NKL-26

Last updated
NKL-26 (Rz 2612)
NKL-26.jpg
Place of originFlag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union
Specifications
Crew2

Armor 10 mm (front only)
Main
armament
7.62mm DT machine gun
Engine8.6L (525 ci) Shvetsov M-11G
Operational
range
250 km
Maximum speed50 km/h (31 mph)

The NKL-26 was an armoured aerosan introduced by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, based on the earlier NKL-6 (OSGA-6). [1] It was made of plywood and had a ten-millimetre armour plate on the front only, and was armed with a 7.62mm DT machine gun in a ring mount. It was powered by an M-11G aircraft engine. [2]

Each NKL-26 was operated by two crewmen. NKL-26s were organized into battalions of 30 NKL-16s with a transport company of NKL-16s - each with three companies of 10. Each company was organized as three platoons of three vehicles, and a commanders vehicle.

Combat Aerosans often worked with ski infantry battalions, and could carry four ski troops riding outside the vehicle on its skis or towed behind.

References

  1. Robert Forczyk (2012). Demyansk 1942–43: The frozen fortress. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 25–26. ISBN   9781849085533 . Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. David M. Glantz (2005). Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War : 1941-1943. University Press of Kansas. p. 235. ISBN   9780700613533 . Retrieved 27 February 2018.