The hull is inferior in design and quality to the BA-20. During serial modernization, the following changes must be made:
1. Strengthen the front axle.
2. Seal the housing (from liquid agents, etc.).
3. Increase the power reserve by installing an additional gas tank.
All of the above changes must be carried out during serial modernization, and only after this the FAI-M armored vehicle can be accepted for use in the Red Army as an additional type to the main BA-20″.
The massive rearrangement of FAI on the GAZ-M1 chassis began in the second half of 1939 by the forces of armored repair base No. 2, where a little earlier medium armored vehicles BA-3, BAI and BA-27 received new chassis. It is difficult to say exactly how many modernized FAI-Ms were produced, since the army records did not make a difference between them and conventional FAIs.
When the formation of mechanized corps began in 1933, according to the peacetime staff, it was planned to have 71 light armored vehicles, and according to the wartime staff - 101. It turned out to be very difficult to fulfill this plan, since the old armored vehicles (“Austins” and “Izhora Fiats”) were already written off, and the release of FAI was constantly disrupted. By June 1, 1934, the mechanized corps of the Red Army included only 51 light armored vehicles FAI and D-8: 5th MK - 22, 45th MK - 27, 7th MK - 1 and 11th MK - 1.
The FAI was mainly distributed among separate communications companies of tank and cavalry units. The FAI were not used as part of the rifle units, the only exception being “shock” divisions, which, in addition to the regular tank battalions, were supposed to have a separate tank battalion (T-26 light tanks), a battalion of T-27 tankettes and a reconnaissance company with five FAI. According to this model, 4 rifle divisions were formed, but already in 1936, the T-27 began to be replaced with T-37A amphibious tanks, and a year later the tank battalions were abolished.
As the rate of production increased, the number of FAIs increased and by June 1, 1938, there were 222 units in the four mechanized corps then available, not counting other types of vehicles (BA-20, D-8 and D-12). In the process of reorganizing the mechanized brigades into light tank armored vehicles, the communications companies were left as part of separate communications companies, increasing their number to five.
In 1937, about 50 FAI were transferred to equip the 7th, 8th and 9th motorized armored brigades attached to the 57th Special Corps stationed in Transbaikalia. The brigade's staff included 57 BA-6 medium armored vehicles and 17 FAI and BA-20 light armored vehicles (three of them were radio-equipped).
After the outbreak of World War II, at the beginning of 1940, the USSR began to create mechanized corps of a new state, according to which each such formation was to have 106 armored vehicles of the BA-20 or BA-20M type. While new equipment was being sent to the troops, its deficiency was compensated for by older types of vehicles. Thus, the career of FAI and D-8\D-12 was extended, although already at that time the need for their presence in combat units was greatly questioned.
Throughout almost the entire pre-war period, FAI armored vehicles were used mainly in exercises, the most ambitious of which were the Great Kyiv Maneuvers of 1935, where many foreign specialists were present and the Soviet command presented almost the entire arsenal of the armed forces.
In the summer of 1939, the Soviet FAI had to be used in repelling Japanese aggression on the Khalkhin Gol River, where light armored vehicles performed well. The 57th Special Corps operating in Mongolia had significant armored forces (including 167 FAI and BA-20) and, together with units of the 11th Tank Brigade, it managed not only to hold back the onslaught of the Japanese-Manchurian army, but also to go on the offensive. During May-September 1939, light armored vehicles were used for a wide variety of purposes: reconnaissance, transporting the wounded, delivering food, etc. On a number of occasions the FAI had to be deployed to support the infantry. The total losses were as follows:
5th Rifle and Machine Gun Brigade - 1 burned and 2 destroyed
9th separate motorized armored brigade - 3 burned down and 1 left on enemy territory;
11th Tank Brigade - 2 burned down, 7 were destroyed and sent to the factory;
12th separate communications battalion - 1 burned out;
36th Motorized Rifle Division - 4 were defeated by artillery.
Thus, 14 vehicles were irretrievably lost, another 5 required routine repairs, 15 required medium repairs, and 7 required major repairs. The overall result of using the FAI can be assessed as positive, but too thin armor and insufficient cross-country ability on soft ground and sand made this vehicle an easy target for Japanese artillery and tanks.
By the time of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. the number of old armored vehicles was greatly reduced, so the use of FAI was sporadic. For example, the 8th Army had only two vehicles of this type, and one vehicle was abandoned on enemy territory and went to the Finns as trophies.
During the summer-autumn offensive of 1941, Finnish troops captured several more FAIs, some of which were suitable for further use. Two armored vehicles were repaired and subsequently used for police functions, scrapping them only in 1951.
A month before the war with Germany, the Red Army had 1,897 light armored vehicles of all types, with the “lion's share” of them (1,424 units) being BA-20. As of June 1, 1941, FAI and FAI-M were available in the following military districts:
Transbaikal VO – 104
Moscow VO – 9
Leningradsky VO – 41
Western OVO – 21
Baltic OVO – 6
Orlovsky VO – 2
Odessa VO – 18
Kharkov VO – 2
North Caucasian Military District – 4>
Transcaucasian VO – 3
Privolzhsky VO – 5
Ural VO – 3
Arkhangelsky – 1
In warehouses - 18.
In total, there were 428 vehicles of both variants, but only 4 of them were fully suitable for further use, and 127 vehicles required medium or major repairs and could not be used in combat.
It is very difficult to say anything about their combat use in the 1941 campaign, since in reports they were often not separated from the BA-20. We can speak with some certainty only about the armored vehicles of the border military districts, which were left in full force in the territory occupied by the enemy. By the end of the year, there were practically no FAI left in the first line units. Of the surviving information, there is data only for the 5th Army of the Western Front, where on December 9 there were 26 FAI and BA-20 armored vehicles without indicating their modifications. The FAI lasted the longest in Transbaikalia - here, on September 23, 1942, the front had 14 vehicles, but by the beginning of the Soviet offensive in Manchuria, all of them were written off.
There is no exact information about the number of captured FAIs. It is only known that in the summer and autumn of 1941, several dozen light armored vehicles were captured by the German and Romanian armies. Most of them were incapable of combat, or were defeated in battles or burned by their own crews. However, at least 30 (according to other sources - up to 50) light armored vehicles were quite suitable for further use.
The Germans treated this “acquisition” very carefully, not daring to send the FAI to the first-line army units. Some of the captured armored vehicles underwent repairs, after which the FAI was sent to training and security units. Apparently, one of the last captured FAIs was used by Wehrmacht units during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. In August, this vehicle was captured by the Poles and fought against the Germans. What happened to the FAI after the suppression of the uprising is not yet clear.
The only countries where FAI were exported were Spain and Mongolia. In the fall of 1936, as part of assistance to the republican government, a batch of 20 FAI armored vehicles was delivered. These vehicles took their first battle in October, when a mixed armored group under the command of Colonel Krivoshein (23 T-26, 6 BA-6 and 3 FAI) successfully attacked and defeated the Francoists near Valdemaro. Subsequently, light armored vehicles were used mainly in the central sectors of the front, both for reconnaissance and to support infantry. Based on the results of the combat use of wheeled combat vehicles in April 1937, a report was drawn up, which stated the following:
“...The best car of the FAI. She is small, fast, agile. As a reconnaissance vehicle, this is a wonderful machine; it is almost trouble-free. BA-6 works worse. The motor is weak, the range gears often fail, but the tires hold up well. The armored vehicles made it more than 500 km.
On the march, they first installed the FAI, then the BA-6, but since the BA-6 was heavy and moved more slowly, a large stretch was obtained. Then they started doing the opposite and the stretch marks were reduced...”
At the same time, the crews complained about the cramped conditions inside the fighting compartment, thin armor and frankly weak weapons. The FAI turned out to be good only against infantry, which did not have heavy weapons and anti-tank weapons. In other cases, the armor of the Soviet vehicle could not withstand hits from bullets with a caliber of more than 9 mm, and the DT machine gun was simply useless against enemy armored vehicles and tanks. All this led to the fact that as of September 10, 1937, the Republicans had only three FAI left, which were in Alcala at the disposal of the headquarters of one of the brigades. The rest were destroyed or became trophies of the Francoists. Light armored vehicles were used until the end of hostilities in February 1939, after which the remaining FAI were transferred to the training category.
FAI armored vehicles appeared as part of the Mongolian army in the summer of 1936. A total of 15 units were delivered and distributed among the armored squadrons of the cavalry divisions. Although according to the state each squadron was supposed to have 9 BA-6 and FAI, the actual number of light armored vehicles turned out to be much less. By the spring of 1939, the MPRA had formed eight cavalry divisions, but which exact divisions the FAI were sent to remains unknown. At least, the 6th and 8th Cavalry Divisions that took part in the war with the Japanese in May-September 1939 did not use light armored vehicles.
Sources:
M. Kolomiets “Armor on wheels. History of the Soviet armored car 1925-1945", Moscow, Yauza\Eksmo, 2007.
M. Kolomiets “Light armored vehicles of the Red Army of pre-war construction”, almanac “Front-line illustration” No. 3\2007, KM Strategy
TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL DATA OF LIGHT ARMORED VEHICLES
FAI model 1932\1939
| FAI 1932 |
FAI-M 1939 |
|
| COMBAT WEIGHT | 1750 kg | 2280 kg |
| CREW, people | 3 | |
| DIMENSIONS | ||
| Length, mm | 3690 | 4325 |
| Width, mm | 1730 | 1860 |
| Height, mm | 2070 | 2140 |
| Ground clearance, mm | 240 | 250 |
| WEAPONS | one 7.62 mm DT machine gun in the turret | |
| AMMUNITION | 1512 rounds (24 discs) | |
| AIMING DEVICES | optical sight | |
| RESERVATION | body forehead – 6 mm hull side – 6 mm tower – 4.75 mm feed - 4 mm roof – 4 mm bottom - 3 mm |
|
| ENGINE | Ford-A, carburetor, liquid cooling, 40 hp. with a 41 liter gas tank (FAI) \ GAZ-M1, 50 hp. with 60 liter gas tank | |
| TRANSMISSION | mechanical type | |
| CHASSIS | wheel formula 4x2: single wheels, bullet-resistant pneumatic tires, suspension on leaf springs | |
| SPEED | 80 km/h on the highway 43 km/h on a country road |
83 km/h on the highway 40 km/h on a country road |
| POWER RESERVE | 225 km by highway | 315 km by highway |
| OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME | ||
| Rise, deg. | 15° | 14° |
| Wall height, m | ? | ? |
| Fording depth, m | 0,30 | 0,30 |
| Ditch width, m | ? | ? |
| MEANS OF COMMUNICATION | ? | ? |
In 1932, the designers of the Izhora plant developed a turret-mounted armored car, which received the designation FAI (Ford-A Izhora). As the name implies, the same Ford A chassis was used as the base, which was assembled at the Gudok Oktyabrya plant in Kanavin. The new promising layout of the vehicle led to a significant increase in its height (up to 2240 mm) and weight, reaching 2 tons. However, the combat qualities and comfort of the crew in the new armored car have significantly improved.
Production of FAI began in 1933 at the Izhora plant in Leningrad, then was transferred to the Vyksinsky DRO plant, where it continued until 1936. In total, during this time, 676 armored cars left the factory workshops, and since 1934, the domestic GAZ-A chassis was used as a base.
The combat weight of the FAI was 2 tons. The crew consisted of two people. The armored car was armed with a 7.62-mm DT machine gun mounted in a ball mount on the front wall of the turret. The machine gun's ammunition capacity is 1323 rounds. The welded armored body of the vehicle was made from rolled sheets with a thickness of 3.4 and 6 mm. The thickness of the tower walls was 6 mm. The crew boarded through the side doors. Observation of the battlefield was carried out through observation hatches. In a combat situation, they were covered with armored covers with viewing slots. There was a hatch in the roof of the tower with a hinged dome-shaped lid. It was also possible to conduct observation outside of combat through it.
40 hp engine allowed the armored car to reach speeds on the highway up to 80 km/h. The cruising range on the highway reached 200 km.
In 1933, the Izhora plant produced a modification of the FAI railway. To travel on rails, metal bands with flanges were put on top of regular car tires. When traveling by rail, the armored car easily reached speeds of up to 86 km/h. A significant drawback was the long time (about 30 minutes) for installing the bandages and the impossibility of reversing faster than 24 km/h.
In December 1934, another version of the railway was developed for the FAI armored car in the design bureau of plant No. 1 MOZHEREZ under the leadership of N.G. Orlov.
FAI entered service with tank units of the Red Army. As of March 25, 1936, there were 574 such armored cars in seven (out of 13) military districts. Most of them were in the Kiev (129), Belorussian (113) and Transbaikal military districts.
FAI armored vehicles received their baptism of fire in Spain. Soviet tanks and armored cars began to arrive in this country en masse from the beginning of December 1936 and almost immediately rushed into battle.
So, on December 20, 1936, a tank company under the command of P. Tsaplin, consisting of nine T-26 tanks and six FAI armored vehicles in the backs of specially equipped heavy trucks, was transferred to the Aragonese front with the task of supporting the operation to eliminate the Teruel salient. On December 27, the tank company went on the attack. The armored vehicles followed the tanks along the road, firing left and right at the rebel firing points. The enemy put up fierce resistance, throwing gasoline bottles at the tanks and firing from anti-tank guns. Over the next six days, Tsaplin's company went on the attack several more times, but to no avail. During these battles, four T-26s and one FAI were lost.
In total, during the years of the Spanish Civil War, FAI supplied the Republicans with 33 armored vehicles.
During the conflict near the Khalkhin Gol River, armored vehicles of this type were used by both Soviet and Mongolian units. The first 15 FAI armored cars were sent to Mongolia back in 1936. By the spring of 1939, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army had eight cavalry divisions, each of which was supposed to have nine FAI armored vehicles. However, not all divisions were fully staffed, so it is not possible to accurately indicate the number of FAI armored vehicles in the Mongolian troops at the beginning of the conflict. But in units of the 1st Army Group of the Red Army, as of July 20, 1939, there were 80 FAI armored vehicles. They were actively used in combat operations to destroy the Japanese group.
FAI combat vehicles took part in the “liberation campaign” in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, as well as in the Soviet-Finnish war.
The desire to strengthen the armor protection and armament of light armored cars inevitably led to an increase in their combat weight. A standard passenger chassis could no longer withstand such a load - at the FAI it exceeded the nominal load by about 40%. As a result, the vehicle's cross-country ability was quite low on dirt roads (especially in the spring and autumn) and completely absent on rough terrain.
In 1934, a three-axle GAZ-TK car appeared, designed at the Gorky Automobile Plant as a self-propelled chassis for a 76-mm dynamo-rocket gun designed by L.V. Kurchevsky (TK - “three-axle Kurchevsky”). In fact, this car was still the same GAZ-A, but a third drive axle was suspended from its elongated frame on a transverse spring, and bevel gears with a large gear ratio were installed in the main gear to ensure better traction qualities with a weak 40-horsepower GAZ engine -A.
The appearance of a new chassis stimulated attempts to solve the problem of cross-country ability of light armored vehicles.
In 1935, the Kolomna Plant produced a prototype of the GAZ-TK armored car, installing an extended FAI body on the chassis of the same name. With the same weapons and armor, the new armored car had a more spacious fighting compartment, which made it possible to equip it with a radio station and introduce a third crew member - a radio operator. The vehicle's cross-country ability has increased noticeably. The climb that was overcome reached 22°. However, due to the fact that the combat weight increased to 2.62 tons, the maximum speed decreased to 63 m/h. Despite the fact that the specific pressure of the GAZ-TK was only 1.8 kgf/cm 2, the low-power engine and unreliable chassis did not allow the dynamic characteristics of the armored car to be brought to the required level.
1 - DT machine gun; 2 - tower body; 3 - viewing slot with a shutter; 4 - hinged cap; 5 - hinge of the hinged hood; 6 - hinged hood latch stopper; 7 - pillow; 8 - ball mounting of a machine gun; 9 - sleeve catcher; 10 - belt for the shooter; 11 - stopper for the turret mounting
The FAI-M armored car is easily distinguishable from the FAI in appearance due to the “tail” - the armored casing that covered the GAZ M-1 chassis frame. The spare wheel was mounted on a special bracket on the casing.
By 1939, most of the FAIs in service with the troops were badly worn out as a result of long-term use. There were not enough spare parts - GAZ-A was discontinued in 1935. A way out of this situation was found by rearranging the FAI armored hull onto the GAZ-M1 chassis. For the first time such an operation was carried out at repair base No. 6 in 1938. In November 1938 - January 1939, such an armored car, designated FAI-M, was tested at the NIIBT Test Site in Kubinka near Moscow.
The armored hull with the GAZ-A chassis was moved to the M-1 chassis, which had a front axle reinforced with linings. Since the length of the M-1 frame was significantly longer than the length of the FAI armored hull, its rear part and gas tank were armored with additional sheets welded to the rear armor plate of the hull. In total, during testing, the FAI-M covered 3,180 km on highways and country roads. Despite the fact that the combat weight of the vehicle increased and reached 2.28 tons, thanks to the more powerful engine, the dynamic qualities even increased somewhat. For example, the maximum speed on an asphalt highway was 83.1 km/h.
The conclusion of the commission that tested the armored car stated: “The modernization of the FAI by installing the hull on the M-1 chassis makes it equivalent in dynamic properties to the BA-20. However, the use of the FAI-M will be limited due to the presence of defective armor. The hull in design and quality inferior to BA-20. During serial modernization, the following changes must be made:
1. Strengthen the front axle.
2. Seal the housing (from liquid agents, etc.).
3. Increase the power reserve by installing an additional gas tank.
All of the above changes must be carried out during serial modernization, and only after this the FAI-M armored vehicle can be accepted for use in the Red Army as an additional type to the main BA-20."
It is not known whether all of the above changes were made, but in the second half of 1939, work began on the modernization of the FAI at the repair bases of the People's Commissariat of Defense. It has not yet been possible to find out how many armored hulls were transferred from the GAZ-A to the M-1 chassis. We can only say for sure that not all armored cars have undergone such modifications.
FAI-M armored vehicle, damaged in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. The type of armored car is easy to determine by the characteristic dome-shaped stampings above the heads of the driver and commander, the wheels from the "emka" and the vertical lower side sheets of the body
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were 376 FAI and FAI-M in the Red Army units (there was no clear division between them in the documents of that period). It is known that by June 22, 1941, a small number of vehicles of this type were in the 34th Panzer Division (8 microns), 24th Panzer Division (10 microns), 17th Panzer Division (5 microns) and in some other units. Almost all of them were lost in the first months of the war, although individual armored vehicles of this type were found on the lists of tank units of the Red Army in the spring and summer of 1942.
In the summer - autumn of 1941, several armored vehicles went to the Finns, who used our light armored cars mainly in police and training units. FAI-M served in the Finnish army until 1950.
By the end of the 20s, it became clear that the BA-27 cannon armored car alone was not enough for the Red Army. A light machine-gun armored car was required for reconnaissance and communications. As a base for such a vehicle, it was decided to use the chassis of a Ford-A passenger car, the production of which (assembly from American kits of parts) was supposed to begin at the Gudok Oktyabrya plant in Nizhny Novgorod. This chassis had good characteristics: it was lightweight, simple and had good maneuverability.
The development of the armored version of the Ford-A was carried out by the development and testing bureau under the leadership of N. Dyrenkov and the scientific and technical committee of the Department of Motorization and Mechanization (STC UMM RKKA). The production of three prototypes began at the Izhora plant in September 1930. However, “due to the plant’s workload with current UMM orders and a lack of personnel,” the armored cars were ready only in January 1931.
Externally, all the cars (referred to in documents as “Ford A with armor” or “wheeled wedges”) were very similar. They were armored boxes without a roof, mounted on a Ford-A chassis and armed with two machine guns each (one machine gun was located in the front plate to the right of the driver, and the other was on a pin mount in the center of the armored body).
In parallel with the development of armored Fords, two armored cars were manufactured on the same chassis to the design of N. Dyrenkov. They received the indices D-8 and D-12 and differed mainly in the installation of weapons. The D-8 had a DT machine gun, which could be installed in one of four machine-gun nests, and the D-12, in addition, also had an aircraft turret with an anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof of the hull. In February 1931, the vehicles were inspected by a commission of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the UMM Red Army. The commission’s conclusion stated: “Recognize that the D-8 and D-12 armored vehicles do not meet the requirements for light reconnaissance vehicles due to the inconvenience of using weapons, poor visibility for the driver and overload of the front axle”...
However, after minor modifications, these armored vehicles were recommended for mass production - after all, there was simply nothing else, and the army needed new equipment. During 1932-1934, the Izhora plant produced several dozen such armored cars.
During the production of the D-8 and D-12, the designers of the Izhora plant developed a turret-mounted armored car, designated FAI (Ford-A Izhora). As the name implies, the same Ford chassis was used as a base, the production of which was established at the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant. The new advanced layout of the machine led to a significant increase in its height (up to 2240 mm) and weight, reaching 2 tons. However, the combat qualities and comfort of the crew in the new armored car have improved significantly.
Production of FAI began in 1933 at the Izhora plant in Leningrad, then was transferred to the Vyksinsky plant for crushing and grinding equipment (Vyksa, Gorky region), where it continued until 1936. In total, during this time, 676 armored cars were produced, and since 1934, the domestic GAZ-A chassis, a licensed version of the Ford-A, was used. In 1936, the FAI was replaced in production by the BA-20 armored car, developed on a more powerful and reliable GAZ-M1 passenger chassis.
FAIs entered service with tank units of the Red Army and as of March 25, 1936, there were 574 such armored cars in seven (out of 13) military districts. Most of them were in the Kiev (129 vehicles), Belorussian (113 vehicles) and Transbaikal military districts. These vehicles were also exported to Mongolia and Spain, and also participated in all military conflicts waged by the USSR in the 1930s.
However, the desire to strengthen the armor protection and armament of light armored cars inevitably led to an increase in combat weight. A standard passenger chassis could no longer withstand such a load - at the FAI it exceeded the nominal load by about 40%. As a result, the vehicle's cross-country ability was quite low on dirt roads (especially in the spring and autumn) and completely absent on rough terrain.
In 1934, a three-axle GAZ-TK car appeared, designed at the Gorky Automobile Plant as a self-propelled chassis for a 76-mm dynamo-rocket gun designed by L.V. Kurchevsky. In fact, this car was still the same GAZ-A, but a third drive axle was suspended from its elongated frame on a transverse spring and bevel gears with a large gear ratio were used in the main gear to ensure better traction qualities with the weak 40-horsepower GAZ-A engine. A.
There was hope that the new chassis could solve the problem of the combat value of a light armored car, increasing its maneuverability and dynamic qualities. In 1935, an extended FAI body was installed on the GAZ-TK. With the same weapons and armor, the new GAZ-TK armored car had a more spacious fighting compartment, which made it possible to equip it with a radio station and introduce a third crew member - a radio operator. However, due to the increased combat weight and the unsuccessful design of the chassis itself, the GAZ-TK remained only a prototype.
By 1939, most of the FAIs in the army were badly worn out as a result of long-term use. There were also not enough spare parts for repairs - GAZ-A was discontinued in 1935. A way out of this situation was found by rearranging the FAI armored hull onto the GAZ-M1 chassis. For the first time such an operation was carried out at repair base No. 6 in 1938. In November 1938 - January 1939, such an armored car, designated FAI-M, was tested at the BT Research Institute in Kubinka, near Moscow.
The armored hull with the GAZ-A chassis was moved to the M-1 chassis with a reinforced front axle. Since the length of the M-1 frame was significantly longer than the length of the FAI armored hull, the rear part of the frame and the gas tank were armored with additional sheets welded to the rear armored hull plate. In total, during testing, the FAI-M covered 3,180 kilometers on highways and country roads. Despite the fact that the combat weight of the vehicle has increased and reached 2280 kg, thanks to the more powerful engine, the dynamic qualities have even increased somewhat. For example, the maximum speed on an asphalt highway was 83.1 km/h.
The conclusion of the commission that tested the armored car stated: “The modernization of the FAI by installing the hull on the M-1 chassis makes it equivalent in dynamic properties to the BA-20. However, the use of the FAI-M will be limited due to the presence of defective armor. The hull in design and quality inferior to BA-20. During serial modernization, the following changes must be made:
1. Strengthen the front axle.
2. Seal the housing (from liquid agents, etc.).
3. Increase the power reserve by installing an additional gas tank.
All of the above changes must be carried out during serial modernization, and only after this the FAI-M armored vehicle can be accepted for use in the Red Army as an additional type to the main BA-20."
It is not known whether all of the above changes were made, but in the second half of 1939, work began on the modernization of the FAI at the bases of the People's Commissariat of Defense. The author does not know how many FAIs were rearranged on the GAZ-M1 chassis. All that can be said with certainty is that not all armored cars were subjected to this operation.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were 376 FAI and FAI-M in the Red Army units (in the documents of that period there was no clear division into FAI and FAI-M). It is known that by June 22, 1941, a small number of vehicles of this type were available in the 34th Tank Division (8th Mechanized Corps), 24th Tank Division (10th Mechanized Corps), 17th Tank Division (5th mechanized corps) and in some other parts. Almost all of them were lost in the first months of the war, although individual armored vehicles of this type are found in the lists of tank units of the Red Army in the spring and summer of 1942.
In the summer and autumn of 1941, several captured FAI-Ms went to the Finns. Not deceived by their combat value, they used our light armored cars mainly in police and training units. FAI-M served in the Finnish army until 1950.
TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL DATA OF AN EXPERIENCED FAI-M: Total length, mm......................... 4325 Height, mm............................ 2140 Width, mm.................... 1750 Base, mm................... ....... 2845 Front ground clearance, mm.................. 185 Rear ground clearance, mm................ 210 Combat weight , kg......................... 2280 Crew, persons. ....................... 3* Maximum speed on an asphalt highway on GK tires, km/h............. ........ 83.1 Climbability, degrees. ...... 14 Reservation: front and side, mm...... 6 stern, mm........................ 4 floor, mm......................... 3 tower, mm................. ........ 4.75 Ammunition for the DT machine gun 24 discs with 1512 rounds. *Combat vehicles have 2 people.The Soviet light armored car FAI 1933 is a domestic armored vehicle specifically designed as a combat vehicle. During the creation process, it was planned to use the new armored car as a command and staff vehicle or as a means of communication and control. The subsequent operation of the FAI armored car in combat and front-line conditions was associated with the performance of precisely these functions.
In 1930, in the USSR, on the basis of components for American Ford-A and Ford-AA cars, the first passenger cars in the USSR began to be produced in Nizhny Novgorod. During these same years, on the basis of the new chassis, production of the first Soviet armored vehicles D-8 began, which were produced in a small series. A further continuation of the armored car was to be a new vehicle developed by the designers of the Izhora plant. By mid-1932, the project for a new light armored car was completed. A distinctive feature of the new product was the presence of an armored rotating turret in which the main weapons were installed. The wheelbase, body and power plant were taken from the American Ford A car.
At the beginning of 1933, a new Soviet light armored car was put into service, receiving the factory index FAI (Ford-A, Izhorsky). Serial production of the FAI armored car was organized at the new Gorky Automobile Plant. In total, over the years of production from 1933 to 1935 and from 1939 to 1942, GAZ produced 697 vehicles, which, together with the BA-20, became the most popular Soviet armored vehicles in the pre-war years.
The Soviet light armored car FAI 1933 was baptized by fire during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Subsequently, the vehicle took part in battles with Japanese troops on the island. Hasan and on the river Khalkin-Gol. The most significant stage in the history of FAI armored vehicles was their participation in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 and combat service on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
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The birth of one of the most popular Soviet cars was preceded by the conclusion of an agreement between the USSR Government and the Henry Ford company, according to which Ford, from May 31, 1929, was to begin supplying components to the USSR for assembling Ford-A trucks. , Ford-AA and Ford-Timken.
In February 1930, the assembly of these cars began in Kanavin at the Gudok Oktyabrya plant, and in November of the same year the Moscow KIM plant joined it. Since April 1932, the production of Ford AA cars began at a new plant in Nizhny Novgorod, the construction of which was financed by G. Ford, in accordance with the concluded agreement. There, on December 6, 1932, production of Ford A trucks began.
Subsequently, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, and the plant began to be called “GAZ im. Molotov." Ford cars, after converting the drawings into the metric system of measurements and modernization, the designs were renamed: “Ford-A” - to GAZ-A, “Ford-AA” - to GAZ-AA, “Ford-AAA” - GAZ-AAA.
The first experiments with the construction of a light armored car on the Ford A chassis on the instructions of the UMMA of the Red Army began almost immediately after the signing of an agreement with G. Ford. As a result, specialists from the design bureau, which was headed by N.I. Dyrenkov, designed the D-8 and D-12 armored vehicles. Adopted by the Red Army in 1931, these vehicles soon ceased to meet the army’s requirements, since their machine-gun mounts did not have all-round fire. As a result, the designers were asked to develop a new armored hull with weapons installed in the turret.
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In 1931-1932, based on the instructions of the UMMA of the Red Army, the designers of the Izhora plant design bureau developed a new car, which received the designation FAI (“Ford-A Izhora”) and was put into mass production in 1933.
The armored vehicle was made on a rear-wheel drive (4x2) chassis according to a design scheme with a front engine and a riveted-welded, completely enclosed body, which was made of sheets of rolled steel 4-6 mm thick. Such armor was clearly insufficient and, although it was installed at small angles of inclination, it could not provide any serious protection to the crew from bullets and fragments of shells and mines. The crew of the armored vehicle consisted of two, less often - three people. In the control compartment, combined with the combat compartment, the driver was located on the left, and to the right of him - in the presence of a third crew member - sat the vehicle commander. For ease of placement in the car, or, more simply, so as not to rest your head on the roof, there were blind armored caps above their seats on the roof of the control compartment. The machine gunner's workplace was behind them, in the turret. The view from the control compartment was provided to the driver and commander by front windows, which were closed in a combat situation with armored covers with viewing slots: rectangular windows with armored covers were also available in the side doors of the vehicle that opened forward.
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On the roof of the fighting compartment there was a cylindrical turret of circular rotation with an armored cap on the roof. A 7.62-mm DT machine gun was installed in the slightly sloping frontal plate of the turret, the transportable ammunition for which consisted of 1323 rounds. The rotation of the turret was carried out due to the physical efforts of the shooter and with the help of a back rest. In addition, the installation of the machine gun made it possible to fire in a sector of ± 10° without rotating the turret. In the engine compartment located in the front part of the hull, a four-cylinder carburetor liquid-cooled GAZ-A engine was installed, developing a power of 30.9 kW (40 hp), which allowed the 2-ton armored vehicle to move along the highway at a maximum speed of 80 km/h
With a full tank of fuel, the car could travel 200 km. The engine was interacted with by a transmission, which included a single-disc dry friction clutch, a four-speed gearbox (4+1), a cardan drive, a final drive and mechanical brakes.
Access to the engine with a maintenance and repair chain was provided by a hinged armored hood cover. attached to the fixed part of the engine compartment roof using hinges. At the front, the radiator was protected by an 8-mm-thick V-shaped armor plate in cross section. in which there were two vertical hatches equipped with movable flaps that regulated the flow of cooling air to the radiator and engine.
The rear-wheel drive (4x2) chassis with suspension on semi-elliptical leaf springs used single wheels with thin tires. The front and rear wheels were covered on top by smoothly curved fenders, which at the bottom connected with footpegs, on which small boxes with spare parts and tools were sometimes attached. In 1935, replaceable metal tires with flanges were introduced into the standard equipment of a number of FAI armored vehicles, which allowed these armored cars to move along railway tracks at speeds of up to 86 km/h. The crew replaced the tires with bandages in approximately 30 minutes. The weight of the armored car in the trolley version was 1.9 tons. The ammunition load was increased to 2520 rounds. These vehicles were used as part of armored trains as light reconnaissance armored tires. Their significant disadvantages were low reverse speed (24 km/h) and the absence of a radio station.
