<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" >zil-SHN-67 to Bluebird</h1>
In order to adapt to Russia's harsh climatic conditions and complex topography, and to perform tasks beyond the reach of other vehicles in the cold Siberia, the Urals and the Far East and the North, the Gill Factory has built a series of wheeled chassis "ice monsters" since the mid-1950s, such as ZIL-136 in 1957, ZIL-E-167 in 1962, etc. (Gill's earliest name was AMO, meaning Moscow Automobile Enterprise, renamed Stalin Automobile Factory in 1931). Later, in order to repudiate Stalin, Khrushchev ordered in 1956 that the Stalin Automobile Factory be changed back to the original Name Likhachev Automobile Factory (Zil).
Zil-136 multi-purpose snow buggy appeared in 1957 (above and below)
Take, for example, the ZIL-E-167, which came out in 1962, an impressive behemoth with a length of 9.2 meters, a height of 3.06 meters, a width of 3.13 meters, a wheel diameter of 1.79 meters, a turning radius of 11.9 meters, a self-weight of 7 tons, a maximum load of 50 tons on the road, a cross-country load of 5 tons, it has two "hearts", 2 (ZIL-375) 3.5 liter engines can provide 400 horsepower, so that it can be at full load at 65 km / The speed of the time is running on the road, even in the off-road state, it can reach a speed of 30 km / h! It has a big appetite, with a fuel tank capacity of 900 liters and a fuel consumption of 100 liters per hundred kilometers! It can cross 2 meters deep streams, cross 42 degrees of mountain hills, and flatten 1 meter deep snow; it can easily control the tire air pressure to adapt to different road conditions, more self-contained purification devices to adapt to heavily polluted air under chemical and nuclear war conditions, automatic fire extinguishing devices for sudden fires can be easily leveled, with radio transceivers allows occupants to keep in touch with the outside world in any situation, in order to be foolproof and even installed armor protection under the integrated chassis... However, the Soviets were dismayed to find that even mechanical monsters such as zil-E-167 were still unable to meet demand in the vast permafrost.
ZiL-E-167 multi-purpose snow buggy appeared in 1962 (upper, middle and lower three pictures)
Since the Gill plant didn't think it would be a good idea to use less reliable tracked vehicles in extreme environments in cold zones, they decided to try their luck with screw propulsion technology. The spiral propulsion technology of ground vehicles is very simple in principle, the technical realization of the project is not complicated, and all that is needed is a little practical boldness, which the Soviets have never lacked. So using some of the relevant technical experience accumulated during World War II, the Gil Plant re-produced the ZIL-SHN-67 spiral-propelled snowmobile in 1967. The ZIL-SHN-67 has a strong experimental taste, and in fact, it is assembled with a large number of ready-made ZIL truck components (such as the compact 135 hp ZIL375YA multi-fuel engine), which is difficult to say is a practical vehicle, but even so, through extensive testing of the ZIL-SHN-67, the Soviet military confirmed its judgment that spiral propulsion technology is the best choice to overcome the extreme environment of the cold zone, not only surpassing wheeled vehicles. The tracked vehicle is also left far behind. In short, in contrast to wheeled or tracked vehicles, the harsher the road of a propeller such as the ZIL-SHN-67, the better it is adaptable and less weary. Swamps, ice, hills, jungles, snow, it is the most suitable for driving. Conversely, it becomes overwhelmed when it reaches a flat surface, easily destroys the road surface, or quickly wears a bald thread, so it needs a wheeled or tracked vehicle to use with it (ZIL factory chose a K61 tracked amphibious conveyor for the ZIL-SHN-67 as a vehicle). If it is a soft or watery road surface, the ZIL-SHN-67 is significantly more maneuverable and passable than a tracked vehicle. What's more, the ZIL-SHN-67 can easily achieve amphibious performance – its spiral barrel is hollow and can be used as a pontoon. What this means for the Snow-Covered, swampy Siberian Wasteland of the Soviet Union is self-evident. Encouraged by the ZIL-SHN-67, the Soviet military instructed the Gil plant to develop a truly practical model on its basis.
ZIL-SHN-67 Propellant Snowmobile (Top and Bottom)
Interestingly, whether it is the ZIL-SHN-67 or its successors, their military use may be obvious, but soviet officials were never willing to admit it, and their use was vaguely declared to support space missions. Of course, this reason is not all a lie. Most of the intended recovery areas for Soviet manned spacecraft or satellite return capsules at that time were western Siberia, a plain between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisei River (here the terrain is low, there are many swamps, with an average altitude of 120 meters, and the main rivers are the Ob and Yenisei rivers). Although under normal circumstances, the Mi-6 heavy helicopter, which is responsible for search and rescue and recovery tasks, can perform its duties well, in some special environments that are difficult for helicopters to access (such as the return capsule falling into a swamp or dense boreal forest, or deviating from the intended recovery area and falling into the more harsh environment east of Siberia), ground forces must be dispatched to recover. Considering siberia's location in the middle and high latitudes, the climate is cold (the two "cold poles" of the northern hemisphere (Shangyansk and Oymyakon) are located here. The continental climate is remarkable, gradually strengthening from west to east, with long cold winters and mild and short summers. The average annual temperature is below 0°C. The absolute low temperature in the Yakutia region in the northeast is -70 °C), and there are many river systems and complex vegetation conditions (precipitation varies significantly in time and space, with annual precipitation along the Arctic Ocean of 100 to 250 mm, coniferous forests 500 to 600 mm, and the Altai Mountains reaching 1000 to 2000 mm). 75% to 80% of precipitation is mainly concentrated in summer. Vegetation includes tundra, forest swamps, Taiga coniferous forests, forest grasslands and treeless grasslands. Rivers often flow into the Arctic Ocean, and the major rivers are the Ob River, the Yenisei River and the Lena River), which puts forward the most stringent requirements for the traffic performance of vehicles in extreme environments.
Schematic diagram of the structure of ZIL-SHN-68
Whether it is for "pure military" use or space recovery missions. One of the characteristics of the development of military technology after World War II is that it attaches more importance to the interior and rear areas, and considers civilian issues more broadly in military science. Because of this, with the support of the Soviet government, the Gil Plant introduced a series of spiral-propelled vehicles in the late 1960s. This is the case, for example, the ZIL-SHN-68 that appeared in 1968. ZIL-SHN-68 is actually an improved version of ZIL-SHN-67. The basic design has not changed much, the length of the car is 5.532 meters, the width of the car is 3.331 meters, the height of the car is 2.025 meters, the weight is 3.75 tons, the load is 1.25 tons, and it is also driven by a 132 hp ZIL375YA multi-fuel engine (the engine compartment is located at the rear of the cab), but the details are still more than 20, the most critical of which is two points: one is to reduce the weight, improve the reserve buoyancy, improve the performance on the water, THE "spiral" of the ZIL-SHN-68 The material was changed from the former 2 mm thick stainless steel to 5 mm thick AGM-64 aluminum alloy; the second is that the transmission system and gearbox of zil-SHN-68 are taken from zil-130 off-road trucks, while the former's drivetrain and gearbox are taken from ZIL-135L military off-road trucks. Although the improved ZIL-SHN-68 has improved performance, the maximum driving speed of snow has been increased from 25 km/ h to 30 km / h, and the maximum speed on water has been increased from 11 km / h to 12.5 km / h, unfortunately, after a short test, the ZIL-SHN-68 scheme was abandoned and not put into mass production. The reason for this is that the spiral body made of AGM-64 aluminum alloy material has serious stress corrosion problems that are difficult to solve, which makes zil-SHN-68 not a very useful vehicle.
ZIL-4904B in snowmobile testing
By summarizing the experience of the ZIL-SHN-67/ZIL-SHN-68, the Gill Plant introduced a two-version of the spiral-propelled snowmobile in 1972, one light and one heavy. The heavy-duty version is called ZIL-4904. This is the largest spiral propulsion vehicle ever built by humans so far, its length is 8.3 meters, the width of the car is 3.6 meters, the height of the car is 3.44 meters, the weight of the body is 8 tons, the load is 2.5 tons, driven by two 180 horsepower engines, this mechanical monster is unimpeded in the special terrain such as bushy places, ice lakes and snow, deep swamp mud pools, etc., and can "gallop" at a speed of 40 km / h on the snow in a complex situation, or it can sail on the surface of the water at a speed of 15 km / h. It is worth mentioning that due to the use of twin-engine drive, its choice of ZIL-508.9 is a very compact multi-fuel engine. The engine has no cylinder head. The entire chamber is made of cast steel, the cylinder block and the crankcase of the lower crankshaft are one casting, and the crankcase of the upper crankshaft is another casting. The two castings are bolted together. The load bolts are long and run through the entire assembly, including the main bearing cover at the upper and lower ends of the engine. These bolts not only act as a tightener, but also withstand the combustion gas pressure of the engine. Centrifugal cast wet cylinder liners are all machined and then pressed in from above the cylinder block. The jacket of the injector placed in the middle of the cylinder liner acts as a fixture to the cylinder liner. Crank connecting rod mechanism, made of nitride forged steel with silicone oil shock absorber at its free end. A row of wide-tooth spur gears transmits the output power of the two crankshafts to the output shaft of the gear drive. The calibrated speed of the crankshaft is 2400 rpm, and the calibrated speed of the output shaft is 3750 rpm, and the growth rate ratio is 1:1.57. The upper crankshaft controls the intake via a piston, and the lower crankshaft controls the exhaust via a piston. The lower crankshaft has a larger output power than the upper crankshaft, accounting for about 70% of the total output power. The Lutz sweeping air pump and most auxiliary units are driven by a crankshaft. Each cylinder has 2 opposing pistons with heat-insulated heat-resistant steel rings on the piston, and the pistons are cast iron parts. The lubrication system uses 2 drain pumps and a dry sump, the latter of which is designed to reduce the height and width of the engine. Both the oil supply and drain pumps are driven by the lower crankshaft.
In addition, according to the different engine configuration structure, ZIL-4904 is divided into A and B two models, ZIL-4904A's two ZIL-508.9 multi-fuel engines are located in the parking space, using tandem power output, common drivetrain, while ZIL-4904A's two ZIL-508.9 multi-fuel engines are located on both sides of the cockpit at the front of the body, using their own independent gearbox and traditional system. In addition, although the fully enclosed cockpit made of FRP material is adopted, the rear body structure of zil-4904A/B is also different, and the rear body of ZIL-4904A is also made of frploid material, which can accommodate 4 occupants and a large number of on-board equipment including navigation, communication and heating equipment; the rear body of ZIL-4904B adopts a simple open structure. Obviously, the difference in rear body structure also reflects the focus of ZIL-4904A/B in terms of use. It should be pointed out that due to the use of AGM-61 type aluminum alloy material in the spiral body, the stress corrosion problem that once plagued ZIL-SHN-68 has been solved to a certain extent, which paves the way for the practical application of ZIL-4904A/B. Zil-4904A/B Although the body is huge and the horsepower is strong, it means clumsiness. In order to be able to use it in cold deciduous forest areas, also in 1972, the ZIL plant introduced another spiral-propelled snowmobile with a much smaller and much lighter body, known as the ZIL-2906. The length of the car is 4.86 meters, the width is 2.39 meters, the height of the car is 2.2 meters, the weight is 1.69 tons, and the load is 0.56 tons. Similar to the case with the ZIL-SHN-67, the ZIL-2906 is also an experimentally coloured model. The simple open cab illustrates this, and the power configurations of several prototypes vary, both in a power front-mounted and power-rear layout, which can be driven by two 37-horsepower MeMZ-967A air-cooled petrol engines for Zaporozhye-brand cars or by two 35-horsepower liquid-cooled petrol engines for Lada cars. Compared to ZIL-4904, ZIL-2906 seems to be just an inconspicuous "ugly duckling". However, it was in this "ugly duckling" that the ZIL factory had great expectations with the Soviet military. As for the reasons for this, it is not difficult to understand that ZIL-2906 was viewed from the beginning as part of a complete system, not as an isolated project.
ZIL-2906 prototype under test (top, middle and bottom three figures)
Soon, Soviet engineers realized that the propeller was not omnipotent, and the double helix produced a straight forward force, but at the same time to overcome the friction after the cylinder landed on the ground, and the adjustment of the center of gravity was not stable, which was not suitable for long-distance maneuvering. So, it's just a special vehicle that can only work in the most extreme environments, and in less extreme environments, it needs to have the cooperation of wheeled or tracked off-road conveyors to trek long distances. That's why the engineers at the ZIL plant chose the K61 tracked conveyor for the ZIL-SHN-67/68 and the ZIL 157 or MAZ 535 wheeled off-road truck for the ZIL-4904 as a "mount." However, due to the lack of experience, ZIL-SHN-67/68 and ZIL-4904 did not consider the problem of matching with the car at the beginning of development, in other words, K61 or Gil ZIL131, they are not the standard of spiral snowmobiles, which naturally affects the use value of ZIL-SHN-67/68 and ZIL-4904 to a certain extent. For example, due to the excessive size of the car, the ZIL-4904 can only be transported in the field in the form of a semi-trailer, and the comprehensive traffic performance of the entire system is actually quite bad compared to the environment to be dealt with. Because of the lessons learned from the past, as a mature idea, the engineers at the ZIL plant designed the large ZIL-4904 while trying to design the ZIL-2906 as part of a complete system.
Appearing in 1975, the ZIL-4906 is a 6×6 all-wheel drive amphibious off-road conveyor with a basic design derived from the ZIL-49042 field maintenance support vehicle
In fact, this explains why the ZIL-2906's body size is so "pocket-sized" – its body is tailored for the ZIL-4906 6×6 wheeled off-road conveyor, and vice versa. ZiL-2906 and ZIL-4906 together form a "multi-purpose amphibious snow passage system" known as the Blue Bird. Of course, in this way, people have to find out about the "mount" of ZIL-4906. Simply put, the ZIL-4906, which appeared in 1975, is a 6×6 all-wheel drive amphibious off-road conveyor, whose basic design is derived from the ZIL-49042 field maintenance support vehicle, but the power has been enhanced and the body size has been increased. The car is 9 meters long, 2.48 meters wide, 2.944 meters high, weighs 8.4 tons and has a load capacity of 3.4 tons. In order to ensure amphibious capacity, the hull adopts a sealed boat-shaped design, the chassis is a non-load-bearing structure, and a 150 hp Model 5020B multi-fuel engine is located between the first and second pairs of wheels, which enables the ZIL-4906 to run at a speed of 80 km/h on the road. The intake system uses a two-stage filter that heats incoming air in winter. The start-up system can utilize air pressure. The fuel tank is mounted in front of the left rear wheel and can hold 320 liters of fuel. The cargo platform is made of welded steel plates with support frames to ensure its strength and stability, and the platform is equipped with a double-arm 5-ton class hanger for loading and unloading ZIL-2906. The cockpit is located in front of the cargo area and can accommodate 3 people indoors, one of whom is located in a semi-reclining seat behind the driver. There is a door at the front of the car that allows the occupants to access the engine and generator compartments. The cab is fitted with a three-defense system, and the air filter is installed in the cab and in front of the left front wheel. In addition, considering the long-term operation in the alpine regions of Siberia, the car is also equipped with a diesel engine heater, and the blower of the heater is connected to the air filtration system.
In order to ensure amphibious capability, the ZIL-4906 hull adopts a sealed boat-shaped design
Schematic diagram of the structure of the ZIL-4906 chassis
For amphibious operations, the driver of the ZIL-4906 can manually shift its 5-speed automatic transmission. The car also has a two-stage hydraulic system. The driving force is transmitted independently to all wheels. The lubrication system is equipped with an oil pump, centrifugal filter and a lubricating oil injection system. The engine is equipped with a diesel preheater and passes its exhaust pipe through the lubricating and hydraulic oil pools, while the engine cooling system is essentially the same as the injection cooling unit used by the BTR-60. The braking system consists of two parts, the first part controls the right front, left center and right rear wheels, and the second part controls the left front, right center and left rear wheels. In addition, the car is fitted with a dual-brake drum emergency braking system. It is worth mentioning that the ZIL-4906 comes with a 50 kW generator powered by a gas turbine and a 35 kW backup generator driven by the drivetrain. Both generators can power a wide range of electrical equipment on board. In addition, the vehicle is equipped with an R-123 radio station and an R-124 interdepartmental communication system. When working in the water, the ZIL-4906 is powered by two waterjet thrusters located at the rear of the vehicle and brings its maximum speed in the water to 10 km/h. When driving in the water, steering is controlled by the steering rudder, a raised anti-wave plate protects the cab, and the driver and co-pilot use special observation devices.
ZIL-2906 four-sided view
Obviously, the combination of ZIL-2906/ ZIL-4906 is perfect – ZIL-4906 is enough to handle most of the "gentle" sections of the Siberian wilderness, and zil-4906 is a good place to play in the difficult terrain of ZIL-4906 (such as extremely unbearable swamps, muddy permafrost and snowy terrain). The results of the test show that ZIL-2906/ZIL-4906 can adapt to 56% of the terrain of the Siberian wasteland, and the ice cap area in the Arctic Circle is also promising – considering that the previous human history has not even exceeded the figure of 25% to 30%, the performance of ZIL-2906/ ZIL-4906 is proud enough. However, it should be pointed out that ZIL-2906/ ZIL-4906 is not the whole of the "Blue Bird" system, which is a car family that is far larger and more complex than people think, and it is also undergoing continuous "evolution". First of all, the spiral propulsion vehicle is naturally the core of the entire "Blue Bird" system. But as mentioned earlier, ZIL-2906 is actually just a collective term for a series of different models, and after nearly 7 years of screening tests, the technical status of ZIL-2906 was finalized in 1979, and the model became ZIL-29061. Compared to the ZIL-2906, the ZIL-29061 is truly mature in design, and it is not as simple as adding a closed cockpit. Improvements focused on enhancing the vehicle's stability when navigating water and the angle of climbing in the snow-covered tundra – two points that are critical to the environment a spiral propulsion vehicle has to deal with. To this end, the engine position of the ZIL-29061 has been adjusted (from the rear of the ZIL-2906 to the center), and the snow vertebrae of the front of the car have been redesigned. In addition, in order to increase the engine power, the power unit of the ZIL-29061 was replaced by the zil-2906 Zaporozhye car or lada car engine with two 77-horsepower VAZ-2103 multi-fuel engines, thus achieving the true "military standard".
ZIL-29061 is a veritable boreal forest walker
ZIL-29061 Four-sided view
Compared to ZIL-2906, ZIL-29061 is truly mature in design
Although the modified ZIL-29061 does not seem to have changed in body size, self-weight and load capacity, the length of the car is 4.86 meters, the width of the car is 2.39 meters, the height of the car is 2.2 meters, the weight is 1.69 tons, and the load is 0.56 tons, but the maximum snow speed is increased from 20 km / h to 25 km / h, the maximum water speed is increased from 10 km / h to 13 km / h, and the maximum mud speed is increased from 8 km / h to 12 km / h. The vehicle can work in harsh environments with a minimum of minus 40 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 50 degrees Celsius. The upgrade from ZIL-2906 to ZIL-29061 has greatly enhanced the overall performance of the Blue Bird system. However, this mysterious "multi-purpose amphibious snow passage system" is not only composed of spiral propulsion vehicles and their "mounts", but also a variety of support vehicles based on the ZIL-4906 chassis over time. For example, the ZIL-49061 personnel carrier appeared at the end of 1975 (a fully enclosed living compartment was added to the ZIL-4906's cargo platform, with complete heating and rest facilities, and even included a so-so kitchen - being able to drink a hot soup is very important for people working in the field), the ZIL-49062 search and rescue vehicle appeared in 1979 (similar to zil-49061, but equipped with a large number of search and rescue equipment), The ZIL-49065 field communication navigation vehicle appeared in 1986 (also based on ZIL-49061, but equipped with a large number of communication and navigation equipment).
ZIL-4906 vs ZIL-49061