| After the introduction of the Broniefords the designers at the Izhorskeyeo plant in Leningrad developed an improved armored car, which received designation FA-I [Lit; Ford
Izhorskiy]. The vehicle used the entire chassis of the Ford-based GAZ-A truck produced at the Nizhniy-Novgorod motor vehicle plant. The revised layout led to a notable
increase in its height to 2240mm and weight, which now reached 2-tons. It also featured a more spacious fighting compartment which was appreciated by the crews.
Production began in 1933 at the Izhorskeye plant, then it was transferred to Vyksinskiy plant in the Gor'kiy region, where it continued up to 1936. Total production was 676
examples and in 1936 it was replaced in production by the BA-20 based on the more powerful and more reliable passenger chassis GAZ-M1.
In 1939 a large part of the FA inventory was worn out as a result of prolonged operation. Spare parts were also not available as the base vehicle had been removed from
production in 1935. A solution was found by transferring some of the armoured hulls to the chassis of the GAZ-M1. At the same time a number of modifications were carried out
which included strengthening the front axle and installation of an additional fuel tank.
At the beginning of World War II 376 examples were still in service. Most of them were lost after 22 June, 1941 in the first months of war and the remainder were mostly lost by
the spring/summer of 1942.
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VARIANTS OF THE SERIES
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GENERAL RECOGNITION POINTS
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- Four-wheel vehicle with 'wire' wheels.
- Flate-plate bonnet with two shutters on front.
- Curved moulded mudguards front and rear
- Front mudguards have single headlights and sidelights.
- Two small windscreens on front with top-hinged armour covers with single vision slot.
- Domed access hatches in roof.
- Sloping rear armour with spare wheel mount and single small viewport on top right.
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WEBSITES
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CONTACTS |
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