BA-10

The BA-10 was a Soviet heavy armoured car developed in 1938 and produced through 1941. It was the most produced Soviet heavy armoured car of the years before 1941, with 3311 built in three versions: the basic BA-10, the BA-10M with an improved radio, and the BA-10ZhD, equipped to run on both road and railway. The design grew out of the earlier BA-3 and BA-6 and used an improved GAZ-AAA chassis with better sloped armour, up to 15 mm at the front and on the turret. Its engine gave 50 horsepower, against 40 on the BA-6, which made it more reliable. Like its predecessors it could be turned into a half-track by fitting auxiliary tracks to the rear wheels. It first fought against the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol in 1939, served in the Soviet campaigns of 1939 and 1940 and in the early war against Germany, and stayed in Red Army service until 1945. Finland, Germany and other Axis powers used captured examples. A diesel successor, the BA-11, was planned but the war prevented its production.