A factory that can do everything
It is no secret that any equipment needs overhaul sooner or later. Combat including. For this purpose, there are specialized units and even individual enterprises. A special place among them is occupied by JSC "140-th Repair Plant", which is under the jurisdiction of the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
Today it is the only enterprise in Belarus where major repairs and deep modernization of almost the entire spectrum of armored vehicles, engines, and other components and assemblies to it are carried out. It is here that combat vehicles are restored and improved, and fundamentally new competitive models of equipment on the market are being developed and manufactured.
A powerful modern production base equipped with unique technological and diagnostic equipment has been created at the Borisov enterprise, which is now headed by reserve colonel Alexander Churyakov. Advanced technologies and state-of-the-art approaches have been introduced into production, which allows the labor collective not only to restore a wide range of samples of armored vehicles, which to a large extent have already developed their resources, but also to carry out its deep modernization.
What does the overhaul of a tank, BMP or BTR mean? Repair is a very difficult and time-consuming process. On the shoulder, he only highly qualified specialists in love with their work.
Before proceeding with the restoration of machinery, factory workers apply their own time-tested technology: disassembling an almost dead machine to a bolt, troubleshooting and repairing all components and assemblies, and manufacturing in the factory of new parts to replace worn out ones. And only after that, starting almost from scratch, is reassembly and testing of combat qualities. But first things first ...
I go to the shop dismantling and repair of buildings, components and assemblies. It is from here that the restoration of the combat vehicles that have developed their resources begins.
Immediately struck by the abundance of military equipment. Some cars without wing wings and caterpillars, others without a tower and skating rinks - they all had not a combat look at all ... But there is nothing surprising. This is a typical picture for the initial stage of any technical repair.
“The sequence of work has been worked out for decades,” the shop manager, Valentin Kuznetsov, quenches my curiosity. - After the military vehicle arrives at the plant that needs major “treatment”, first all units and components are removed from it, after a thorough washing they are sent to auxiliary sections for disassembly and repair. The case itself tank or BMP, “having taken a shower” (washing solution) under high pressure, undergo bead-blasting in special chambers, thereby getting rid of paint and oil.
Further, on a separate technological section above the case covered with a primer, another repair team begins to conjure. They have to straighten, boil, change, while simultaneously checking the basic parameters of connections and fixings. In the team of "corps" most are experienced craftsmen. So the repair of military equipment for them is a usual thing and, as the repairmen themselves put it, is simple.
In general, there is no such mechanism that the golden hands of the masters of the 140 repair plant cannot restore. Everything is subject to them: they have mastered the repair of more than 70 types of diesel engines, artillery weapons, gearboxes ... I'm not talking about the repair of heaters, oil and fuel pumps, and other smaller, but in their own way complicated units. Among the repairmen today there are many professionals who have their own personal stamp. And this means that they deserved the right to deliver products without presentation to the Quality Control Department (Technical Control Department), being responsible for its quality for all 100 percent.
One of the most complex and demanding workshops - assembly. It is here that after painting the repaired hulls, the machines are fully assembled from rebuilt components and mechanisms. A clear distribution of labor in the areas allows you to avoid unnecessary fuss, strengthen control over the quality and sequence of operations.
- When assembling details, it should not be, - said the head of this workshop, Gennady Filanovich. - After all, even one mistake can be costly for the whole team. In order to reduce to zero all errors, we recruit qualified specialists - not less than the fourth category. Periodically, a team of repairmen of the shop is replenished with young specialists, to whom we transfer the skills and experience ...
The workshop, which is headed by Oleg Volkov, already assembled equipment comes to verify the functioning of all systems, the passage of stationary tests on a long-established technology. And ahead - control mileage and shooting from weapons at the site, washing and tinting, delivery of finished vehicles to the customer.
Last year alone, the company overhauled and modernized more than two hundred units of armored vehicles of various modifications. Most of them are export orders. And none of the combat vehicles, having found a second wind, did not return for revision. And this is the merit of the entire workforce of the 140 repair plant. The proud rank of tank repairman here is able to confirm with decent work and the quality of their products.
Restoring the technique of the war
And one more fact worthy of respect. It was at this enterprise, famous for the mastery of Borisov tank repairmen, to carry out the restoration of wartime equipment for the military parade in honor of the 70 anniversary of the Great Victory. In a short time, the T-34-85, EC-2, EC-3 tanks and SU-100 self-propelled artillery tanks underwent major repairs (up to full running condition) in the workshops.
It was a matter of honor to restore front-line fighting vehicles for the enterprise’s collective, whose work biography began in the distant 1943 year. Passing the war roads, the repairmen of the then 7 mobile tank-repair plant under severe conditions returned more than six and a half thousand tanks and other armored vehicles that were directly involved in the destruction of the Wehrmacht. By the way, the team of the military enterprise in the victorious 1945 year was awarded the Order of the Red Star for selfless labor.
Writing a second or even third life of the technique of the Great Patriotic War was not easy. According to the deputy director of the plant for production, Alexander Prandafilov, the difficulty of restoring rare combat vehicles lay primarily in the absence of spare parts in the original design and the necessary technical documentation.
After a thorough troubleshooting and troubleshooting, it was necessary to completely replace or restore the failed components and assemblies on each sample of military equipment. And also to develop the concept of manufacturing individual mechanisms according to the drawings found by the plant technologists on the Internet. Many had to tinker and over the restoration of the chassis, adjusting the drive control, bringing the engine to normal operating parameters. Some parts of the preserved components and assemblies were made from scratch according to drawings and technical descriptions preserved in the plant’s archives ... But this routine work, as they say, was worth it: thanks to the joint efforts of designers, technologists and fitters, it was possible to restore the rare technology in its “original” original performance. It is symbolic that the equipment of the times of the Great Patriotic War restored at the 140-nd repair plant was successfully held at the forefront of the mechanized column - to the joy of war veterans and tens of thousands of guests of the capital.
Modernization is a promising and profitable business
It is gratifying that Borisov repairmen are not only engaged in the restoration of armored vehicles, contributing to the cause of strengthening national security, but also seriously mastering medium and deep modernization with a long-range target - for export deliveries. A truly modern approach. Today, even the richest countries are in no hurry to destroy the aging models of wheeled and tracked military equipment, seeking to give them higher combat qualities and operational capabilities that fully meet the requirements of modern combat. One of these promising areas in their production activities and chose 140-nd repair plant, carefully examining the market and the needs of potential customers in the modernization of their demanded combat vehicles.
“The whole point of modernization is that the newly created equipment not only has higher combat and operational characteristics, but also be in demand,” the plant director Alexander Churyakov noted in a conversation. - Thinking about the prospects for the development of the enterprise, we undertake any work that corresponds to our profile, we fight for each customer. The buyer, like the markets, needs to be won - and above all with the high quality and competitiveness of its products.
Having seriously taken up this promising topic, the factory workers began a serial modernization of T-72B “Vityaz” tanks. A modern fire control system with a multi-channel sight, automatic target tracking, as well as a fundamentally new sighting and observation complex of the tank commander, which allows firing day and night with a cannon and coaxial machine gun in the "Double" mode, is installed on their new production development. The combat vehicle is equipped with a closed anti-aircraft machine gun installation - it is possible to more effectively fight not only airborne, but also ground targets from the tank's combat compartment at a distance of 1.600 meters. Deep modernization of the combat vehicle made it possible to significantly improve the defense of the combat vehicle against anti-tank weapons and mines with magnetic fuses, as well as its disguise, many other combat and operational capabilities.
- With the introduction of the modernization technology of the T ‑ 72 tank, its combat potential has increased by one and a half times. This will allow the combat vehicle to successfully perform tasks for its intended purpose for several decades, - Alexander Ivanovich Churyakov is convinced.
The same can be said about other types of Soviet-made armored vehicles, which still have sufficient resources. Today, in the interests of the customer, the company has successfully mastered, for example, the overhaul and deep modernization of an armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle to the level of the BRDM-2MB. The new development differs from the obsolete model primarily by changing the transmission. Instead of a gasoline engine, a diesel power unit of the Minsk Motor Plant is installed, as well as a five-speed synchronized gearbox with a step-up gearbox. This allowed not only to increase the engine power, increase the mobility and maneuverability of the machine over rough terrain, but also to reduce fuel consumption and increase the power reserve. Significantly improved and combat characteristics of the machine through the installation of automated remotely controlled observation-fire complex of domestic production.
A great interest among a foreign customer was also aroused by the deeply modernized BTR-70MB1 enterprise with the replacement of two petrol engines with a diesel power unit, a five-speed gearbox, as well as other more advanced units and systems. Thanks to the constructive and creative approach of the factory workers to the business today, the BTR ‑ 70 in its structural design (the design of the side landing hatches has been changed), the transmission and the undercarriage, as well as the combat and operational capabilities are not inferior to the BTR ‑ 80.
Workers successfully work on the improvement of other types of military equipment. As the deputy director of the plant for production Alexander Trandafilov noted, today the company has mastered the repair and pre-sale preparation of the ACS-2C7 Peony, upgrading the BTR-60 to the level of the BTR-60MB1, as well as automotive vehicles (ZIL-131, GAZ-66) , maintenance machines with the installation of a diesel engine of domestic production. There is no doubt that the samples of the upgraded wheeled vehicles will not only receive a permanent residence permit in the Belarusian army, but will also be in demand on the foreign market. The plant's strategy and sound approach to business are quite reasonable: after all, it is much cheaper to create more sophisticated machines on the basis of outdated models than to buy for fabulous money new ones with equivalent fighting qualities, which are not yet proven in practice.
... And new product samples
Having taken a serious step forward in the field of modernization of armored vehicles, Borisov repairmen continue to work on the creation of fundamentally new types of products. After visiting the enterprise last year, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, set the factory workers the task: to create a modern mobile vehicle that would be in demand not only here in the Belarusian army, but also abroad.
No sooner said than done. A team of inventors under the leadership of the chief designer of the plant, Olga Petrova, took on the development of a fundamentally armored vehicle on wheels. From the moment the idea was conceived to the creation of a working model, only four months passed and the results are obvious. According to the creators, the Cayman machine is intended to be used as a mobile armored vehicle (MBTS) in reconnaissance and sabotage operations, patrolling and escorting convoys, as well as for conducting peacekeeping and police operations and conducting emergency situations.
For the base of the new development, the BRDM hull was taken, which, by the way, was considerably altered from the bottom to the roof with the installation of landing (side) doors. (Externally, only the nose part of the Soviet-era model of armored vehicles familiar to many remained recognizable.) In the engine compartment of the product, a domestic D ‑ 245 diesel engine with an electronic fuel supply control system and a five-speed manual transmission were installed. The independent torsion bar suspension, axles, wheel gearboxes, the designers borrowed from the BTR-60.
An armored vehicle, the total mass of which is not more than seven tons (with six crew members and weapons), develops speed on the highway 110 kilometers per hour. Power reserve - up to 1.000 kilometers ... By the way, MBTS “Caiman” (Caiman, which means “alligator, crocodile” in Spanish) is able to easily overcome water obstacles afloat. To this end, specialists from scratch have developed a fundamentally new engine with two propellers along the sides driven by a power take-off. Instead of a tower on the roof of the car, a rotary shoulder strap for the installation of the PKS and AGS or another combat module is installed, depending on the tasks.
According to Leonid Moshkovsky, the deputy director of the plant for commercial issues, the machine created by its tactical, technical and operational capabilities will not only be in demand in the Belarusian army, but will also find its buyer abroad.
“Of those analogues that are on the market today, this product will become very competitive in all respects, including pricing,” emphasized Leonid Valerievich. - Factory road tests showed that the Caiman TTH is not inferior to the Russian Tigers. Yes, and made our mobile vehicle almost on the basis of domestic components, which will significantly affect the cost of the car.
Personally acquainted with the prototype of the new generation and its operational capabilities, the head of our military department, Lieutenant-General Andrei Ravkov, gave the go-ahead for passing military tests created by an armored vehicle on the basis of one of the military units.
Not stopping on their laurels, factory workers are working today on new promising developments for potential customers. There is no need to be surprised here: do not take up the work of Borisov repairmen to be creative and creative. The main uniqueness of this domestic defense enterprise, I think, consists of this.
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