number were manufactured. Another unusual variant, the BA-64ZhD, was produced using surplus, old BA-64 hulls, albeit mounted on the GAZ-67 chassis. It possessed flanged, steel rail wheels which allowed it to patrol railroad tracks. Production of the BA-64B was severely curtailed by the end of World War II, as the Red Army no longer had any interest in maintaining such large numbers of new armoured cars. The last 62 BA-64Bs were manufactured in mid 1946. Approximately 9,110 BA-64s of all variants were produced in the Soviet Union between 1942 and 1946. Of that figure, about half were fitted with communications equipment, chiefly RP radios, which were inferior to the 71-TK models used in Soviet heavy armoured cars. After the war, Soviet interest in wheeled armoured vehicles shifted primarily to purpose-built armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Soviet military officials wanted armoured vehicles capable of keeping pace with tanks that could transport infantry to an engagement. As early as mid-March 1943, GAZ had developed an APC variant of the BA-64B, the BA-64E, which could accommodate six passengers. This vehicle was open-topped and the passengers debarked through a door in the rear hull. The BA-64E was rejected as being too small for a practical APC; however, a number of its features would later be incorporated into a new design better able to combine the traditional roles of an armoured car with that of a general transporter: the BTR-40. GAZ manufactured new parts for the existing BA-64 fleet until 1953, the last year it remained in operational service with the Soviet Armed Forces. Thereafter the BA-64 was superseded by the BTR-40 and subsequently, by the BRDM-1. All the remaining vehicles were placed in storage, and some were gradually disposed of as military aid to Soviet client states, particularly North Korea. Prior to export, the stored BA-64s were refurbished at the same Soviet facilities responsible for the maintenance of the BTR series. Service The first BA-64s produced were deployed to the Don Front in 1942. However, larger quantities were operated by Soviet units on the Voronezh Front and the Bryansk Front from mid to late 1943. BA-64s also took part in the final phases of the Battle of Stalingrad. During prolonged road marches, Soviet crews retrofitted them with standard tread road wheels to save fuel. BA-64Bs were deployed during Soviet offensives in Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Romania, seeing extensive combat during the Second Battle of Kiev