The STZ-5
artillery tractor was a product of the #Stalingrad Tractor Factory (STZ) (Russian: Сталинградский тракторный завод) from 1937 to 1942 in the Soviet Union. The tractor was designed to tow division to corps level guns and howitzers of 8 tonnes and less. The STZ-5 was one of the few artillery tractors specifically designed by the Soviet government for its role. With over 9900 built, it was the most-produced Soviet ‘military’ tractor during the war.
The STZ-5 was designed at the Stalingrad tractor factory with initial work on the project beginning in 1933. The designers borrowed elements and ideas from the British Vickers-Carden-Loyd light tank and the American International Harvester TA-40 agricultural tractor. Their design goal was to achieve a vehicle capable of acting as a military (towing) tractor and a civilian agricultural tractor. They developed two vehicles on the same chassis and engine, the STZ NATI 1TA (STZ-3) agricultural tractor and the STZ NATI 2TB (STZ-5) #military transport. The vehicles were submitted for trial in 1935 and were approved however design refinements for mass production were continued until 1937 when mass production began.
The STZ-5 was designated to tow division level to corps level guns, howitzers and anti-aircraft guns.
This prime mover was praised for its reliability and good cross country ability. It was criticized for having low power, a narrow track and high ground pressure, which would have led to poor performance in snow and mud.
A small number of these vehicles had the 132mm rocket launcher system attached (BM-13-16). While not a common Soviet weapon system these variants of the STZ-5 were used at the battles around Moscow in 1941 and Stalingrad in 1942.
The German army readily pressed captured STZ-5 tractors into service and designated them as CT3-601(r).
