Airborne Forces Museum. Outdoor display area. Wheeled vehicles.
We leave the hangars behind and head into the alluring distance. Besides, it’s not a long walk.
Initial report: Museum of Armament and Military Equipment of the Airborne Forces. Introductory overview.
Previous report: Airborne Forces Museum. Auto pavilion.
We reach the nearest fork in the road and decide where to head: left—toward the wheeled vehicles—or right—toward the tracked ones?
According to the male tradition, we will go left.
I won’t be able to show you all the cars: there really are a lot of them.
We’ll start with the simple and familiar, then move toward vehicles with more wheels and greater spectacle—which, more often than not, amount to the same thing. The order here may not necessarily align with their geographical locations.
And here is a close relative—it has no more wheels than the others, yet it looks completely different.
We have already seen this car in the hangar.
Actually, that’s almost all of the two-axle vehicles! Not the most popular format in the army.
The military, like God, loves the trinity. And that’s where they really let loose.
They might leave it in its original state.
Or they can simply book it.
They can install a lift and make a light tow truck.
Swap the lift for armor plating, and you get a prime mover.
You can mount various specialized enclosures and—despite a similar outward appearance—end up with vehicles designed for completely different purposes.
Well, why stop at half-measures? You could even slap some missiles on there.
Once you get tired of swapping out the superstructures, you can turn your attention to the chassis itself. If you spread the rear axles a bit, you’ll end up with a completely different type of vehicle.
There is another way to transition from three axes to four:
don’t spread the back ones, but double the front ones.
If in this case the cross-country ability is still not sufficient, then wider tires can be installed.
And again, such a chassis can be adapted for various needs.
But I have a suspicion that if the bridges are evenly spaced, the most optimal arrangement will be achieved. Otherwise, why would they do it on vehicles like that?(
You can install absolutely anything on such chassis, which is demonstrated here.
It’s a pity that they all don’t have signs, but judging by a number of other people’s photographs online, they used to have them.
However, the undeserved winner of the multi-wheeled competition was a completely different exhibit.
Why undeservedly? Because two of the axles aren’t entirely his. And why did he get the title? Because they are related to him after all—they are drive axles.
To be continued: Airborne Forces Museum. Outdoor display area. Track links.