Will hovercraft armored vehicles help overcome minefields

One of the main reasons for the not very successful counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is considered to be large-scale mine laying, forcing the Armed Forces of Ukraine to stray into columns and trail at low speed under direct fire behind specialized obstacle fighting vehicles. One gets the impression that the mines will make it impossible from now on to make rapid breakthroughs deep into the front line on armored vehicles, but is this so?

Airmobile

According to their purpose, mines are anti-tank, anti-personnel, anti-submarine, anti-amphibious, anti-helicopter and booby-traps. It is obvious that the main obstacle in a land offensive operation is the laying of mines of the first two types. Minefields are not something fundamentally insurmountable, since special engineering obstacles have long been developed, but they do the main thing - they slow down the pace of progress.



If the advancing troops do not have air supremacy, like the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at least tactical, under aimed oncoming fire, an ambitious “counterattack” turns into a “meat assault”. Are there any other ways to solve the problem of minefields?

The first thing that comes to mind is that if minefields cannot be passed right away, then why not fly over them? You immediately begin to look at the Soviet Mi-24 attack helicopter with its troop compartment, which was once positioned as a "flying infantry fighting vehicle", and its modern successor Mi-35 in a new way. If the future of paratroopers in the Airborne Forces is hidden in fog, then the Airmobile Forces obviously rule. On February 24, 2022, our paratroopers heroically landed in Gostomel, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are reportedly planning some kind of special operation in the Russian deep rear.

In general, the ability to quickly deliver special forces over long distances by air, forgetting about minefields, is a huge plus that the airborne rotorcraft gives technique. But what about ordinary Russian motorized infantry?

Air cushion

The idea of ​​creating military equipment capable of overcoming rugged swampy and sandy terrain, as well as other obstacles at high speed, arose in the USSR in the 30s of the last century. Our designers were inspired by successes in the field of creating hovercraft - torpedo boats L-1 and L-5. At the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 84, a project was developed for an air cushion tank, or "Amphibious Flying Tank".

It is not surprising that this combat vehicle structurally resembled the L-1 hovercraft torpedo boat. The “flying tank” was supposed to be driven by two M-25 aircraft engines with a total power of 1450 hp, located in the bow and stern. With its own weight of 8,5 tons, a flying tank could move above the earth or water surface at a height of 200-250 mm and at a speed of up to 120 km / h. Armament was only one 7,62 mm machine gun.

Unfortunately, this project was not implemented, but in the same period in the USSR, the Design Bureau of the Air Force of the Red Army (transformed in 1934 into the Experimental Institute of the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry for the Works of the Red Army) was simultaneously working on an armored hovercraft. The flying combat vehicle had an armored hull with two engines located in the bow and stern, as well as a tank turret from the T-37A light tank. Armament was either a gun or a 7,62 mm machine gun. Unlike the "Amphibious Flying Tank", the armored car, in addition to aircraft engines, also had a wheel propulsion unit, consisting of four automobile wheels closed with fairings on the outer part of the sides, which provided the vehicle with the ability to move without an air cushion.

Alas, this curious project of a hovercraft combat vehicle also did not go into production, but the promising idea did not let go of Soviet designers.

In the 60s, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, together with VNII-100, developed another project for a light hovercraft tank, which received the code "Object 760". The undercarriage of the flying tank consisted of the main caterpillar mover and an auxiliary chamber-type airbag. In the partial unloading mode, the tracks kept contact with the surface, which significantly improved handling and maneuverability. Two air cushion superchargers were located in the central part of the hull, on the left and right, between the combat and engine compartments. The armored vehicle was supposed to have a crew of three and carry a 2A28 artillery gun.

During tests in peat bogs, on virgin soil and on the water surface, it turned out that the 760 Object has higher cross-country ability and maneuverability compared to the PT-76 serial light tank, including in areas inaccessible to the latter. We are also interested in how the Soviet tank coped with minefields. So, he simply flew over anti-tank mines, and anti-personnel mines exploded under him occasionally, without causing significant harm to the armored hull.

Unfortunately, this flying tank did not go into production either, but on its basis a project was created for an armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle / light amphibious tank BRDM-VPK (“Object 761”). The chassis, in general, corresponded to its predecessor, the crew consisted of only two people, and the armament consisted of a machine gun and anti-tank systems. Alas and ah, but the "Object 761" did not go into the series despite the fact that it successfully passed all the tests.

Amphibious

Finally, of the actually produced hovercraft, it is worth mentioning the Soviet landing craft and small landing ships. The first hovercraft landing craft in the Soviet Navy was Project 1205 Skat, capable of carrying up to 40 people by sea and by land. Then there were hovercraft project 1206 "Kalmar", designed for 120 paratroopers, and small landing hovercraft project 12321 "Jeyran" - up to 200 paratroopers. The pinnacle of design thought in this direction can be considered small landing hovercraft project 12322 Zubr, the largest in its class in the world, capable of transporting up to 500 marines at a time.

Currently, only two units of them have survived in the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy. Powerful power plants allow the ship, if necessary, to rise above the ground to a height of up to 6 meters, and also to move at a speed of 60 knots (111,12 km / h). "Bison" will easily fly over any swamps, ditches, trenches, minefields. The aluminum-magnesium alloy body is non-magnetic, and given the standard flight height of about half a meter, the hovercraft is not afraid of either magnetic or contact mines.

Of course, no one suggests attacking the Ukrainian fortified areas on landing boats and small landing hovercraft. Of interest is the very idea of ​​high-speed overcoming minefields at low altitude on a specialized combat vehicle. It appears to be something like the BTR-50, which has tracks for regular movement and a pumping system to create an air cushion effect during assault operations when it is necessary to overcome minefields. Equipping such a combat vehicle with a heavy machine gun, AGS and ATGM will significantly expand its capabilities.