Throughout the war, the Red army seriously lacked one type of vehicles that most other armies already had : wheeled tank transporters.
It didn't take too long until the »Arsenal of Democracy« partially closed that gap by first delivering 190 Reo 28XS from 1943-1944.
With 700 produced, the vehicle was a copy of the better-known Federal 604 and supposed to tow a 20-ton semi-trailer for tank transport and recovery.
By the time of its arrival on the Eastern Front and due to the increase in armour and weight however, its usage in its original role was limited to the transport of light armour.
Fortunately, another type of tank transporter was soon supplied in even larger numbers, the famous Diamond-T 980 M20 with the more adequate M9 45-ton trailer, forming the M19.
The vehicle shown here belongs to a Guards recovery unit as is indicated by the Guards batch on the door.