The BRDM-2 (factory designation GAZ-41) is a Soviet armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle that was developed in the late 1950s and mass-produced from 1962 to 1989. The vehicle was created at the Gorky Automobile Plant and became one of the most widely produced light armored vehicles of its time. Its direct connection to the Nizhny Novgorod area lies in the fact that development took place in Gorky, while serial production from 1965 was carried out at the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant.
Development and production
Work on the BRDM-2 began in 1959 in the special design bureau of the design and experimental department of the Gorky Automobile Plant. The chief designer of the project was Vladimir Dedkov, and the lead designer was Alexander Lebedev.[1] The design made extensive use of components from the GAZ-66 off-road truck, which was being developed in the same years: a V-shaped eight-cylinder engine uprated to 140 hp, plus its transmission and axles. This allowed production costs to be reduced significantly.[1]
Unlike its predecessor, the BRDM-1 (GAZ-40P), the new vehicle had a different layout: the power plant was located in the rear, and the driver's compartment in the front. In 1960, armored hulls were made for the first prototypes, and in November of that year the Gorky Automobile Plant handed them over to the military for proving-ground tests.[1] In 1962, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense, the BRDM-2 was adopted into service. Initial serial production was carried out at GAZ, but in 1965 it was transferred to the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant. The armored hulls for the vehicles were produced by the Muromteplovoz enterprise in Vladimir Region.[1]
Technical specifications
The vehicle's combat weight is 7,000 kg, with dimensions of 5,750 mm in length, 2,350 mm in width, and 2,310 mm in height. The GAZ-41 carbureted engine is a V-shaped, eight-cylinder, four-stroke, liquid-cooled unit producing 140 hp. The manual transmission has four forward gears and one reverse. Maximum speed is 95 km/h on land and 10 km/h afloat; cruising range is 750 km. The vehicle can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and cross trenches up to 1.22 m wide. The crew is 4 people. Armament consists of a 14.5-mm KPVT machine gun and a 7.62-mm PKT machine gun.[1]
The BRDM-2 in Nizhny Novgorod Region
In Nizhny Novgorod, two BRDM-2 units are on display at the City Museum of Technology and Defense Industry, located in Victory Park on the Rowing Canal Embankment in Nizhegorodsky District. The first example arrived in the city in 2012, among the pieces of military equipment that had previously been installed on the grounds of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow in memory of the "Dmitry Donskoy" tank column; the vehicle was originally painted white. The second example, distinguished by the absence of side wheels, joined the museum's collection in June 2013.[1]
Besides Nizhny Novgorod, the BRDM-2 is represented in the region in the equipment collection of PAO Semyanskoye in the selo of Semyany in Vorotynsky District, and also as a monument outside the administration building of the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant in Arzamas — the enterprise where this vehicle was serially produced for more than twenty years.[1]
Sources
- techmem-52-rf.moy.su — Technical Monuments of Nizhny Novgorod Region — BRDM-2 Armored Reconnaissance and Patrol Vehicle
- руни.рф — File: BRDM-2 Victory Park NN 2.jpg
- gruzauto.regtorg.ru — BRDM-2 vehicles from Ministry of Defense storage — Special Cargo Trucks — HEAVY TRUCK SALES, Nizhny Novgorod