Original post here.

Author: Aleksandr Drobyazko, Editor: P Radley

In the literature of the 1960s and 70s, it was usually stated that the Vezdekhod was the first prototype of the tank, but the inert imperial administration prevented the inventor from turning the prototype into a real, viable, tank. Even images of the high-grade fighting machine were shown. Actually, the Vezdekhod did not get further than a pre-production model, and the reason for this was simply the problems with the design. Most of the detail in the history of the Vezdekhod can be found in Leonid Fedoseyev’s book “Tanks of the First World War”.

In August 1914, 23-year old aircraft inventor Alexander Porokhovshchikov offered to build a cross-country vehicle. Drawings and the estimate were ready by 9th January 1915. On 13th January, the OK was given for construction to begin. The supervision of the project was done by the military engineer, polkovnik (colonel) Poklevskij-Kozello.
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