The BA-27 was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

first series-produced armoured car, manufactured from 1928 to 1931, and used for scouting and infantry support duties early in the Second World War. The BA-27 was a heavy armoured car, having the same turret and armament as the first Soviet tank, T-18, manufactured at the same time: the main gun was a modified copy of the French 37 mm

Puteaux SA 18 The Puteaux SA 18 was a French single-shot, breech-loading cannon, used in World War I through World War II, primarily mounted on combat vehicles. It is closely related to the Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP, also produced by Puteaux. ...

cannon, and it was supported by an additional machine gun. The production of the first Soviet truck, '' AMO-F-15 truck'' (a copy of the

Fiat 15 The Fiat Tipo 15 is a light military truck produced by Fiat Veicoli Industriali. Introduced in 1911, the Tipo 15 was used by the Royal Italian Army in the Italo-Turkish War and in the First World War. It was also produced in the Soviet Union a ...

), started in 1924. Using the chassis of this truck, the Izhorsky Factory design team developed BA-27 heavy armoured car in 1927. There was no significant production of AFVs in Russia since 1918, and the indigenous automobile industry was practically non-existent at the time. After lengthy trials, the new vehicle was accepted into

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

service in 1929. 215 were built between 1928–31. The last batch of BA-27 was mounted on

Ford Model AA Ford Model AA is a truck from Ford. As the Model T and TT became obsolete and needed to be replaced, Henry Ford began initial designs on the Model A and Model AA in 1926. Basic chassis layout was done rapidly and mechanical development wa ...

truck chassis. Both chassis were found to be inadequate to carry the heavy armour, and around 20 were later rebuilt on heavier, three-axle Ford-Timken truck chassis at Repair Base No. 2 (''Rembaz No. 2''), bearing designation BA-27M.The Russian Battlefield - BA-3, BA-6, and BA-9 armoured car
/ref> 193 of BA-27 and BA-27M still remained in service on 1 June 1941, just before the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

of the Soviet Union. During the early stages of the war, several units were captured by Germans and pressed into their own service.

References

* Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). ''Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two'', London: Arms and Armour Press. . World War II armoured cars World War II armoured fighting vehicles of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced in the 1920s {{mil-vehicle-stub