Comintern Artillery Hauler (Soviet Union)

Shortly after WWI most developed countries began to abandon hauling their artillery by horse teams in favor of mechanical transportation. This change was marked by huge advantages, as automobiles could move at a higher speed, haul heavier loads without having to dismantle the artillery first and could also seat the crew itself with the ammunition, doing away with the need for an entire caravan in order to service a single weapon. And of course, automobiles never tired and didn't fear the thunder of battle.

In Europe and the U.S., where automobile production was already well established, they adopted civilian trucks for hauling artillery, but the Soviet Union didn't yet have a developed automotive industry and they decided to design a specialized artillery hauler from scratch.

After initial attempts to design haulers based on tractors proved unsuccessful, the Soviets decided to use the chassis from a T-24 tank, which was no longer being manufactured. The result was called the Comintern. The new tracked truck proved to have excellent capabilities for its time as it could haul almost twice its own weight own weight at a relatively high speed. Although the Comintern was classified as medium artillery hauler, it could also haul heavy artillery systems. In all 1,798 of them were manufactured, and they proved useful for the entire duration of the war, not just for hauling artillery, but for evacuating damaged tanks and working for maintaining the war economy as well. This specialized design proved so invaluable, that it became the basis for all artillery haulers designed in the Soviet Union for 20 years following the War.

Comintern Artillery Hauler Main Properties: Weight: 10.5 tons; Engine: 310 hp; Speed: 30 kp/h (18.5 mph); Seats 12