The army needs front line transporters - and urgently
The US military evacuates the wounded using a small-sized John Deere M-Gator off-road transporter, which is used by the US Armed Forces as a front-line transporter, including for delivering ammunition to the front line and removing the wounded from the front line
The failure (let's call a spade a spade) of an attempt to quickly "settle" with Ukraine led to a war of attrition, and the decision of either the military or political leadership of the Russian Federation to shift the main vector of efforts to the Donbass, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2016 has methodically turned and turned into the most the largest fortified area in the world (and this was known for a very long time to everyone who was at least somehow interested in the issue - see the article "Ukraine and our readiness for war"written by before the start of the, in two days), led to the revival of positional warfare, forgotten many decades ago.
Unfortunately, it is still impossible to reveal the mechanism of this impasse and the methods of getting out of it - the topic is closed, and no media will let it through. So let's just focus on the facts.
The main type of combat operations of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation (including all the motley PMCs, BARS, and other "Akhmat-forces") is the assault on a stronghold in a building or forest belt.
With a successful assault, the position passes to us, followed by shelling from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then a counterattack, sooner or later the position remains in someone's hands, after which the advancing side goes on a new assault. And so without end. Sometimes the sides change roles - those who defended attack and then vice versa, and then vice versa again, etc.
An endless battle for a trench defended by an incomplete squad that has been exterminated more than once.
This form of hostilities puts in a very acute form the issue of logistics on the battlefield - the troops are almost static, they operate near their strongholds, the advance is measured in hundreds, sometimes tens of meters per day, and it is not necessary to move masses of property following the advancing masses of troops.
But two things are becoming much more important - the delivery of ammunition to the area under fire by the enemy, directly to the units in fire contact, and the removal of the wounded, including the heavy ones. It is far from always possible to complete this task using ordinary armored vehicles or just cars (for example, UAZ). Often you can't. To solve this problem, the RF Armed Forces must return to use such a somewhat forgotten type of vehicle as the front edge conveyor (TPK).
But first, a visual demonstration of the problem.
Front line logistics
We look at this is a hard video. An ukrov tank at close range, from tens of meters, hits a trench occupied, according to the Ukrainian authors of the video, by our fighters. Due to the content, a direct link is given without embedding (the video requires registration and viewing on youtube, category 18+).
Why did it happen? Why are our (according to the Ukrainian side) fighters not at least firing a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher (RPG)?
With a high degree of probability, shots to the "borders" or one-time RPGs simply ended during the assault on this trench. No fighter can carry an infinite number of disposable grenade launchers or RPG rounds. An assault as such implies a high consumption of ammunition, and it is not surprising that they run out quickly.
They need to be quickly delivered to positions, and this is where the problems begin.
Everything is shot through. To survive, you need to literally squeeze into the ground, no "Tiger", "Athlete", armored "Ural" or UAZ will fit close enough there, simply because of visibility. The soft, rain-soaked soil plowed by artillery will also interfere, ordinary wheeled vehicles simply will not pass through it. And the point of loading and unloading should be literally a few hundred meters behind the firing positions of the infantry firing right now.
On the video, in principle, nothing would have helped, but this is just a demonstration of a recurring problem, both for us and for the enemy - the ammunition needed for combat has run out, there is no delivery.
We will not curse our troops - the same videos where our “armor” unwinds the VSE soldiers at point-blank range, and there is nothing to answer with, and there is a lot on our part, simply because the Armed Forces of Ukraine operate in the same circumstances and face the same difficulties. This video is here specifically so that fans of Twitter “everything is fine, beautiful marquise”, “everything is in the army, and whoever disagrees is the CIPSO”, “nothing needs to be done, everything has already been done” somewhat subsided. Unfortunately, we still have many...
Well, the horror of the war should be felt by couch-hatterers at least this way, and the suffering of the Ukrainian side will clearly not cause empathy.
It is known that in Wagner they are trying to get out of such a situation, for example, pairs of fighters in the rear guard of assault groups, pulling cargo carts with ammunition, often began to be observed. A very smart decision, but...
Firstly, we need a supply for the unit involved in the battle.
And secondly, the second problem is not solved - the evacuation of the wounded.
With this method of military operations, when everything is decided not by air strikes, not by high-tech artillery strikes and not by accurate fire tank guns at the maximum distance, and by assault "barrel to barrel", losses are inevitable, and inevitably a large number of wounded who are unable to move independently.
Practice shows that the first hour after the injury is critical for providing medical care, the Americans even called it the “golden hour” - if the wounded managed to get to the surgeon during this time, when the body still has a reserve of strength, his chances are much higher, than, say, two hours later.
In low-intensity conflicts, helicopters are used to speed up evacuations. Given the scale that the NWO has in Ukraine, this is simply impossible. In mobile warfare, the wounded fighters are picked up by armored vehicles moving along with the advancing troops and delivered to the near rear. But that won't work here.
The only way to get a fighter out of the front line as quickly as possible is the front edge conveyor - a small, “thigh-high” for an adult, highly passable vehicle, with the ability to control it while lying down, which is used as a “shuttle” - there is ammunition, one seriously wounded back, small enough to it was to hide it in bushes or tall grass, in shell craters, behind wrecked equipment and its fragments, etc. The same vehicle should bring ammunition to the “front end”.
There are no such machines in the troops today. There are no substitutes for them, although some volunteer groups are working on this problem, and there are already first results. But they are volunteers. From the Ministry of Defense there is no activity in this direction.
Cars are very much needed, in the same Wagner, a very large number of fighters are used to carry out the wounded, if we take absolute numbers - there are many wounded, the mass of a fighter in a helmet, plate and with various equipment that there is no time to take off is rather big, you need to drag it quickly and according to rough terrain…
In general, "the question is overripe."
Before voicing some options, it is worth making a short digression into history of this vehicle.
A little about the leading edge conveyors
The first mass-produced special-design TPK in the world was the American M274. Work on this machine began as early as 1944, the first samples went for testing in 1948, but production started only in 1956.
One of the M274 modifications, photo militarytrader.com
The car received the unofficial name "Mechanical Mule" (Mechanical Mule). She allowed, due to her small size, to hide her in shell craters, the technical possibility was provided to drive cars, crawling next to her.
A "mechanical mule" with the steering wheel folded down to steer the machine from the ground. Photo: Wikipedia
From 1956 to 1970, 11 of these vehicles were built, which were used by the troops until 240. After 1980, the Americans stopped using them, convincing themselves that, if necessary, the task of "mechanical mules" would be performed by multi-purpose vehicles, namely some kind of Humvee modification. But the fighting showed that the Humvee was of little use for this, and since the 1980s, the US Armed Forces have been using the John Deere M-Gator off-road vehicle to replace the mules.
John Deere M-Gator ATV
Currently, the US Armed Forces are actively experimenting with robotic vehicles of a similar purpose, which have only cargo, no operator on board, and which is controlled remotely or from a remote control. A contract is underway with General Dynamics for the supply of 624 of these MUTT transporters, more on the BMPD blog.
Unmanned tactical transporter MUTT. Photo: canadianarmytoday.com
However, the US is not alone in this. The German company Rheinmetall is already offering its unmanned TPK Mission master, and the British Army has already ordered the first 4 units for trial operation.
Unmanned tactical transporter Mission master. Next to the boxes with ammunition, a stretcher for the wounded was fixed. Photo: army-technology.com
Our country has its own rich history of the creation of the TPK, moreover, such a machine was in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces for a long time. We are talking about the floating conveyor LuAZ-967M.
In the photo - working out the evacuation of a lying wounded man, the driver controls the conveyor lying down. Photo: all-terrain vehicle-snow and swamp vehicle.rf
I must say that we had different requirements for such equipment than the Americans, the conveyor had to solve a much larger number of tasks, for example, it had to be floating. The main task was to search for the wounded on the battlefield and take them out, like a shuttle “grenade shots there - one wounded back”, this machine should not have worked, but it could take out two lying wounded and one sitting.
Those interested in the issue should read two articles by Evgeny Fedorov “Mechanical mules. Conveyors of the front edge of the Soviet Army и "Conveyors of the front line: from Zaporozhye to" Geologist "in which the question is fully answered.
Now there is nothing similar in the supply of the RF Armed Forces. But there are tasks.
Tactical application model
Briefly, it is worth formulating what this machine should do and what characteristics it must have.
Even at the stage of the advancement of the assault group behind it, a TPK with a driver and a load of ammunition should be disguised and weapons, for emergency replenishment of the expended. At the request or signal (up to a flare) of the commander of the assault group, or the person replacing him, the vehicle advances closer to the front edge, using the terrain for shelter from observation, to the minimum range at which the enemy will not observe it visually from his battle formations.
In a predetermined place, closed from observation from the front, and possibly from above, the cargo is transferred to the assigned fighters of the assault group, who will then carry it on themselves to the front line. The wounded is loaded onto the TPK itself, if there is one, if not, then the dead, and the fighter or the body of the deceased is evacuated to the rear. Then the TPK performs such shuttle flights, delivering ammunition and picking up the wounded and the bodies of the dead.
It must be understood that the mass of cargo will be large, so if an assault group is delivered an automatic grenade launcher with equipped "snails" (ribbons in round grenade launcher boxes), then when repelling a foot attack from the enemy, the ribbons will most likely be shot faster, than TPK will return again with a new batch of ammunition. The same applies to ATGM shots when repulsing a tank attack.
But one way or another, with the presence of the TPK, the combat stability of the unit at the forefront can be significantly higher than without it. It is not necessary to "climb" under fire with small arms on this machine, it will not be used as a combat vehicle. Although, during ambush actions, it will apparently be possible to operate it as an ATGM carrier, for example, but this is not the main task.
Of course, the features of the SVO, with copters and mutual observation deep into the defenses of the warring parties, add certain specifics, but they try to fight the copters, and sometimes successfully, and the wounded will be pulled out anyway, just without TPK they will be carried on foot to such a distance at which it will be possible to hide from observation not self-propelled stretchers half a meter high at most, but something the size of an UAZ at least.
The requirements for the machine are simple - minimum height, high maneuverability on soft soils. One driver, it is desirable that the car can be driven lying down. The load is a recumbent person, we need a flat platform for him, with a fixation that prevents him from falling out, with minimal fences, height, taking into account traumatic lengthening of the limbs and a helmet, take as 2 meters 10 centimeters, this is enough for anyone, mass, taking into account equipment that will not be removed in the field - 130 kg plus a driver of the same weight.
In the absence of a wounded person, it is necessary to be able to transport cargo in boxes, "snails", boxes with tape, zinc, etc., as well as a unit of group weapons, up to a disassembled 82-mm mortar.
A car needs a minimum of instruments, one headlight and one side light is enough, a good exhaust silencer and a compact, high-torque engine, ideally a diesel one, but, generally speaking, not necessarily. It should be as compact as possible, especially during transportation, since it will not walk in convoys with normal cars. The layout scheme can, in principle, be any, as well as the appearance, if the above conditions are met.
And of course, Russian industry should be able to produce it.
Options, design examples and possible contractors
There are the following executable transporter schemes.
1. Four-wheel drive platform, an analogue of the American M274. The most logical option. Potential disadvantages are the price, the need to produce components that are not currently in serial form, the lack of a basic design, the presence of which would speed up development and refinement.
2. Simplified version - four-wheel drive platform, with a drive on one axis. Here we can recall the Kineshma motorized stroller, produced in small quantities by the Avtoagregat plant in the early 2000s.
On the one hand, it was not an SUV, on the other hand, it had a very high cross-country ability for a mono-drive car, there was an option with a domestic diesel engine, the absence of a front-wheel drive made it possible to seriously simplify production, since no drive axle was needed for independent suspension and swivel wheels, no small CV joints, no small-sized transfer case. This car also has less weight.
On the basis of such a motorized carriage, it would be quite possible to create a TPK. Her height allowed it.
Motorized carriage "Kineshma". The height of the machine is visible, when developing a special design for military use, it can be reduced even more. Photo: Autoreview.
Cons - after all, all-wheel drive on soft soils is needed for a four-wheeled platform. A stuck car of this type, in theory, can simply be lifted with your hands and rearranged to the place where it can start, but this is not always possible, besides, the monodrive is less effective on the rise than the all-wheel drive.
3. Jiger. A jigger is a six- or eight-wheeled small-sized all-terrain vehicle, without suspension and steering. Its wheels are cantilevered along the sides, turning is carried out by braking the side.
"Jiger" on trials in the US Army, copyright photo. On the basis of such a machine, it is easy to make a front edge conveyor.
Such machines have a very high cross-country ability, and a very low height is technically ensured, which, in fact, is what is needed. Structurally, the transmission of torque to the wheels is organized very simply - by chains. We are watching a photo from one of the forums.
You can see how it's done. The production of such a machine can be established, in principle, anywhere. You can import it, but it is highly undesirable, the cost of such a Chinese-made all-terrain vehicle is measured in tens of thousands of dollars, and its design for TPK is not optimal - you need your own production.
The disadvantages are a continuation of the advantages - although the circuit with circuits is simple, it requires regular maintenance and, in its absence, can fail quite quickly. It is necessary that the chains are protected from dirt, that is, a case closed from below is required (to ensure patency with such a scheme, it is also required).
This is one of the slowest options, since with an increase in speed such a car will be uncontrollable, and the conditions for the driver will be unbearable.
Another disadvantage is the cost of operation - such a machine has a lot of wheels, when turning, there is high friction between the tires and the surface due to the turning pattern, therefore, their increased wear.
4. Off-road vehicle based on ATV. We look at the Americans and their M-Gator. Everything is obvious.
The advantages of such a machine are ease of operation, the ability to use components from ATVs. Minus - height - the car has a high driver's seat, and this cannot be eliminated with such a control scheme, but an attempt to change it will turn the car into one of the previously listed options.
Probably, the development of an elongated ATV would be the solution to the problem of creating a TPK, it is possible that it is necessary to completely copy the Americans and make a three-axle machine. With so many axles, it can have a 6x4 wheel formula and a non-driving front axle, the proper level of cross-country ability will be provided in this case too.
An important note - such equipment can be simply imported, often it is mass-produced in China in an almost ready-to-use form. This is not a reason to abandon its production in Russia, but as an emergency measure, an ATV-based vehicle, at least four- or six-wheeled, can be imported.
5. Motorcycle with a sidecar. In Russia, Ural motorcycles with a side trailer and rear and side wheel drive are mass-produced.
URAL Gear Up.Photo: uralmoto.ru
When using off-road tires, they have good cross-country ability, and the side trailer can be made as a transport trailer. True, the patency on the weak Ukrainian black soil is in question. In the photo below, such a makeshift alteration is in the hands of a DPR NM fighter, however, not for the wounded, but purely cargo and without a wheelchair drive, which is mandatory for the tasks described above.
Photo "Kommersant"I must say that this is the worst option. The most expensive of those whose price makes sense to predict, the high seating position of the driver is almost unavoidable, the mass of foreign components that cannot be replaced, problems with stability and maneuverability.
The second problem is purely market. At the very least, but the plant produces 1–000 motorcycles a year, the issue is that the vast majority of them are sold in the West, and if it falls under sanctions, it will be impossible for the plant to survive them. Some organizational measures are needed to prevent this, however, as a possibility, it is worth keeping in mind the motorcycle. In any case, motorcycles were used in the past to evacuate the wounded.
Sanitary motorcycle of the US Armed Forces of the First World War
Experimental medical motorcycle, 1942, USA
It is clear that such a method of transportation, to put it mildly, is uncomfortable and not useful for the wounded, but it will usually take less than a kilometer to drive ... Although it would be better to find another way, this one is an extreme measure.
Now it is worth paying attention to which enterprises could become contractors for the manufacture of such equipment.
"Avtoagregat" will definitely not produce anything like this anymore, this enterprise now lives by renting out premises, but any of the "grands" of the military automotive industry (for example, the Military Industrial Company) would effortlessly master the first three types of TPK.
As for ATV-like structures, Russian Mechanics, which already produces domestic ATVs, just not localized, looks like an ideal contractor here. The order for the creation of a quadrocycle-like TPK, at least two-, at least three-axle, "Russian Mechanics" would have fulfilled without problems.
ATVs produced by Russian Mechanics, on the basis of this backlog, it is quite possible to create a TPK. Photo: Vitaly Kuzmin
With a motorcycle, everything is clear, additional explanations are not needed.
It is worth mentioning, as a possible example, a connection between the design organization Zenit-Defense from the city of Fryazino, Moscow Region, which develops military buggies, and the production company Chechen-Avto from the city of Argun in the Chechen Republic.
Chechen-Avto produces the highly successful Chaborz (Medved in Chechen) buggies developed in Fryazino, and there is no reason to believe that the potential of these two companies would not solve the problem of creating a TPK, although it must be admitted that Russia is not rich components for such a TPK (unlike a buggy).
If we talk about components, then Russian Mechanics is capable of producing something, perhaps some orders could be placed at the Irbit Motor Plant, taking into account the previously described difficulties. But for some options there are serial small-sized diesel engines - civilian TMZ-450D and TMZ-520D, produced by the Tula Machine-Building Plant.
Diesel engine TMZ-520D, photo "Tula Machine-Building Plant"
The power and torque of these single-cylinder engines are, in principle, sufficient, for example, for a non-wheel drive platform or a jigger. Reliability, however, is average, and the plant itself is somehow without enthusiasm selling its civilian equipment, but these are not insurmountable difficulties. The plant also has more powerful small-sized diesel engines, but they are intended for military equipment, and there is no information about them in the public domain.
In general, it should be recognized that the technical appearance of the future TPK is understandable, and in different versions, there are contractors capable of producing it, at least there are domestic-made engines, and in general the problem can be solved. On condition - if it is solved, of course.
So far, only volunteers are doing something similar.
Role of volunteers
Now everything is in the hands of private individuals. An organized, but slow (due to limited resources) development of a full-fledged TPK is being carried out by only one volunteer group, but so far there is no appearance of the machine.
On the other hand, projects of special vehicles for the evacuation of the wounded have become much more widespread.
First of all, we are talking about evacuation carts driven by a person. Examples of such carts are TET-1 tactical evacuation carts, in the photo below the transfer of such carts to the troops by the Military Technical Museum from Chernogolovka, where they and were manufactured.
Such a cart greatly facilitates the evacuation of the wounded, but is not a replacement for the TPK (although it complements it perfectly, covering the area from the front to the nearest shelter for the TPK, to which the TPK can reach). It does not help in the delivery of ammunition to the "front end".
The next step of the volunteer groups is the creation and delivery of electric evacuation carts to the front. Such trolleys have already been created by various groups, and some of them are being tested. How exactly this initiative will end, time will tell, while the preliminary results are encouraging, but such electric carts are still not a TPK, but the same means of taking out the wounded directly from the “front end”, although it is already possible to take him away on such a cart quite far, up to where the car can drive. That is, these trolleys partially cover the TPK niche, and they are silent, which can sometimes be very important. Nevertheless, the full range of TPK capabilities is not available to them.
However, most likely, the first full-fledged TPK, which will be at the disposal of the Russian army, will be “volunteer”.
It’s another matter that no volunteers can deploy the mass production of such machines, and here it’s time for the Ministry of Defense to get involved in the work with our wonderful defense industry. Let's see how quickly the Ministry of Defense realizes this.
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