In 1914 the Russian army was so short of equipment that it had to turn to the UK to supply armoured cars. One of the various types provided was an Austin design, a fairly large vehicle with twin turrets and solid tyred wheels. Two types of hull were supplied, one of which had the armour over the driver's position arranged in such a way that it restricted the traverse of both the gun turrets, each of which mounted a single Maxim machine gun.
This early arrangement was soon altered in favour of a lower cab, but on this model the weight was increased by 1.16 tonnes. This weight increase was due to thicker chrome steel armour of a maximum of 8mm and a revision of the driving arrangements. The original British design could be steered from the front only, but the Russians wanted steering from the rear and this added weight. The Russians also demanded many other changes due to the harsh fighting conditions many of the British Vehicles broke down.
Orders were placed for 200 Austin armoured cars, but not many were delivered, due to Austin being already stretched to capacity supplying vehicles to the British army. So instead bare chassis were supplied direct to the Putilov works, where the russians added whatever requirements they thought necessary including strengthening and modifications to the hull. A later innovation was the introduction of tracks in place of rear wheels, which converted the vehicle into a half track. Eventually Putilov ceased production of the armoured cars at its St Petersburg plant and concentrated on the half track version. There was even a plan to produce halftracks in place of any more armoured cars but the revolution of 1917 occurred before this could be carried out.
From 1914-1917 the Russians used many types of armoured car, ranging from direct imports to local improvisations, but the most important type was the Austin-Putilov both in terms of numbers used and mechanically the best the Russians had to hand. The design proved to be more suited to the rough conditions under which the Russians had to fight.
During 1917 many became involved in the internal fighting that accompanied the events leading to the October revolution.
After 1918 some of the cars were used by Poland and a few ended up in Japan.
Specification:-
Crew:5
Weight:5.3 tonnes
Powerplant: 50 HP Austin Petrol Engine
Dimensions: Length 4.88m, width 1.95m, height 2.4m
Performance: Max speed 31mph, range 125 miles
This early arrangement was soon altered in favour of a lower cab, but on this model the weight was increased by 1.16 tonnes. This weight increase was due to thicker chrome steel armour of a maximum of 8mm and a revision of the driving arrangements. The original British design could be steered from the front only, but the Russians wanted steering from the rear and this added weight. The Russians also demanded many other changes due to the harsh fighting conditions many of the British Vehicles broke down.
Orders were placed for 200 Austin armoured cars, but not many were delivered, due to Austin being already stretched to capacity supplying vehicles to the British army. So instead bare chassis were supplied direct to the Putilov works, where the russians added whatever requirements they thought necessary including strengthening and modifications to the hull. A later innovation was the introduction of tracks in place of rear wheels, which converted the vehicle into a half track. Eventually Putilov ceased production of the armoured cars at its St Petersburg plant and concentrated on the half track version. There was even a plan to produce halftracks in place of any more armoured cars but the revolution of 1917 occurred before this could be carried out.
From 1914-1917 the Russians used many types of armoured car, ranging from direct imports to local improvisations, but the most important type was the Austin-Putilov both in terms of numbers used and mechanically the best the Russians had to hand. The design proved to be more suited to the rough conditions under which the Russians had to fight.
During 1917 many became involved in the internal fighting that accompanied the events leading to the October revolution.
After 1918 some of the cars were used by Poland and a few ended up in Japan.
Specification:-
Crew:5
Weight:5.3 tonnes
Powerplant: 50 HP Austin Petrol Engine
Dimensions: Length 4.88m, width 1.95m, height 2.4m
Performance: Max speed 31mph, range 125 miles
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