35119 RUSSIAN AFV CREW 44-45 SET (2 FIGS)

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Red Army underwent intensive development, both in terms of increasing its number of jobs and saturation with technical weapons. A lot of attention was also paid to the development of armored cars, which were perceived as a very important element of the regimental and division level reconnaissance. The first fully developed armored car in the USSR was the BA-27, which entered production in 1928. However, many new constructions appeared in the 1930s. On the one hand, light armored cars were developed, armed only with machine guns (e.g. BA-20), and on the other, much heavier vehicles armed with anti-tank guns placed in a rotating turret (e.g. BA-3, BA-5, BA-6 or BA-10). It is worth adding here that the relatively large production of these vehicles was reflected in the organizational structure of the Soviet divisions. For example, in 1941 there were 13 armored cars for the Soviet rifle division, and 95 for an armored division from the same year (especially BA-10 and BA-20). At the beginning of the German-Soviet war, the Red Army lost a huge number of armored vehicles, and the most widely produced vehicle of this type in the course of this conflict was the successful BA-64. This vehicle was characterized by a very simple structure, it was light, it was good off-road, and most of all it was easy to mass-produce. It also had a crew of only two men. At the end of World War II, it was de facto the main armored car of the Red Army.