Кеңес Одағының БРДМ-1 барлау машинасы

The BRDM 1 (Bronirovannaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina, Бронированная Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "armored reconnaissance/patrol vehicle") is a Soviet amphibious armored scout car. It was the first purpose built Soviet reconnaissance vehicle to enter service since the BA 64 and was built on the chassis and drive train of the BTR 40 armored personnel carrier. It is the world's first mass produced combat vehicle of its class. A few nations, such as the United States, rejected the same concept because they found armored reconnaissance vehicles to be counterproductive in reducing situational awareness and encouraging their crews to emulate tank tactics. Others, such as France, explicitly adopted heavily armed and armored reconnaissance vehicles because their respective doctrines encouraged aggressive reconnaissance. The Soviet scout cars, by contrast, were lightly armed and armored, making them effective in the role of passive reconnaissance while still providing protection under cover for the crew. Both Egypt and Syria deployed BRDM 1s during the Six Day War; a number of these vehicles were captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during that conflict and subsequently reused in unconventional operations. Egyptian and Syrian BRDM 1s were deployed again during the Yom Kippur War, albeit in smaller numbers, having been largely superseded by the more modern BRDM 2. In 2016, less than 200 BRDM 1s were believed to remain in service worldwide.

The vehicle's most unusual feature is the four additional chain driven belly wheels, which are lowered by the driver to allow trench crossing. The vehicle also has a tire pressure regulation system which later became standard in Soviet wheeled military vehicles. The initial version of the vehicle, the BRDM obr. 1957, had an open roof, but the next production model, the BRDM obr. 1958, added a roof with twin hatches over commander's and driver's station and two hatches at the rear. The vehicle is a conventional 4×4 design, with a welded steel chassis, an engine at the front and crew compartment at the rear. The driver sits on the left, with the commander to his right. The vehicle is not fitted with an NBC system, and has no night vision equipment by default. The vehicle has four infra red driving lights and a single white light searchlight is mounted on the driver's side of the vehicle. When in combat BRDM 1's front windscreens are protected by armoured shutters with integral vision blocks. When the shutters are in their open position they protect driver and commander from being blinded by the sunlight and ensure that the windscreens won't be obscured by rain or snow. The GAZ 40PB V 8 gasoline engine is based on a US Dodge truck engine, and is coupled to a manual gearbox with four forward gears and one reverse with a single dry plate clutch. The four additional belly wheels which can be lowered to improve the vehicles cross country performance by reducing its ground pressure, and to allow it to cross trenches up to 1.2 meters wide. Tire pressure in the main tires can also be raised and lowered by the driver for better performance. The vehicle is fully amphibious, a trim board is raised at the front of the vehicle before entering the water to improve vehicle's stability and displacement in water and prevent the water from flooding the bow. In the water the vehicle is propelled by a single rear mounted water jet. The water jet is powered by the main engine which drives a four bladed propeller. The water jet outlet is protected by an armoured shutter while on land. This shutter must be removed before entering water. While the trim board in the front is in its travelling position it serves as additional armour. The BRDM 1 has a maximum armour thickness of 10 mm. This is sufficient for protection against small arms fire and small shell fragments but not against larger artillery fragments and machine gun fire. The BRDM 1 series tires are unarmoured and are particularly vulnerable to puncture from fire of all kinds. The BRDM obr. 1959 was normally armed with a single 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun mounted at the front of the hull for which 1,250 rounds of ammunition were carried. The BRDM 2 obr. 1960 also had mountings for two more 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine guns on the sides of the roof however usually only one machine gun was mounted even though it was possible to mount machine guns in all three mounting points. Later the 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 heavy machine gun or 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun replaced the 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun in the front while an additional 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun was mounted on the rear. It was still possible to mount the other two 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine guns on the sides of the vehicle. The Soviet Army however disliked the vehicle for several reasons. The vehicle had no turret and to operate the armament the gunner had to open a hatch and expose himself to enemy fire. The vehicle also didn't have any kind of special sights which undermined its usability as a reconnaissance vehicle. These perceived shortcomings were noted and addressed by Soviet engineers in the design of the BRDM 2.

SPW 40P – East German designator for unarmed BRDM 1.