"Kharkovchanka" The Colossal Soviet Antarctic Cruisers

[Russian Bear]

“Product 404”, an amazing Antarctic all-terrain vehicle “Kharkovchanka”

For those who have forgotten history, Soviet scientists not only discovered space for humanity, but also “paved the way” for subsequent explorers in the Arctic and Antarctic. And the technology needed was no less specific and reliable than spaceships. Any breakdown, any malfunction or miscalculation of the developers - and outside the frost is down to minus eighty, and the nearest place suitable for repair is hundreds and hundreds of kilometers away.



Of course, before the conquest of Antarctica, scientists already had developments of such equipment, mainly military ones - AT-T artillery tractors.


(AT-T artillery tractors)
Created on the basis of the T-54 tank, harsh, powerful and intimidating, the tractors worked hard in the most difficult areas (including Antarctica). But for expeditions designed to last months of work, even such a machine was not enough - still, people needed at least some minimal comfort for such long and difficult “business trips.”



In 1957, the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering and Aviation Industry of the USSR placed an order at the Kharkov Heavy Engineering Plant to develop and build a real house for scientists with special mobility. This is how the “Products 404” project was born, known throughout the world under the name “Kharkovchanka”. And, although there was no experience in creating just such machines, the order itself was resolved in the shortest possible time - within three months.
The technical specifications indicated the need to provide the car with an insulated bus-type body, which had at least 30 square meters of area, equipped with space for 6 beds, a kitchen, space for equipment, a driver’s seat, a vestibule and a clothes dryer. At the same time, cross-country ability and load-carrying capacity had to remain no less high than that of the AT-T.
The chassis of the “Product 404” was based on a thoroughly redesigned and modified chassis from AT-T, the designers added two rollers on each side, made the tracks wider (to reduce pressure on the snow) and added special snow hooks (and all this was a meter wide ). But even the expanded and enlarged chassis allowed the body to accommodate only 28 sq.m., the height was just over two meters. The body, made of duralumin, had eight layers of insulation with special wool.



Despite the reduction in square footage, the body accommodated two control positions (driver and navigator), a kitchen, a bathroom, as many as 8 beds, a specially designed heater (with a capacity of 200 cubic meters of hot air per hour) and space for instruments and a radio station. The developers also provided the ability to access the engine directly from the body. This resulted in the crew having to breathe part of the exhaust gases, since it was not possible to ensure complete sealing of the cabin.

But the installed diesel engine produces 520 hp. (and with a turbocharger producing 995 hp) made it possible to drag not only the weight of the “Kharkovchanka” (which is 35 tons), but also a seventy-ton trailer, at a speed of up to 30 km/h over a distance of up to one and a half thousand km! Eight and a half meters long and three and a half meters wide, “Kharkovchanka” rose four meters above the surface.

Five vehicles arrived in Antartis in early 1959. After adjustment and preparation, on February 10, 1959, the Kharkovchanok expedition to the South Pole started from Mirny, and a month and a half later reached it, having covered 2,700 km, absolutely unrealistic and impossible... as it seemed! But can something be impossible if there is desire, skill and excellent technology made by real professionals?



In 1974, a modernized version of the all-terrain vehicle appeared - “Kharkovchanka-2”. It had an external hood cabin, a sealed living module, and modified thermal insulation made from more modern materials. But fate did not allow the third version of the all-terrain vehicle to appear.

One of the first Kharkovchankas, No. 22, is permanently parked at Progress station.
Educational film continuing the theme:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=f6R-h06IsJw