The 1970 crawler mine layer of the GMZ-2 is a unique combat engineering vehicle specifically designed for the rapid and efficient installation of vast minefields. The main purpose of the engineering and technical means is to qualitatively strengthen the actions of the sapper troops in the zone of direct fire contact with the enemy.
Development and creation of the machine
The decision to create an improved version of GMZ-1 was made in the late 60s. In the design of the new planner, they tried to take into account the technical shortcomings and miscalculations in the design that were in the first version of the machine, in GMZ-1. The new minelayer was developed and created in the same place in the Design Bureau of the Ural Transport Engineering Plant under the direction of G.S. Efimov. The new tracked mine layer GMZ-2 has been mass-produced since 1970. In total, according to various sources, about 100 vehicles entered the armament of the sapper units of the Soviet Army.
The new minelayer received new anti-tank mine installation mechanisms that significantly reduce the time to complete mining of a specific area. The technical means and devices installed on the engineering machine made it possible to install a minefield in any type of soil, including thick snow cover.
The design of GMZ-2 received a reinforced armored hull, which provided protection for the minelayer crew from enemy fire attack from the effects of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion.
The main technical parameters of the design of GMZ-2
- Crew - 3 people.
- Combat weight - 27.5 tons.
- Length - 9.3 m, width - 3.25 m, height - 2.7 m, ground clearance - 450 mm.
- Armament: 7.62 mm machine gun, ammunition - 1250 rounds, 208 min. TM-62M, TM-57.
- Armor thickness: bulletproof.
- The maximum speed is 63 km / h.
- Cruising on fuel - 450 km.
- Diesel engine, power - 400 hp
- Mining speed: to the ground - 15 km / h, to the ground - 6 km / h, to the snow - 10 km / h. The mining step is 5 or 10 m.
In combat conditions, the tracked minelayer GMZ-2 was not used. Delivered to the Warsaw Pact countries, the DPRK and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In these countries, the car continues to be in service today.
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