Much of today's Russian armored vehicles still use an engine that was created almost 90 years ago. For most people, this state of affairs may seem frankly strange, because it is quite obvious that a thing created almost a century ago cannot meet all modern requirements and challenges. Or can it still be?
History knows countless examples of how things created a long time ago are used to this day. This is also true for internal combustion engines. In fact, there is nothing surprising in the age of the power plants used. This is the way things are not only in Russia, but also in other countries. In the United States, armored vehicles use engines that are at least 60 years old.
Moreover, it is still possible to call modern power plants of armored vehicles 90-year-old engines with some stretch. This is because the installations are constantly being modernized and refined. In this case, we are talking about a Soviet diesel V-shaped 12-cylinder engine V-2 with water cooling. Work on the unit was carried out by specialists from the Kharkov steam locomotive plant from 1931 to 1939. Ironically, the B-2 was originally designed for aviation - heavy bombers. The installation did not take root there, but found its application in armored vehicles.
It will be fair to say that the modernization of the V-2 engine was worked on until the end of the Soviet Union. They continue to work on it today. First, the engine was developed by Konstantin Fedorovich Chelpan, then by Ivan Yakovlevich Trashutin. In the 1930s, Aleksey Dmitrievich Charomskoy worked on the creation of an aircraft modification of the installation - AN-1. In the 1980s, the designer Vladimir Ivanovich Butov made a great contribution to the development of the B-2. Thus, this engine (like any other) is the fruit of the enormous collective work of many people. The first production model, the B-2, was produced on September 1, 1939. At the same time, a modification of the V-2K with increased power appeared. They installed installations on Soviet KV tanks.
By the way, about the modifications. Today, there are only 37 serial models of the old Soviet diesel engine. Of course, most of the older models are out of production today. Nevertheless, the V-2 modifications were in the KV, T-34, IS, T-44, T-54, T-55, T-72, T-10, T-90 tanks, as well as in some types of armored vehicles, air defense installations and even on some tractors. Considering that for almost every new machine the B-2 was modified and modernized in one way or another, it is still difficult to call modern modifications of the old Soviet installation "90 years old".
Of course, the time of the legendary motor is gradually leaving, but it will be used for a long time.
But why not just make a new engine? Because, firstly, it is not easy, and secondly, it is very expensive. And when it comes to money, it is important to understand that a fundamental replacement of engines entails the need to modernize factories (replace machine tools and equipment), improve the qualifications of production facilities personnel, modernize repair stations and much more. In addition, there is no trivial need for a fundamental replacement. Soviet designers made the V-2, in its essence, so successful and with such a great potential for modernization that the 90-year-old unit has been helping the domestic army and economy for almost a century. Why "rip the vest" if it already works perfectly? Moreover, the development of new engines in Russia is underway, just while the production facilities are not ready for their serial production. For example, Armata tanks use a completely new Russian A-85-3A unit.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about BS-3: the Soviet cannon that stopped the formidable Tigers.