Today the Ural Vehicle Plant of GAZ Group is marking the 70th anniversary of the first truck production day. On the 8th of July, 1944 the first military version of ZIS-5V vehicle was delivered from the production line of the Plant, afterwards this vehicle became basic for the Ural in-house development and design. All in all during these 70 years the Plant produced 1,4 million vehicles for Russia and foreign countries.
ZIS-5V vehicle (“three-tons”) the four-wheeled high-sided truck with 4×2 axle arrangement, and payload of 3 tons, was one of the basic Soviet vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, the second most numerous war time truck after GAZ-AA. From 1933 ZIS-5V was manufactured in Moscow at the Vehicle Plant named after I.Stalin, during the war the simplified version of ZIS-5V was manufactured at ZIS, and during 1942-1944 it was produced in Ulyanovsk (“UlZIS”), and later in Miass (UralZIS) -in the engine and casting shops of the Plant named after I.Stalin evacuated from Moscow to Miass.
The first lot of the Ural Plant vehicles was sent to the war field already on the 20th of July 1944; all in all during the war the Plant delivered several thousand vehicles for the military and civil needs of the country. Thousands of saved lives can be credited to the military ZIS; the soldiers and drivers called it by a friendly name of Zakhar. About 25% of vehicles manufactured in Miass during the war had the special purpose configuration: the fuel servicing units, the field workshops, the pontoon vehicles, etc.
During the first stage of production the design of the vehicle was simplified: mechanical rear brakes, the cabin with the wooden framework, and coated with clapboard, with woodenfootboards and mud shields, curved fenders, the platform with the tailgate, etc. Further its design was upgraded several times: the vehicle was equipped with the brakes hydraulic drive, the reinforced rear axle gearbox, the reinforced sided platform, the improved water pump, the new holder of the spare wheel, etc. At the end of the forties the vehicle got the name of ZIS-5M (modern). During the post-war period the Plant manufactured the in-house designed two-axle vehicles: the gas generator ZIS-21A, the pioneer of virgin lands UralZIS-355М. Each of these vehicles became a special milestone of the Ural vehicles development history.
Currently the staff of Ural Plant develops and manufactures the increased lift capacity modern vehicles, equipped with the new units and assemblies, however maintaining the traditional off-road features which are distinctive for the Ural legendary make. The Plant pays much attention to upgrading the product line and improvement of the vehicle useful qualities, Ural is the constant participant of the army and force structures vehicles renovation process. The Plant new development results, which were highly estimated by the customers and experts are the Typhoon-U and Ural-VV reinforced vehicles, the Ural-M upgraded all-wheel drive vehicles, as well as the future generation of the Ural-NEXT vehicles.
Now Ural vehicles are indispensable and reliable assistants for the army, power and oil companies, for railway services, firefighters, forest operators, transport and construction companies. Ural vehicles can be found in the deserts of Libya, in the swamps of Angola, on the sea shore of Mexico and in the vast Far North. Because of the good cross-country ability, reliability and multifunctionality, the Ural vehicles can function in the areas where the other vehicles would not be able – in the areas where there is the need to extinguish forest fires, save people, construct and develop the infrastructure
