[Development] BA-11: Tank on wheels

A Soviet premium BA-11 armoured vehicle on the chassis from a cross-country truck will be a prize for participants in the new “World War” season.

Armoured cars were one of the most popular world trends in the development of armoured vehicles in the pre-war period. The Soviet heavy armoured vehicle BA-11 was one of the typical examples of this type of vehicle. It was created on the basis of a shortened chassis from the military ZIS-6 - a three-axle off-road truck designed on a scheme of 6x4 (rear wheel drive). The new chassis designed by engineers of the Moscow Automobile Plant was supposed to provide the armoured car greater payload and a better cross-country ability which allows improvements in the armour and a better off-road performance in the vehicle.

Compared to the armoured vehicles of the B-6 and B-10 series which had been designed on the basis of the GAZ-AAA truck, the armour of the BA-11 has been increased by 1.5-2 times and in some places, the BA-11 was slightly better armoured than the T-26 and BT-7 tanks. With the increased weight up to 8 tons, the vehicle maintained good driving characteristics: a speed of up to 64 km/h on the highway and 26 km/h over terrain. As well as in the BA-10 the designers also provided overall tracks which were able to help the armoured car to overcome particularly difficult areas. The gun and the turret of the vehicle also receives a 45 mm 20-K cannon from the BA-10 in the turret.






The heavy BA-11 armoured vehicle was produced in limited edition in 1939 and participated in battles at the early stages of WWII. In 1942 it was withdrawn from service.

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