Battlefield: invulnerable Soviet tank for nuclear war. Battlefield: invulnerable Soviet tank for nuclear war Tank nuclear explosion

In the 50s of the 20th century, after the appearance of the first nuclear reactors, projects appeared to equip ships, planes, rockets and even trains with them. At that time, these projects seemed almost impossible to implement. Of course, the American military could not help but notice such a promising power plant for military equipment. Tanks were not spared either.

What is the history of the creation of atomic tanks?

The first such project was developed at a conference called “Question Mark III”, which took place in June 1954 in Detroit. Such a tank was called TV-1, which weighed 70 tons, was protected by 350 mm armor and would have been armed with 105 mm. gun. Thanks to a nuclear reactor, it could operate for 500 hours without needing to change fuel. In this project, we did not forget about the machine that would supply energy to the equipment during forced marches.

At the next conference called "Question Mark IV", which took place a year later, another nuclear tank was presented. Over the years since Question Mark III, the design of the reactors has changed, which has made it possible to reduce the size and weight of the machine. It was called R-32, and it already weighed 50 tons. The caliber of the gun was reduced to 90 millimeters. The frontal armor has also become smaller – “only” 120 mm. The vehicle's reactor allowed it to travel over distances of 4,000 miles, that is, almost 6,500 kilometers.

Diagram of a nuclear tank model R32 (side section)

This project was considered more promising than its predecessor TV-1, and they even thought that the R-32 could in the future replace the then main tank of the American army, the M-48. But reality dictated its conditions: the expected cost of the future nuclear tank alone discouraged any desire to produce them in series. The R-32 did not progress beyond sketches. After this, there was an idea to convert the heavy American tank M-103 into a test vehicle with a nuclear reactor. But she didn’t go beyond the project on paper.

But what about the USSR with its “catch up and overtake America”? In the Soviet Union, such projects simply did not exist. Based on the T-10 heavy tank, a mobile nuclear power plant called TPP-3 was created, which began to be used in 1961. Then this program was curtailed and only returned to it in the 80s.

What are the reasons for refusing to create and produce nuclear tanks? Firstly, the high cost of such machines. Secondly, the crews of such tanks must undergo more thorough and thorough training. In addition, the question immediately arose of creating specialized repair and refueling machines. But damage to such vehicles in battle most likely led to radioactive contamination.

In the middle of the last century, the active introduction of energy sources based on nuclear reactions into everyday life began, ranging from projects of colossal nuclear power plants, fantastic icebreakers and submarines to consumer household needs and nuclear cars. Unfortunately, most of these ideas have not yet been implemented. The desire of mankind to simultaneously minimize and globalize has contributed to the appearance in history of attempts to use the reactor in places where it is impossible to even imagine - for example, in a tank

The history of atomic tanks began (and also ended) in the United States of America. In the post-war years, conferences bringing together amateur and professional scientists under one roof were popular all over the world. The luminaries of scientific thought staged a populist brainstorming session, the purpose of which was to find new technical solutions to the needs of modern society, capable of turning its life around once and for all.

One of the most popular such conferences was called “Question Mark”. It was at one of these meetings in 1954 that the idea of ​​creating a tank powered by atomic energy was first conceived. Such a combat vehicle could almost completely rid the American army of oil dependence, which was especially important in times of silent anticipation of a nuclear war. To have a full range after a forced march, and accordingly the ability to engage in battle “on the move”, without the necessary maintenance, was the main hope placed on the project, called TV-1 (“TrackVehicle-1”, English - “ Tracked vehicle-1").

The very first technical proposal for the nuclear tank project contained the following points: armor thickness - 350 mm, weight - no more than 70 tons, armament - 105 mm caliber gun.

The design of the tank was quite simple. The reactor was located in the front of the vehicle, and immediately behind it were the crew, combat and engine rooms. The reactor for the tank was planned to be made with forced air cooling - hot air after the heat exchange process was supposed to drive the engine turbine.

It was assumed that nuclear fuel would be enough for 500 hours of continuous operation, however, according to theoretical calculations, during this time TV-1 would contaminate several hundred cubic meters of air! In addition, no clear decision was made on reliable emergency protection of the reactor itself. This made the tank more dangerous for friendly troops than for the enemy.

The first project was followed by a second. In 1955, the modernized TV-1 was introduced, receiving the R32 marker. The main differences from its predecessor were smaller dimensions and weight, as well as more rational armor angles. The most important difference was in reducing the danger of the reactor. The air turbine was abandoned, as well as the size of the reactor itself was reduced, as well as the maximum power reserve of the vehicle. This increased the safety of the reactor for the crew, but still these protective measures were not enough for full operation of the tank.

Attempts to interest the army in nuclear projects did not end there. One of the most “colorful” developments was the project of an armored vehicle based on the M103 heavy tank. This project was launched by the famous American company Chrysler, which developed a tank with a nuclear reactor as part of the ASTRON program.

The result of the development was to be an effective combat vehicle capable of surpassing enemy armored vehicles for many decades to come. Hidden behind the TV-8 index is an experimental tank concept with an original turret - its size exceeded the length of the vehicle's hull! The turret housed all crew members, a 90 mm gun and ammunition. The tower was also supposed to house both a reactor and a diesel engine. As you might guess, the TV-8 (known as the “float tank”) had, to put it mildly, an original appearance.

The paradox is that TV-8 was the most successful project of a tank with a nuclear reactor and the only one brought by the developers to the prototyping stage. Unfortunately or fortunately, the project was later closed due to an unreasonable balance between the prospects and risks associated with the operation of the tank.

TV-8 can be considered one of the most unusual tanks in the history of military equipment. Now it looks at least funny, and the layout principle seems extremely irrational - when it hit the turret, all the life-supporting systems of the tank were in the affected area - from the engine, weapons and crew to the nuclear reactor, damage to which seemed fatal not only to the tank itself, but also to the environment.

In addition, the autonomy of the operation of a nuclear tank was still not possible, since ammunition and fuel and lubricants were limited in any case, and crew members were exposed to constant radiation exposure, which endangered human lives. Coupled with the extremely high cost of such a machine, their mass production and operation even now looks like a very dubious undertaking. As a result, the atomic tank remained a product of the nuclear fever that gripped the world in the 50s of the 20th century.

The idea of ​​​​creating an atomic tank driven by a nuclear power plant appeared in the middle of the 20th century, when humanity naively believed that an ideal source of energy had been found, safe, practically eternal and applicable even in everyday life.

In addition, some believe that the Object 279 is a Soviet nuclear tank, although it had a traditional diesel engine.

American developments

So, the concept of nuclear tanks began to develop in the United States at the Question Mark III conference in Detroit in June 1954. It was assumed that the nuclear reactor would make the power reserve practically unlimited and allow the equipment to be combat-ready even after long marches. Two options were developed, the first proposed a special machine that would supply power to others during a long drive. The second option involved creating a tank with a nuclear reactor inside, protected on all sides by powerful armor.

TV-1 and TV-8

As a result of the development of the second result, the TV-1 project weighing 70 tons and frontal armor 350 mm appeared. The power plant consisted of a reactor and a turbine, and was capable of operating for more than 500 hours without refueling. The tank was armed with a 105 mm T140 cannon and several machine guns.

In August 1955, a conference was held under the number Question Mark IV, at which an improved and lightweight R32 project appeared, characterized by a weight reduced by 20 tons, 120 mm armor located at a high angle and a 90 mm T208 gun. The tank was protected at the level of contemporary medium tanks, but had a power reserve of more than 4,000 without refueling. As in the case of its predecessor, the matter was limited to the project.

It was planned to convert the M103 into a nuclear tank for various tests, but the vehicle was never built.

Also in the United States, they created an interesting nuclear tank, the Chrysler TV-8, which accommodates the crew and most of the mechanisms along with a nuclear reactor inside a huge tower mounted on a maximally reduced body with electric motors driving it inside. To be fair, it is worth noting that the first version of the tank was equipped with a 300-horsepower eight-cylinder diesel engine driving a generator. In addition to its unusual appearance, the TV-8 was supposed to float due to the displacement of the turret. It was armed with a 90 mm T208 cannon and 2 7.62 machine guns. A very progressive solution for its time was the installation of external cameras designed to save the crew’s eyes from flashes of explosions outside.

Work was also carried out in the USSR, although less actively. It is sometimes believed that a Soviet nuclear tank was created on the basis of the T-10, built in metal and tested, but this is not true. In 1961, TPP-3 was built and put into operation, which is a transportable nuclear power plant that moved on an extended heavy tank chassis and provided power to itself along with power to military and civilian facilities in the Far North and Siberia.

It is worth mentioning once again the so-called Object 279 nuclear war tank, which in fact is unlikely to be able to withstand an explosion and protect its crew.

Also sometimes I remember a certain tank with nuclear shells. Probably, it can be called the T-64A, with a launcher installed in the turret, capable of firing both conventional TURS and tactical missiles with a nuclear charge. This combat vehicle was called Taran, had a mass of 37 tons, a crew of 3 people and was intended to disable enemy forces from a distance beyond their reach.

Despite the abundance of projects, a nuclear tank was never created. Why? If only because the slightest damage in battle turned it into a small nuclear bomb, guaranteed to destroy its crew and allies around. Even without damage, the crew had to be constantly changed to avoid excessive radiation exposure. Such shortcomings turned out to be critical and even in our time there is no way to overcome them.

In the fifties of the last century, humanity began to actively develop a new source of energy - the fission of atomic nuclei. Nuclear energy was then seen, if not as a panacea, then at least as a solution to a great many different problems. In an atmosphere of general approval and interest, nuclear power plants were built and reactors for submarines and ships were designed. Some dreamers even proposed making a nuclear reactor so compact and low-power that it could be used as a household energy source or as a power plant for cars, etc. The military also became interested in similar things. In the United States, options for creating a full-fledged tank with a nuclear power plant were seriously considered. Unfortunately or fortunately, they all remained at the level of technical proposals and drawings.

The history of atomic tanks began in 1954 and its appearance is associated with the Question Mark scientific conferences, at which promising areas of science and technology were discussed. At the third such conference, held in June 1954 in Detroit, American scientists discussed the proposed tank project with a nuclear reactor. According to the technical proposal, the TV1 (Track Vehicle 1) combat vehicle was supposed to have a combat weight of about 70 tons and carry a 105-mm rifled gun. Of particular interest was the layout of the armored hull of the proposed tank. So, behind armor up to 350 millimeters thick there should have been a small-sized nuclear reactor. A volume was provided for it in the front part of the armored hull. Behind the reactor and its protection, the driver's workplace was located; the fighting compartment, ammunition stowage, etc., as well as several power plant units were placed in the middle and rear parts of the hull.

Combat vehicle TV1 (Track Vehicle 1 - “Tracked Vehicle-1”)

The operating principle of the tank's power units is more than interesting. The fact is that the reactor for TV1 was planned to be made according to a scheme with an open gas coolant circuit. This means that the reactor had to be cooled by atmospheric air passed next to it. Next, the heated air was supposed to be supplied to a power gas turbine, which was supposed to drive the transmission and drive wheels. According to calculations carried out directly at the conference, with the given dimensions it would be possible to ensure the operation of the reactor for up to 500 hours on one refueling with nuclear fuel. However, the TV1 project was not recommended for continued development. Over 500 hours of operation, a reactor with an open cooling circuit could contaminate several tens or even hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of air. In addition, it was impossible to fit sufficient reactor protection into the internal volumes of the tank. In general, the TV1 combat vehicle turned out to be much more dangerous for friendly troops than for the enemy.

For the next Question Mark IV conference, held in 1955, the TV1 project was finalized in accordance with current capabilities and new technologies. The new nuclear tank was named R32. It was significantly different from TV1, primarily in its size. The development of nuclear technology has made it possible to reduce the dimensions of the machine and change its design accordingly. It was also proposed to equip the 50-ton tank with a reactor in the front part, but the armored hull with a frontal plate 120 mm thick and the turret with a 90 mm gun in the project had completely different contours and layout. In addition, it was proposed to abandon the use of a gas turbine driven by superheated atmospheric air and use new protection systems for a smaller reactor. Calculations have shown that the practically achievable range on one refueling with nuclear fuel will be approximately four thousand kilometers. Thus, at the cost of reducing operating time, it was planned to reduce the danger of the reactor for the crew.

Yet the measures taken to protect the crew, technical personnel and troops interacting with the tank were insufficient. According to the theoretical calculations of American scientists, the R32 had less radiation than its predecessor TV1, but even with the remaining radiation level, the tank was not suitable for practical use. It would be necessary to regularly change crews and create a special infrastructure for separate maintenance of nuclear tanks.

After the R32 failed to meet the expectations of its potential customer, the American army, military interest in nuclear-powered tanks began to gradually fade away. It is worth recognizing that for some time attempts were still made to create a new project and even bring it to the testing stage. For example, in 1959, an experimental vehicle was designed based on the M103 heavy tank. It was supposed to be used in future tests of a tank chassis with a nuclear reactor. Work on this project began very late, when the customer stopped seeing nuclear tanks as promising equipment for the army. Work on converting the M103 into a test bench ended with the creation of a preliminary design and preparation for the assembly of the prototype.

R32. Another American nuclear tank project

The last American nuclear-powered tank project to advance beyond the technical proposal stage was completed by Chrysler during its participation in the ASTRON program. The Pentagon ordered a tank intended for the army of the next decades and Chrysler specialists apparently decided to give the tank reactor another try. In addition, the new TV8 tank was supposed to represent a new layout concept. The armored chassis with electric motors and, in some versions of the design, an engine or nuclear reactor was a typical tank body with a tracked undercarriage. However, it was proposed to install a tower of an original design on it.

The large unit with a complex, streamlined, faceted shape was supposed to be made slightly longer than the chassis. Inside such an original tower it was proposed to place the workplaces of all four crew members, all weapons, incl. 90-mm gun on a rigid recoilless suspension system, as well as ammunition. In addition, in later versions of the project it was supposed to place a diesel engine or a small-sized nuclear reactor in the rear of the tower. In this case, the reactor or engine would provide energy to operate a generator that powers running electric motors and other systems. According to some sources, until the very closure of the TV8 project, there were disputes about the most convenient placement of the reactor: in the chassis or in the tower. Both options had their pros and cons, but installing all the units of the power plant in the chassis was more profitable, although technically more difficult.

Tank TV8

One of the variants of atomic monsters developed at one time in the USA under the Astron program.

TV8 turned out to be the most successful of all American nuclear tanks. In the second half of the fifties, a prototype of a promising armored vehicle was even built at one of the Chrysler factories. But things didn’t go beyond the layout. The revolutionary new layout of the tank, combined with its technical complexity, did not provide any advantages over existing and developing armored vehicles. The ratio of novelty, technical risks and practical returns was considered insufficient, especially in the case of using a nuclear power plant. As a result, the TV8 project was closed due to lack of prospects.

After TV8, not a single American nuclear tank project has left the technical proposal stage. As for other countries, they also considered the theoretical possibility of replacing diesel with a nuclear reactor. But outside the United States, these ideas remained only in the form of ideas and simple proposals. The main reasons for abandoning such ideas were two features of nuclear power plants. Firstly, a reactor suitable for mounting on a tank, by definition, cannot have sufficient protection. As a result, the crew and surrounding people or objects will be exposed to radiation. Secondly, a nuclear tank in the event of damage to the power plant - and the probability of such a development of events is very high - becomes a real dirty bomb. The crew's chances of surviving the accident are too low, and the survivors will become victims of acute radiation sickness.

The relatively large range per fuel fill and the overall promise of nuclear reactors in all areas, as it seemed in the fifties, could not overcome the dangerous consequences of their use. As a result, nuclear-powered tanks remained an original technical idea that arose in the wake of general “nuclear euphoria”, but did not produce any practical results.

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Sometimes, in the imagination of tank designers, amazing monsters were born, but unadapted to military realities. You shouldn’t be surprised that they never got to the point of serial production. Let's learn about 14 unusual tanks, born from designers who were passionate about flights of thought.

Experts believe that the Italian self-propelled gun was used to shell Austrian fortifications in the Alps during the First World War

The Italian self-propelled gun was invented around the same time as the Tsar Tank. But, unlike the latter, it was successfully used in the First World War.

The Italian self-propelled gun is one of the most mysterious tanks in history. Very little information has been preserved about him. It is reliably known that the unusual tank was large in size; it was equipped with a cannon that fired 305 mm caliber shells. The firing range reached 17.5 kilometers. Presumably, the Italian self-propelled gun was used when shelling Austrian fortifications located in the Alps. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the further fate of this car.

Tracklayer Best 75 tracked vehicle (USA) was not approved for mass production due to poor handling

The name of this model literally translates as “rail layer”. The American military developed it in 1916, after learning about the scale of the use of tanks in the First World War. The authorship of the project belongs to the company C.L. Best, which is why the strange vehicle is often called the Best tank.

In fact, it was a tractor of the same production. On top of it were an armored hull, a turret, a pair of machine guns and a cannon. Most of all, this tank resembles a boat turned upside down. It's a pity, but the military commission decided not to allow Best's car into mass production. Experts did not like the small viewing angle, thin armor and poor handling. The last remark is fair, because the Tracklayer Best 75 could only ride in a straight line with minor deviations.

A small nuclear reactor was to be used to power the Chrysler TV-8

The TV-8 nuclear tank was designed by Chrysler in 1955. It had several distinctive features. The powerful fixed turret was rigidly mounted on a lightweight chassis in a single monolith. In addition, the engineers decided that the tank would be powered by a small nuclear reactor located directly in the turret. Finally, it was planned to install television cameras in the body so that the crew of the vehicle would not go blind when they were close to the epicenter of a nuclear explosion.

The TV-8 tank was considered a vehicle suitable for combat operations in a nuclear war. The vehicle was to be equipped with a pair of 7.62 mm machine guns and a 90 mm cannon. It is clear that management was impressed with the project, but upon closer examination, several significant shortcomings were revealed. First, creating a small nuclear reactor was a difficult task. And secondly, if the enemy got into this reactor, the consequences would be disastrous both for the crew members and for the military equipment located near TV-8, not to mention the soldiers. As a result, it didn’t even get to the point of creating a prototype, and the project was forgotten.

39 meters long, 11 wide and 1000 tons of net weight - all this is a tank

This is interesting: Weight is 1 thousand tons, 39 meters long and 11 meters high. If the super-massive Ratte tank had been built in the 40s of the last century, it would have become the largest in history. Moreover, this record would not have been broken to this day. The German military leadership, however, chose not to develop the project, the implementation of which would require an incredible amount of resources. The fact is that the “Rat” could not provide the German army with serious superiority on the battlefield. Therefore, things did not go beyond drawings and sketches.

It was planned to arm the tank with a pair of naval guns with a caliber of 280 millimeters, a 128-mm cannon and 8–10 machine guns. Note that there was no clear idea regarding the type of engines for such a monster at the design stage. The possibility of installing 8 diesel engines or 2 marine engines was considered.

The armored ATV had a power of only 2 horsepower

If Hollywood had started making films about the indestructible James Bond in 1899, the British armored ATV would definitely have become one of Agent 007's means of transportation. The engine power of this four-wheeled vehicle is less than 2 horsepower. The driver had to sit on the bicycle saddle. The weapon included a machine gun.

Note that the ATV’s armor protected only the driver’s torso and head, and only from the front. The cross-country ability of such a vehicle was extremely low, so it was never mass-produced.

The 1K17 “Compression” laser complex was intended to disable enemy optical and electronic devices

“Compression” is a Russian self-propelled laser system designed to counter optical and electronic devices of the enemy side. Of course, it couldn't fire laser cannons like in Star Wars, but the importance of this machine was very high.

This is interesting: The 1K17 complex was equipped with a system for searching and automatically aiming lasers at enemy missiles, aircraft and armored vehicles. In other words, if any of the above objects were to be targeted by the 1K17 during the war, it would not be able to accurately fire in the opposite direction.

The tank was also equipped with an anti-aircraft gun, which would allow it to destroy nearby enemy forces.

A prototype of the military complex was assembled at the end of 1990. After successfully passing state tests, the 1K17 was recommended for adoption. Unfortunately, it did not reach mass production. The high cost of the complex, the collapse of the Soviet Union and a sharp reduction in funding for defense programs forced the Russian Ministry of Defense to abandon its release.

Venezuelan tank

This tank was produced in 1934 in Venezuela. The purpose of creating the car was rather strange - to intimidate neighboring Colombia. True, the intimidation turned out to be dubious. Suffice it to mention that the word “tortuga” means “turtle” in Spanish. The tank's pyramid-shaped armor was mounted on a four-wheel drive six-wheel Ford truck. The only weapon installed in the turret was a 7-mm machine gun of the Mark 4B series. A total of 7 “turtles” were released in Venezuela.

The tank ball is preserved in a single copy

Almost nothing is known about this vehicle, the only copy of which is kept in the Kubinka Armored Museum. The tank weighed 1.8 tons and was produced in Nazi Germany by Krupp. The car was captured by the Soviet army in 1945. According to one version, this happened in Manchuria, according to another - at a German training ground. There was a radio station in the cabin; there were no weapons. The hull was solid and could be entered through a small hatch. The engine of the tank-ball is single-cylinder, motorcycle. It is assumed that the strange machine was intended to correct the direction of artillery strikes.

New Zealand, not having sufficient production capacity, also wanted to create its own tank

Having learned about the grandiose tank battles on the fields of World War II, New Zealand also wanted to get its own tank. In the forties of the last century, New Zealanders, who did not have a sufficient production base, assembled a small armored vehicle. It looked like a tractor covered in metal and had 7 7.62mm Bren light machine guns. The result, of course, was not the most efficient tank in the world, but it worked. The combat vehicle was named after Bob Sample, then the country's Minister of Construction.

This is interesting: Mass production of the tank never began due to multiple design flaws. Nevertheless, he managed to raise the morale of New Zealanders.

During testing, the Tsar Tank got stuck in the mud and remained there for 8 years. And then it was dismantled for scrap

First there were the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon, then the Tsar Tank and the Tsar Bomb. And if the latter went down in history as the most powerful projectile ever tested by man, the Tsar Tank turned out to be a less successful invention. It was very cumbersome and ineffective in practice. The car was developed by engineer Nikolai Lebedenko shortly before the start of the First World War.

It is noteworthy that this unit was not even a tank, but a huge wheeled combat vehicle. Its chassis consisted of a pair of huge front wheels with a diameter of 9 meters, which were complemented by a one and a half meter rear roller. The central part with a fixed machine-gun cabin was suspended above the ground at an 8-meter height. The width of the Tsar Tank reached 12 meters; the extreme points were planned to be reinforced by installing machine guns. Lebedenko was going to add a powerful machine-gun turret to the design.

In 1915, the engineer presented his project to Tsar Nicholas II. He was delighted and, naturally, approved the idea. Unfortunately, during forest testing, the rear shaft of the prototype became firmly stuck in the mud. Pulling it out turned out to be an impossible task even for the most powerful captured Maybach engines, removed from a damaged German airship. A huge tank was left to rust in the forest. They forgot about it for 8 years, and in 1923 the car was simply dismantled for scrap.

An amphibious tank successfully swam across the Hudson River during testing

Built by inventor John Walter Christie in 1921, the floating vehicle was intended to transport military guns or other cargo in battlefields. In addition, targeted fire could be fired from the gun mounted on it. On both sides of the hull above the tracks were fixed balsa floats, hidden in casings made of thin steel sheets.

The 75-mm gun was placed on a special movable frame. The design made it possible to move it forward, which ensured uniform distribution of mass and no roll when swimming. In the firing position, the gun was moved back to provide free space for rolling back and servicing the gun.

The amphibious tank was produced in a single copy. On June 12, 1921, a demonstration of the new machine took place, in which it successfully sailed across the Hudson River. However, the Armaments Department was not interested in the amphibian.

A7V - a tank that was defeated in the first tank battle in history

The A7V tank was designed and produced in a small batch of 20 vehicles at the end of the First World War to counter the British army. It was essentially a huge steel box mounted on top of a tractor chassis. The only advantage of the A7V is its fairly good armament (8 machine guns). It's a pity, but most of the tanks in this series were never able to see the battlefield. The crews of some of them lost consciousness from the heat inside the hull, while other vehicles simply got stuck in the mud. Low cross-country ability has become the main disadvantage of the A7V.

This is interesting: The first tank battle in history took place on March 21, 1918 on the banks of the Saint-Quentin Canal. Three A7Vs met with three English MK-IVs that came out of the forest. The battle was unexpected for both sides. In fact, it was driven by only one tank on each side (2 British vehicles were machine-gunned, and 2 German ones stopped at a disadvantage). The British cannon tank successfully maneuvered and fired from different positions. After 3 accurate hits on the A7V track, the oil radiator of the German vehicle failed. The crew moved the tank to the side and abandoned it. And the British had reason to consider themselves the winners of the first tank confrontation.

The A-40 flying tank made one single flight, after which the project was considered unpromising

The A-40 flying tank (another name is “winged tank”) was created by the famous Soviet aircraft designer Antonov. The basis for it was the well-proven T-60 model. The hybrid of a tank and a glider was intended to quickly deliver a combat vehicle to the desired location by air in order to assist the partisans. Interestingly, the crew had the opportunity to control the flight of the glider while inside the vehicle. After landing, the glider was quickly separated, and the A-40 was transformed into a standard T-60.

This is interesting: In order to lift an 8-ton colossus off the ground, it was necessary to deprive the tank of most of its ammunition. This made the A-40 useless in real combat conditions. The matter did not go further than the creation of a prototype, and the A-40 tank made its only flight in September 1942.

43 powerful steel chains were attached to a rotating drum

The main task of the "Crab" was to clear minefields. 43 thick metal chains were attached to a special rotating drum (specially pushed forward). The mines detonated upon contact with the chains without causing any harm to the tank itself. The designers also installed sharp discs along the edges of the drum. As they rotated, they cut through barbed wire fences. A special screen protected the front of the car from dust and dirt.

The mine trawl was very wide, thanks to which tanks and trucks could freely follow the path it laid. Later analogs of the “Crab” were equipped with an additional device that made it possible to automatically maintain a given height of the trawl above the surface when moving through holes and potholes.

Some of the tanks discussed in the article are considered successful experiments, while others are considered failures. But each of them is unique in its own way and has not many analogues in the history of military equipment. From the mistakes made, the designers learned valuable experience, which made it possible to make the following models more advanced.