Garford-Putilov Armoured Car

Garfield-Putilov Armoured Car
A Garford-Putilov in the 1920s.
Type Armoured car
Place of origin  Russian Empire
Service history
Used by  Russian Empire
Specifications
Weight 11 t
Main
armament
 1 x 76.2 mm cannon
Secondary
armament
 2-3 Maxim machine guns
Engine 30 hp
Speed 10–11 mph (16–18 km/h)

Garford-Putilov armoured cars were a type of armoured fighting vehicle produced in Russia during the First World War era. They were built on the frames of Garford Motor Truck Co. lorries imported from the United States.

Although considered to be a rugged and reliable machine by its users, the Garford-Putilov was severely underpowered. With a total weight of about 11 tons, and only a 30 hp engine, the vehicles had a top speed of approximately 10–11 mph (16–18 km/h). The design was also overloaded (top-heavy), and therefore had very limited (if any) off-road capability.

Armament consisted of a single 76.2 mm cannon in a turret with 270 degrees of traverse at the rear of the vehicle, and two or three 7.62 mm machine guns. Two of these machines guns were in casemate-like mounts towards the front of the vehicle, but the guns could not provide full frontal cover at short range.

Besides the countries that emerged from the ruins of the old Russian Empire, Garford-Putilov armoured cars were also deployed by German forces. The Germans captured several of the vehicles, and put them to some use towards the end of World War I, and post-Armistice in the "Freikorps".

Former operators

  •  Russian Empire
  •  German Empire - Used captured vehicles from the Russian army.
  • Second Polish Republic - Used captured from the Bolshevist army during the Polish–Soviet War.
  • Soviet union - Captured from the Russian army during October Revolution.
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