Irkutsk Plant of Tracked Vehicles (IZGT) has mastered the production of main gears for MT-LB type all-terrain vehicles. Previously, from the 60s to the 90s, the only manufacturer of such units was the Kharkov Tractor Plant (KhTZ).
For the past 25–30 years, the operation of MT-LB has been ensured by stocks of old units or restored parts. However, the warehouses began to empty, and IZGT decided to take an ambitious step — to completely reproduce the transmission from scratch, investing almost all available funds in this project.
The company invested about 450 million rubles in launching the production of main gears for MT-LB. The idea of reverse engineering was abandoned due to its duration — instead, it was possible to find and buy genuine design documentation for the Kharkov gearbox from two private owners in Russia.
After digitizing the drawings, IZGT purchased old equipment from the USSR, GDR, and Russia to test the manufacture of the first parts. Then the company moved on to purchasing modern equipment with numerical control (CNC) and launched mass production.
Today, IZGT is ready to produce from 8 to 15 main gears for MT-LB per month. The design is now completely Russian — the company has organized broad cooperation with suppliers from various regions of the country, including Samara, Naberezhnye Chelny, Kurgan, Barnaul, and Zavolzhye.
Read more materials:
Неубиваемая российская «мотолыга»: неприметный пахарь на передовой
