WI Soviet Armored Hovercraft?

[Lucius Verus]

Proposed in 1937 by Vladimir Israilevich Levko's team, the (somewhat) armored hovertank was supposed to mount a 7.62mm machine gun and float at speeds of 60-80kmph topping off at 120kmph on flat terrain. For reasons unknown (probably Kremlin politics, lack of technical ability, capacity or w/e) the project never went forward but, what if it did?


For all intents and purposes an amphibious armored car it would be an interesting surprise in the swamps and sandy mud of Russia and coasts of the Baltic/Black Sea. Given that its early war Soviet, spare parts, quality control (shudders driving anything a peasant forced into welding makes), training, ammo and such will all be spotty and mechanical breakdown/lack of supply would be just as much of impediment as any going up against heavy weapons; yet in the swamps/mud of Russia it could be quite effective. Thoughts?

 

[Blue cat]

At least in the early stages of the war the Germans reportedly had tungsten cored 7.92mm AP rounds available. Maybe the presence of somewhat armored hover craft prompts the Germans to divert more tungsten to making such rounds more widely available so infantry MG teams have a better chance of dealing with them ? (I recall reading IOTL the Germans also diverted tungsten to making cores for 50mm PAK projectiles vis a vis the T34 until larger caliber AT guns were more widely available..)

 

[Lucius Verus]

At least in the early stages of the war the Germans reportedly had tungsten cored 7.92mm AP rounds available. Maybe the presence of somewhat armored hover craft prompts the Germans to divert more tungsten to making such rounds more widely available so infantry MG teams have a better chance of dealing with them ? (I recall reading IOTL the Germans also diverted tungsten to making cores for 50mm PAK projectiles vis a vis the T34 until larger caliber AT guns were more widely available..)

Then perhaps just as a mobility tool for the swamps facing AGC in Eastern Poland? Swamp raiders that also provide some assistance to partisans.

 

[Pesterfield]

if the design gets out could it inspire an APC version for the U.S. marines?

 

[Blue cat]

Then perhaps just as a mobility tool for the swamps facing AGC in Eastern Poland? Swamp raiders that also provide some assistance to partisans.

Maybe.. Swamps might be a place where such hovercraft could be of some use ? I am not really familiar enough with that area of the USSR and how the campaigns in that area progressed to comment further.

 

[Lucius Verus]

Maybe.. Swamps might be a place where such hovercraft could be of some use ? I am not really familiar enough with that area of the USSR and how the campaigns in that area progressed to comment further.

Nearly impassible, all major army movements avoided the Pripyat Marshes. The lack of infrastructure and hostile terran was a boon for many red Army partisans and starvation.

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

if the design gets out could it inspire an APC version for the U.S. marines?

The USN/Marines have fooled around with this one a while. Eventually we got a landing craft version, & probably won't have another anytime soon.

Skirt integrity to the ground is critical in these things. That limits them to flat ground, without a lot of brush and logs or large rocks to bend the skirt up and vent air out unevenly. If that happens the venting air acts like a jet and causes steering difficulties. It also causes the vented edges to drop and drag excessively. To keep the air moving requires BIG motors and turbines. That creates a large fuel hog. They have zero stealth. The engine noise alone kills that. then there is the size and radar signature.

 

[Leander]

The 1930s is realy quite early for any practical application of hovercraft technology which at this point was in its infancy with mostly experimental vehicles beeing build to explore the concept itself. So Im not even sure if the technological knowledge and capability for serial production of any kind of hover vehicle is available, let alone a military armored version.
I could not find much about the design but how well was it armored? If it cant atleast withstand fire from heavy machineguns I cant see it beeing of much use in any direct combat role. For scouting and harassment the speed would be helpfull, but the craft would also be much louder than any conventional vehicle making it rather easy to spot.
As @Carl Schwamberger points put even modern hovercraft are very susceptible to uneven terrain and obstacles, which might limit the places where you can deploy your hovercraft much more than one might think at first glance.
It could be usefull during the Rasputitza where otherwise flat ground turns into mud, but as long as your infantry and other vehicles are impeded by that, im not sure how much impact these neccessarily very light vehicles would make on their own.

 

[James Ricker]

At least in the early stages of the war the Germans reportedly had tungsten cored 7.92mm AP rounds available. Maybe the presence of somewhat armored hover craft prompts the Germans to divert more tungsten to making such rounds more widely available so infantry MG teams have a better chance of dealing with them ? (I recall reading IOTL the Germans also diverted tungsten to making cores for 50mm PAK projectiles vis a vis the T34 until larger caliber AT guns were more widely available..)

Germany had a very limited supply of tungsten.
Using it up early in the war would have catastrophic results starting in 1943