ZIS-22: the first Soviet half-track truck

The ZIS-22 was the first half-track vehicle produced in the Soviet Union. Built from 1938 at the Stalin works, it was intended mainly for light transport duties and was technically based almost entirely on the ZIS-5 truck.

ZIS-22 at a glance

Based on one source (German Wikipedia); there is no English article.

History of the ZIS-22

ZIS had experimented with half-track vehicles based on earlier trucks in 1934 and 1935, but the results were not satisfactory. Work resumed in 1938, when two prototypes were developed: the VZ on the ZIS-5 basis and the VG on the GAZ-AA basis. These and the first production vehicles were built at the Leningrad automobile repair works (LARZ). After successful tests between 7 June and 13 August 1938, series production began at ZIS in Moscow. By the end of 1938, 150 vehicles had been built under the designation ZIS-22, after which production was interrupted; only individual vehicles were made in 1939, and manufacture finally stopped in March 1940.

The main design fault was that the tracks were connected to the sprockets only by friction. As a result, the rubber tracks began to slip on the sprockets under heavier load and the vehicle could not continue. The problem was so serious that Red Army units using the vehicle repeatedly asked the manufacturer to remove the track assemblies and fit a normal rear axle like the ZIS-5’s. In difficult terrain the ordinary truck was even at an advantage over the half-track, and during the Winter War soldiers sometimes converted the vehicles back to wheel drive themselves behind the front.

The second series

Despite the problems, the Red Army still needed half-track vehicles in 1940, so in the spring of that year the design was revised. Because there was no alternative to the ZIS-22 and the vehicles were needed quickly, no significant changes were possible. Attempts to improve the grip of the tracks on the sprockets met with only moderate success, and a small part of the second series was delivered with the old chassis. The front wheels were also changed from pneumatic tyres to solid rubber ones, for reasons that remain unclear. About 250 vehicles of the second series were built as the ZIS-22M, making a total of about 400 ZIS-22s, though other sources give a lower figure. Most were lost quickly during the German invasion of 1941, and no surviving ZIS-22 is known today.

In 1941 three further improved prototypes were built on the basis of the ZIS-22M, but they did not enter production. The experience gained with these vehicles was later used in the design of the more successful ZIS-42 half-track, produced from 1942.

Design and features

• First Soviet half-track: the ZIS-22 was the first half-track vehicle produced in the USSR.
• ZIS-5 basis: apart from the modified chassis, the vehicle was technically almost identical to the ZIS-5 truck.
• Friction-driven tracks: the tracks relied on friction with the sprockets, which caused serious reliability problems under load.
• Short production: about 400 vehicles were built, and none are known to survive.

ZIS-22 versions

• ZIS-22 (1938–1939): first series, 150 built by the end of 1938.
• ZIS-22M (1940): second series of about 250 vehicles with minor improvements and solid front tyres.
• 1941 prototypes: three improved vehicles that did not enter production.
• ZIS-42: the more successful half-track successor produced from 1942.

The ZIS-22 was based on the ZIS-5 truck; its successor, the ZIS-42, was a more successful half-track. More vehicles are in the ZIS collection.

Sources

• ZIS-22, German Wikipedia: development, production, design faults and specifications