Praga V3S: the Czechoslovak army’s three-ton off-roader

The Praga V3S (Vojenský třítunový speciál, “military three-tonne special”) was an all-terrain multi-purpose truck produced in Czechoslovakia between 1953 and 1990. It was designed for the armed forces and exported to 72 countries, and with about 130,000 built it became the longest-produced Czechoslovak truck.

Praga V3S at a glance

The sources differ on the split of production between the factories and on fuel consumption (30 l/100 km in the English article, 32 in summer and 37 in winter in the German one); the table gives the English figure and the German seasonal figures are noted in the history.

History of the Praga V3S

After the Second World War the Czechoslovak army had only about half the vehicles it was supposed to, and of many different types. In 1947 the general staff issued requirements for new vehicles, with a medium off-road truck of three tonnes off the road and five on it at the centre: a ladder frame with rigid axles and an air-cooled engine were made conditions. Projects using Western components proved politically impossible after February 1948, and the work went through several abortive designs, including the Tatra 128, of which 4,062 were built in 1951–1952 as an interim solution.

The final specification was issued on 31 August 1951: a 6×6 truck of no more than 5,500 kg with a three-tonne payload off the road and five on it, a load bed no higher than 1,150 mm, a top speed of 65 km/h, portal axles, 550 mm of ground clearance, an air-cooled Tatra diesel, a four-speed gearbox and air brakes. A design centre was set up in the Libeň works of Auto Praga on 3 September 1951 under Jan Lanc, with engineers from AZNP Mladá Boleslav who brought experience from the earlier V3T and V4,5T prototypes. To save time they used a modified cab from the Tatra 805, and with designers working evenings and weekends the first prototype was finished in 1952.

Series production began in 1953 and lasted, with interruptions, until 1990: first at the Praga works in Vysočany, then at Avia in Letňany, then at the repair plant in Vinoř and finally at the Bratislava works BAZ, which built the type from 1987 to 1990. Modernised M1 and M2 versions entered production in the 1980s. The V3S formed the backbone of the Czechoslovak and later Czech and Slovak armies, where it served in dozens of modifications and began to be replaced only in the first decade of the 21st century, by the Tatra 810 in Czechia and the AKTIS in Slovakia. The civilian S5T was derived from it, and large numbers of V3S trucks still work in civilian hands.

Design and features

• Portal axles: the axles sit above the wheel centres, giving great ground clearance but limiting speed to 60 km/h.
• Air-cooled Tatra diesel: the 7,412 cc six is noisy but reliable in extreme conditions.
• Ten wheels: dual rear tyres and single front tyres keep the truck from bogging down in soft ground.
• Army longevity: produced for 37 years and used by the Czech army for more than seventy.

Praga V3S versions

• Praga V3S cargo truck: the standard flatbed with a three-tonne off-road payload.
• Tipper: all-steel body of 2.6 m³ and 4,650 kg payload.
• Workshop vehicle: with a front-mounted crane lifting up to 1,000 kg.
• Refuse tanker: 3.5 m³ tank with a pressure and vacuum pump.
• M1 and M2: modernised versions of the 1980s.
• Praga S5T: the two-axle road derivative.

The V3S replaced the Praga RN and was itself the basis of the road-going Praga S5T. More vehicles are in the Praga collection.

Video: Praga V3S in the forest

Video on YouTube.

Sources

• Praga V3S, English Wikipedia: development, description, users, production
• Praga V3S, Czech Wikipedia: army requirements, design history, production sites
• Praga V3S, German Wikipedia: production years, consumption, gearbox, special bodies