The BA-I (sometimes BAI) is a Soviet three-axle armoured car. Only 82 vehicles of this type were built in 1932-1934, nevertheless the design initiated a series of heavy armoured cars of Izhorskij plant:

BA-3 The BA-3 (russian: Broneavtomobil 3) was a heavy armored car developed in the Soviet Union in 1933, followed by a slightly changed model BA-6 in 1936. Both were based mostly on BA-I, the most important development being the new turret, same as i ...

, BA-6, BA-9, and BA-10. Some vehicles were used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, despite being obsolete at the time.

Background

In 1931, the first Soviet 6x4 chassis was created, a design based on adding Timken tandem rear axles to the American Ford AA chassis, and because of that called ''Ford-Timken''. This immediately initiated the development of armoured cars. By the end of the year assembly was taking place at the plant "Gudok Oktyabrya" in Kanavin, near

Nizhniy Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. In autumn of the same year at the Repair Base of Nº2 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

hull from the

BA-27 The BA-27 was a Soviet 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 a ...

armoured car was first attached to the new chassis. About 20 such cars were built, having the designation BA-27M.The Russian Battlefield - BA-3, BA-6, and BA-9 armoured car
/ref> At the same time, and with the same chassis, but at the Izhorskij plant, several dozen D-13 armoured cars were built, developed by N. I. Dyrenkov. In 1932, engineer P. N. Syachentov, known for his development of the artillery, designed the universal armoured car BAD-2, which was both amphibious and capable of driving the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

track. A single copy was built, but not accepted for manufacturing.

Design

In 1932, at the Izhorskij plant, the armoured car ''BA-I'' (''I'' stands for ''Izhorskij'') was developed by A. D. Kuzmin. In some publications the name of this machine is written together - ''BAI''. It used the same triaxial Ford-Timken chassis as its predecessors. The hull was

welded Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as braz ...

together - an advanced technology for the time. Due to the "stepped" form of the roof on the hull it was possible to place turret lower, substantially reducing the overall height of combat vehicle. In the cylindrical welded

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, there was a 37 mm gun with 34 rounds (similarly to earlier BA-27 armored car), and a DT machine gun on a separate ball mount. The second DT was placed in the frontal sheet to the right of the driver. There were doors in the hull and in the rear for crew evacuation. An interesting idea that was borrowed from the earlier D-13 armoured car was mounting of spare wheels just next to the front wheels and only slightly higher. These helped when crossing trenches and rugged terrain. An innovation was the possibility to convert vehicle to a

half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cro ...

by fitting auxiliary ("Overall") tracks to the rear pair of dual tandem wheels. Additionally some vehicles were equipped with

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

. All three of these ideas were subsequently used in all succeeding designs, including the BA-10. A version has been developed using an improved

GAZ-AAA The GAZ-AAA was a truck produced by GAZ. From 1936 to 1943, 37,373 units were built. Like the GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM it was largely based on the Ford Model AA Ford Model AA is a truck from Ford. As the Model T and TT became obsolete and needed ...

chassis. Also a prototype

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

BA-IZD variant was created, but was not accepted for production.

References

{{WWIISovietAFVs Armoured cars of the interwar period Armoured fighting vehicles of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s