BAZ-5921 / BAZ-5922

The BAZ-5921 and BAZ-5922 are Soviet six-wheel-drive amphibious chassis from the Bryansk Automobile Plant, built to carry the 9K79 Tochka tactical ballistic missile system (NATO SS-21 Scarab). The BAZ-5921 forms the base of the 9P129 transporter-erector-launcher, and the BAZ-5922 that of the 9T218 transloader, which carries two missiles and reloads the launcher with a hydraulic crane.

Design

Both vehicles have a sealed steel hull with the crew compartment at the front and the missile compartment behind; unlike the earlier 5937 and 5939, the engine sits behind the cab, and the later pair is described as more seaworthy. Power comes from a 300 hp 5D20B-300 six-cylinder diesel. All six wheels are driven and independently sprung on torsion bars, with a central tyre-inflation system; the first and third axles steer. In the water the vehicles are driven by propeller-type pump waterjets and steered by flaps and water cannons built into channels in the hull.

East German data sheets give a length of about 9.5 m, a width of 2.78 m, an empty weight of 11.5 tonnes and a top speed of 70 km/h; loaded with missiles the launcher weighs about 18 tonnes and the transloader 18.3 tonnes, with a range of 650 km. Both could be carried by An-12, Il-76 and An-22 aircraft.

Civilian afterlife

A Russian magazine article saved in the folder describes a demilitarised BAZ-5922, painted red and registered for road use, being sold for about $15,000 as a hunting and fishing vehicle. The testers found the spacious cab seated four, the controls conventional and the vehicle almost unstoppable in snow and swamp, where it routinely pulled out stuck cars.