BCP

The PPG wedge was created by the LKZ design bureau in 1940 under the leadership of Joseph Kotin (Leading Machine Engineer - L. E. Sychev). Developments were commissioned by troops fighting on the Karelian Isthmus . A promising platform sole was given the role of the simplest and cheapest machine for direct infantry fire support with machine gun fire.

The wedge had a rectangular armored hull , with small angles of inclination of the frontal and side rolled armored plates. The chassis for one side consisted of four large-diameter track rollers and a rear- wheel drive wheel . The sloth was absent, and its functions were performed by the front roller. In the front of the vehicle there was a low and very tight fighting compartment, in the frontal armor plate of which was the armament of the wedge - two 7.62 mm DT machine guns in independent ball mounts. It also housed machine gun ammunition - 1575 rounds in 25 disk stores of 63 rounds each.

A characteristic feature of the machine was the placement of members of its crew. In combat conditions, the driver and the commander of the shooter were lying on their stomach. Such a solution made it possible to drastically reduce the height of the machine (only 86 cm) and thus provide it with an inconspicuous silhouette. In the stowed position, the crew had the opportunity, by folding the hatch, to take a more comfortable sitting position. At the rear of the car was the engine compartment, where a horizontally opposed 2- cylinder PMZ air-cooled 16-hp carburetor engine was installed.

It was possible to transport wedges long distances on trucks.

The first BCP sample was made in March 1940 and immediately went to factory tests. According to the results of the latter, the military doubted the combat value of the new machine. For example, machine guns had very limited angles of fire, and the long-term location of the crew in a not-so-comfortable position adversely affected the combat effectiveness of the machine. In addition, the machine was completely powerless against enemy tanks or anti-tank artillery. Although the low silhouette, in principle, contributed to the survival of the car, its speed and mobility did not allow to retreat quickly in the event of a threat - the car accelerated only to 18 km / h . Finally, by March 1940, hostilities had already ended and the need for a wedge was no longer needed. As a result, ABTU RKKA decided to curtail work on the project, recognizing it as unpromising. The preliminary order for a batch of five experimental tankettes was canceled, was not accepted for arming the BCP and was not used in hostilities.

• Solyankin A.G., Pavlov M.V., Pavlov I.V., Zheltov I.G. Domestic armored vehicles. XX century. 1905-1941. - M .: "Exprint", 2002. - T. 1. - 344 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-94038-030-1 .

• V. Potapov. Wedge heel PPG (neopr.) . The Russian Battlefield. Date of treatment March 31, 2010. Archived April 21, 2012.