Description
Amphibian located in EU
The ZiS-485, army designation BAV ( bolshoi avtomobil vodoplavayushchiy, big floating vehicle), is a Soviet amphibious transport, patterned after the WWII American DUKW.
During World War II, the Soviets received 586 DUKW-353 amphibious trucks under the Lend-Lease Act. The design was regarded as successful, so it was decided to build a similar domestic vehicle. Due to lack of own experience, a body was patterned after the DUKW, although with improvements enhancing its capability. The prototype was built in 1949 in ZiS subsidiary DAZ in Dnepropetrovsk, but a production started at ZiS factory, as ZiS-485. Introduced in 1952 it was intended to complement the GAZ 46 4x4 amphibious reconnaissance vehicle, but using the ZiS-151 6x6 truck (also used in the BTR-152) as its basis. Similar in size to the DUKW, which it resembles, the BAV has a rear tail gate making loading and unloading easier, rather than all cargo being loaded over the side by crane. Also a platform was enlarged by 1/ 3, to 10. 44 m².
Initially based on ZiS-151 truck, after the introduction of the improved ZiL-157 the vehicle was modernized using its components now bearing the designation ZiL-485A (army designation was BAV-A). Its production started in 1958, but it ceased in ZiL factory in 1959, after manufacturing 2005 ZiS/ ZiL-485. It was planned to move the production to BAZ works in Bryansk, but only 24 vehicles were completed there by 1962.
The cargo body is open, but a canvas cover is available.
Propulsion in water is by means of propeller.
BAVs were used in service by Warsaw Pact Armies and in the Middle East up to the 1980s
In use by the Soviet Union and its allies and client states the BAV was gradually replaced by the much larger tracked PTS amphibious vehicles.
