NKL-26

{{Short description|Soviet armoured aerosledge}}

{{Infobox weapon

| name = NKL-26 (Rz 2612)

| image = НКЛ-26.jpg

| is_vehicle = yes

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| origin = {{flagcountry|Soviet Union|1936}}

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| crew = 2

| armour = 10 mm (front only)

| primary_armament = 7.62mm DT machine gun

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| engine = 8.6L (525 ci) Shvetsov M-11G

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| vehicle_range = 250 km

| speed = 50 km/h (31 mph)

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The NKL-26 was an armoured aerosan introduced by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, based on the earlier NKL-6 (OSGA-6).{{cite book | title = Demyansk 1942–43: The frozen fortress | author= Robert Forczyk | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ty3CwAAQBAJ&dq=RF-GAZ-98&pg=PA25 | date = 2012 | pages = 25–26 | isbn = 9781849085533 | access-date = 27 February 2018 }} It was made of plywood and had a ten-millimetre armour plate on the front only, and was armed with a 7.62mm DT machine gun in a ring mount. It was powered by an M-11G aircraft engine.{{cite book | title = Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War : 1941-1943 | author= David M. Glantz | publisher = University Press of Kansas |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YwBoAAAAMAAJ&q=NKL-26 | date = 2005| page = 235 | isbn = 9780700613533| access-date = 27 February 2018 }}

Each NKL-26 was operated by two crewmen. NKL-26s were organized into battalions of 30 NKL-16s with a transport company of NKL-16s - each with three companies of 10. Each company was organized as three platoons of three vehicles, and a commanders vehicle.

Combat Aerosans often worked with ski infantry battalions, and could carry four ski troops riding outside the vehicle on its skis or towed behind.

References

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