Chief of the General Staff army gen. Václav Kratochvíl approved on 31 March 1952 a request Tank and Mechanized Troops Command (VTMV) to develop a light armoured vehicle that was to have similar characteristics to the BA-64B and its development was to use the chassis of a 1.5-ton off-road vehicle Tatra 805 with minimal modifications. Relatively soon, on 21 May 1952, representatives of the Military Technical Institute (VTU) proposed to redesign the unsuitable original chassis with an engine at the front to a version with a self-supporting hull with a Tatra 603 engine at the rear. Representatives of VTMV accepted this solution and VTÚ in cooperation with Automobilove závody, narodowe podnik v Mladá Boleslav (AZNP) developed technical and tactical requirements. The choice of AZNP as the supplier of the prototype was quite logical, because the production of the Tatra 805 off-road car, delimited from the Tatra national enterprise in Kopřivnice, started here on 1 April 1952. At the end of 1954, the first soft-bodied prototype was produced, followed in early 1955 by the second and third prototypes. The prototypes of OA Škoda 971 Jarmila underwent tests at the Tank and Research Station in Doksy during the year. On 14 August 1956, the Chief of the General Staff notified the Commander of the VTMV that OA Skoda 971 would not be included in the armament or in the prospective production plan. Army reconnaissance units were equipped with M-72 motorcycle with trailer, which was no longer suitable, and so in 1957 the idea of arming OA Škoda 971 Jarmila with 82 mm recoilless cannon, the development of which was underway. After reviewing the conceptual design, this modification was rejected in early November 1957 in favour of developing a new armoured body on a Tatra 805 chassis with a front engine.
In the late 1950s, the command of the Ministry of National Defence (MND) was looking for a suitable small armoured wheeled vehicle for reconnaissance units of all types of troops. According to the prospective plan for 1956 to 1960, it was to import from the USSR armored personnel carriers (APCs) BTR-40 on a truck chassis GAZ-63, but for economic reasons it also pursued the domestic development of a similar APC on a Tatra 805 off-road truck chassis with a front engine. In January 1956, the MNO - Material Planning Administration proposed to the Commander of the VTMV to make an analysis of the possibilities of developing an OT on the T 805 chassis or to decide on the import of light OTs. VTMV developed two conceptual designs, the first was an OT with a front engine on a T 805 chassis for eight soldiers. The second was derived from the OA Škoda 971 Jarmila and was a so-called low reconnaissance vehicle for four soldiers. A wave of criticism descended on both designs at this stage and the solution may have been a light armoured vehicle on an off-road car chassis Škoda 973 P.
In June 1957, the chief of the Automobile and Tractor Administration (ATS), Maj. Gen. Jiří Mastný proposed a small armoured vehicle for the armament of the reconnaissance units, which was to be built on a Tatra 805 servo chassis and to have two 82 mm recoilless cannons in the revolving turret. In the meantime, the serial production of Tatra 805s was transferred to the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Works, National Enterprise in Pilsen (ZVIL), and so it was assumed that ZVIL would produce 900 units of the proposed armoured vehicles after their production was completed. As part of the unification of armaments, this solution was accepted on 5 November 1957 and the task was included in the state plan for 1958. The task was entrusted to the Tatra national enterprise in Kopřivnice, the designer of the turret was the "October Revolution" Plants national enterprise Vsetín, development plant Brno. By the end of April 1958, a working sample was probably built under the direction of ATS. Tatra Construction developed the project under the designation Tatra T 811 or OA-82 Jarmila II. As a by-product of its development, an OT-8 for eight soldiers was created, which had identical chassis and front end to the OA-82. The armored car companies of the reconnaissance battalions were to use the OA-82 and OT-8 by the liaison platoons of the motorized artillery regiments of the motorized artillery divisions, motorized car platoons of the motorized artillery divisions, chemical protection platoons of the anti-aircraft artillery brigades and anti-aircraft artillery divisions. Eventually, according to the proposal of 4 February 1959, the production documentation of the OA-82 was abandoned, as Kopřivnice Tatra was busy developing a self-propelled anti-aircraft Samota. Thus, the domestic development of armoured vehicles of this category was terminated and 124 BRDM-1 armoured personnel carriers were imported for the Czechoslovak army, which were modernized BTR-40 and originally designated BTR-40P. From 1965, they were replaced by OT-65, which were BRDM-2 licensed from Hungary as FUG D-442. Ironically, it had a rear-mounted engine, which was the solution proposed for the Skoda 971 Jarmila I.
None of the built examples of the Jarmila I and Jarmila II armoured cars have survived. A replica of the OA-82 with mock-ups of the 82 mm vz. 59 recoilless cannon has appeared at military events since about 2006. It was built by a group of enthusiasts from the Všenice Special Purpose Unit VÚ7374 from Všenice near Rokycany, which tries to preserve the traditions of the 7th Special Purpose Airborne Regiment in Holesov.
The photos of the OA-82 replica are from the Pilsen Air Days 2012, held at the Llinsko airfield on 25 and 26 August 2012. The photos of the interior of the OA-82 replica are from the air day held in Plasy on 27 and 28 April 2013.
Mrg. Martin Dubánek - Prototypes of armoured cars and transporters from 1956-1959 on T 805 chassis, HPM No.8/2006, ISSN: 1210-1427
Vlastní foto z leteckého dne v Plasích 28. dubna 2013 Published with authors permit
URL : https://www.valka.cz/CZK-OA-82-Jarmila-II-t159792#487262
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