Hard'n'Heavy

The BA-27 was a Soviet first series-produced armored car, manufactured from 1928 to 1931, and used for scouting and infantry support duties early in the Second World War. The BA-27 was a heavy armored car, having the same turret and armament (37mm gun) as the first Soviet tank, T-18.

The production of the first Soviet truck, AMO-F-15 truck (a copy of the Fiat F-15), started in 1924. Using the chassis of this truck, the Izhorsky Factory design team developed BA-27 heavy armored car in 1927.

After lengthy trials, the new vehicle was accepted into Soviet Red Army service in 1929. 215 were built between 1928–31. The last batch of BA-27 was mounted on Ford Model AA truck chassis. Both chassis were found to be inadequate to carry the heavy armor, and around 20 were later rebuilt on heavier, three-axle Ford-Timken truck chassis at Repair Base No. 2 (Rembaz No. 2), bearing designation BA-27M.

193 of BA-27 and BA-27M still remained in service on June 1, 1941, just before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. During the early stages of the war, several units were captured by Germans and pressed into their own service.

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