Stories about weapons. Snowmobile NCL-26
Today we have a truly Russian technician on the agenda - sleigh. And not simple, but self-propelled, which are equipped with an internal combustion engine with a pushing propeller. That is, snowmobile. And still not simple, but armored.
History the appearance of domestic snowmobiles dates back to the era of tsarist Russia. Indeed, as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, following the advent of compact internal combustion engines, the first snowmobiles were designed and built, which were not intended for military needs, but as lightweight recreational and sports crews.
Nevertheless, the vast expanses of the Russian Empire with a weak network of roads, the harsh climatic conditions of the Russian North long ago set before the designers the task of creating a reliable and high-speed winter vehicle. Therefore, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1912, the Russian-Baltic plant began mass production of the first domestic transport snowmobiles. However, in the war, snowmobiles were used very poorly, the first combat use was recorded in the 1915 year, but a significant amount of evidence of the use of snowmobiles for military purposes has not been preserved in history.
The first Soviet design of snowmobiles from Tupolev appeared in the 1919 year, and by the 1930 years, technology and design ideas were brought to fruition in the series.
The forerunners of NKL-26 were NKL-16 snowmobiles designed by N. M. Andreev.
NKL-16 snowmobiles were widely used on the fronts of World War II, especially in the 1941 / 42 winter. They were used for operational communications, delivery of military cargoes, patrol, landing and combat operations were carried out on them.
During the transfer of assault forces, the snowmobiles not only took fighters with full armament aboard, but also towed on special 18 — 20 skier ropes. In combat, they towed trailers along the sides, in which the men with the Maxim machine gun and the second number of the crew with the necessary ammunition were housed. In addition, the fire from the machines could lead through the fighters sitting in the car opening in the roof of the hull.
The disadvantage of the NKL-16 was the absence of its own weapons and reservations, so in December 1941 - January 1942, under the leadership of N. M. Andreev and M. V. Veselovsky, construction of new NKL-26 snowmobiles began at the Moscow Gliding Plant.
Already in January, 1942 of the year, on the ice of Lake Ladoga, the snowmobiles were working to transport cargo to Leningrad, and combat snowmobiles of the type NCL-26 carried patrolling and guarding the road of life. Since the beginning of the war, special reconnaissance snowmobiles NKL-6 were developed on the basis of the NKL-26 transport snowmobiles.
After the war, most of the transport snowmobiles were transferred for use in the national economy. A significant part of the NCL-26 and NCL-16 was transferred to the Ministry of Communications of the RSFSR. They served mail delivery on regular lines along the Amur, Lena, Ob, Northern Dvina, Mezen, Pechora and other places where it was impossible to use conventional transport machines. The production of snowmobiles was discontinued in 1959.
The NKL-26 sleigh had an 10-mm armored hull providing anti-bullet and anti-splinter protection.
Armament consisted of one machine gun DT (Degtyarev tank) 7,62 mm caliber on a turret, providing an almost circular sector of fire. Ammunition stock 10 stores and 10 grenades RGD-33.
The sled was set in motion by an M-11 engine, similar to that installed on the Po-2 aircraft. Motor, power 110 HP provided sleigh speeds up to 70 km / h on a flat surface and 30-35 km / h cross-country.
In addition, an electric starter and a generator were put on the engine for starting from the driver's seat. Their place is left and right of the outer sides of the lower cylinders. The engine was mated with another unit - an air heater at the inlet to the carburetor. Its installation improved the operation of the engine at low temperatures, eliminating the impoverishment of the working mixture entering the cylinders and the freezing of the suction channels and the carburetor.
The first models were released with a wooden case with four independently suspended guided skis. The frame was assembled from transverse frames and longitudinal stringers, and then sheathed with 10-millimeter waterproof plywood.
Its front was defended by an armor shield fixed at an angle of 60 ° to the vertical - a sheet of bulletproof armor with a thickness of 10 mm. In the shield, in front of the driver, there was a viewing hatch with a flap, in which a narrow slit was made. The only door was located to the left of the driver, along the sides there were two small windows of ordinary glass for a side view.
In the roof of the hull, above the commander, there was a round hole, equipped with a reinforced edging. An annular base was fixed on the edging, on which a turret for a DT type machine gun was mounted. The turret had an armored shield with a shaped cut for a machine gun.
The turning mechanism provided a horizontal angle of fire to 300 °; 60 ° accounted for the area of the rotating propeller.
There were attempts to strengthen the firepower of the NKL-26, for example, at the expense of guides with missiles.
In the back, behind the commander's compartment, there was a gasoline tank.
The running gear of the snowmobile consists of four skis, semi-axes of the same size, and spring telescopic shock-absorbing struts. Skis open, T-shaped, interchangeable. The front part is wider than the rear, which contributed to the reduction of lateral friction when driving on loose snow.
The snowmobile control was carried out with the help of the steering wheel, through a system of cables and levers. When the wheels rotated, all four skis simultaneously turned, which sharply increased maneuverability.
They were in service with combat aerosled battalions, which acted in conjunction with combined-arms units (mainly with skiers) and performed independent tasks in the service of combat support — reconnaissance, communications, persecution, and so on.
The snowmobile NKL-26 was designed for a crew of two people - the commander of the machine, simultaneously performing the functions of the shooter in combat operations, and the driver-mechanic.
Emergency kit just in case: a spare screw and skis. In case of an accident or lack of fuel.
In general, NKL-16 and NKL-26 carried their service quite successfully. And they continued their work after the war.
This (and possibly the only one in the country) copy of NKL-26 can be seen in the exposition of the Museum of Patriotic Military History in the village of Padikovo, Istra district, Moscow region.
Perhaps somewhere in the country in the museums in the North there were separate specimens, but these sleds in the museum of military history in Padikovo are completely restored and are in fully working condition.
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