Crazy Soviet space-age all-terrain vehicles

The beginning of the Soviet manned program in the early sixties required not only reliable rockets and spacecraft, but also powerful all-terrain vehicles that were to search for and evacuate astronauts and space capsules after their return from low-Earth orbit.
The design of such vehicles was entrusted by the leaders of the space and automotive industries to the Special Design Bureau of the ZIL plant, which had experience in creating various all-terrain vehicles.
In 1966, the SKB sent the cosmonauts a specialized all-terrain vehicle - the PEU-1 amphibian, which was equipped with a cargo platform and a crane mechanism for loading the space capsule. In 1972, this vehicle was modernized, and later a passenger version of the all-terrain vehicle unified with a truck appeared. And since 1980, a new complex of search and rescue vehicles has been put into service by rescuers, consisting of a cargo and passenger all-terrain vehicle, as well as a small auger-rotor vehicle. This complex was called the Blue Bird because of the color of the vehicles.

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