Hitler's largest tank. Super heavy tank Ratte. Video on topic

“Whoever has the bigger club is the stronger.” This primitive principle from the times of cavemen turned out to be incredibly tenacious and relentlessly followed man through centuries and countries. As soon as a new weapon of destruction was born, its monstrous variants were almost immediately proposed, the very sight of which was supposed to instill immense horror in the minds and hearts of enemies.

The first "swallow"

By the beginning of the First World War, several new products appeared in the arsenal of the extermination of man by man, which determined the path of development military equipment for many decades to come. It was on the fronts of the First World War that armored combat vehicles - tanks - made a serious appearance for the first time. And right there, in the design bureaus of the technologically leading countries, it was as if they had organized a competition - who would invent the most big tank in the world.

In March 1917, the command of the German troops ordered engineers to develop a tank capable of breaking through French positions on the western front. The result was the design of a kind of “movable fort”. Two engines literally dragged a body with 30 mm armor along the highway at a speed of 7.5 km/h, protecting a crew of 18 people who could fire from four cannons, four machine guns and two flamethrowers. The K-Wagen weighed 150 tons. Construction of tanks began in the spring of 1918. Soon Germany was defeated, and all the unfinished “iron kaputs” were sent for melting down.

Then there was a peaceful pause, during which they somehow made do with conventional tanks. But as soon as the flames of World War II flared up, designers again began to design the most powerful tank.

Suffering defeats and winning victories

It is interesting that they were the first to propose their creation in countries that became victims of Hitler’s aggression. This was in 1940. In France, they tried to put into operation the FCM F1, the heaviest tank in the world not designed in Nazi Germany. With 90 mm and 47 mm cannons, six machine guns and eight tank crews, the FCM F1 weighed up to 145 tons. Work on the supertank stopped just a few days before the surrender of France.

At the same time, they tried to create a super-heavy tank in Great Britain. The result was TOG - something reminiscent of the first British tanks. A prototype was even built with a 76 mm cannon and a weight of 80 tons. But the project was frozen in favor of Churchill, which was already being prepared for production.

Looking ahead in time: at the end of World War II, the Islands repeated the attempt, designing the A39 Tortoise super-heavy assault tank for the future “second front.” It weighed slightly less than the TOG - 78 tons, but had a 96 mm cannon, which in tests destroyed thick armor on targets. However, the Turtle's slowness and the headache of transporting it sealed the fate of the armored monster.

And, before we move on to the creations of the Third Reich, there are two more giants who were divided Pacific Ocean. The Land of the Rising Sun also decided to keep up with the general madness. However, unlike others, information about O-I project extremely stingy. It is known that this 130-ton tank was supposed to have three turrets with a 105 mm "main caliber", another cannon and three machine guns. The project was never implemented.

The American T-28, 45 tons lighter than the “Japanese”, had the same gun, but without a rotating turret, which is why it was more suitable for the role of a “St. John’s wort” - a tank destroyer. A very interesting detail: this heavyweight had two paired tracks instead of one pair.

Monsters with swastikas

Reviewing the monsters from the Panzerwaffe, let's start with the “lightest” ones.

E-100 Maus. Weight - 140 tons, crew - 5 people. Armament: 128 mm cannon, 75 mm cannon. Brought to the prototype stage. It began to be built in 1944, but they did not have time to install the tower.

Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus. Weight - 188 tons, crew - 6 people. Predecessor to the E-100 with the same weapons. The world's largest tank, embodied in metal. Two tanks built before the end of the war did not solve anything and could not solve anything.

Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte. A thirty-five-meter, thousand-ton monster, on which, instead of a tank turret, they were going to install a ship turret, equipped with two 280 mm cannons. The "Rat" with a crew of 20 people was also supposed to be armed with a 128 mm cannon and eight 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and machine guns.

And finally, the absolute leader of the "most big tanks in the world" - Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster. Of the 2.5 thousand tons of weight, part of it was the gigantic 800 mm Krupp gun, capable of sending a 7-ton projectile 37 km from the firing point. The "Monster" had to be controlled by a whole crew of 100 people. Like "Rat", it remained on paper.

Due to its blatant sluggishness, ineffectiveness, and much to a greater extent- due to vulnerability to disproportionately cheap weapons, super-heavy tanks from the very moment of their conception turned into a dead-end branch of the evolution of armored vehicles. What are they now? Nothing more than a curiosity? Or is it a reason to think about the monstrous extent to which a person’s desire to exterminate his own kind can reach?

Reading the title of the article, the question involuntarily arises: why is such a steel giant needed? Does weight determine the need to create the heaviest tank in the world, so that it leads the ratings by a margin, praising the designers of the miracle weapon, a country capable of organizing its production, investing in it colossal funds, thoughts, and the labor of thousands of people. Of course this is not true. In fact, the weight is only incidental, even excessive, of an ideal weapon for the land theater of war.

Already the first armored vehicles that appeared on the fronts of the First World War amazed, even horrified, with their enormous dimensions and weight. As a result, they were clumsy, had low maneuverability, speed, and maneuverability, which sharply reduced their undoubted advantages:

• Protection from small arms and shell fragments.
• The ability to break through enemy defenses by passing through wire fences, overcoming trenches and trenches.
• Strong psychological pressure on enemy soldiers who lose their composure and panic at the sight of man-made iron monsters.

Most of them, based on the colossal weight of the cast iron and steel used to make them, can easily lay claim to the title of the heaviest tank. But due to the often grotesque appearance, real military-technical characteristics, non-participation in hostilities, non-serial, often experimental production, it is hardly worth considering them in this capacity.

Years passed, and by the beginning of the next war for the redivision of the world, and even more so during hostilities, the designers of leading countries, taking into account the mistakes and accumulated experience in using tanks, changed the priorities for their creation. Now they are:

Increasing the thickness of the armor, new powerful engines, and onboard weapons with considerable ammunition inevitably increased the weight of the heavy tanks being created. But having such mobile armored forts in the army, capable of literally breaking through the enemy’s defenses, opening the way for infantry, was worth a lot, literally and figuratively. Therefore, Germany, the USSR and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition that joined it did a lot in this field.

Armored Giants

Soviet Union, the only one of the countries participating in the war, by 1940 was armed with a heavy assault tank KV - “Kliment Voroshilov” with a combat weight of 52 tons. This is not surprising if you look at its characteristics:

A total of 204 of these heavy tanks were produced, almost all of them were lost in the battles of 1941 during the containment of Hitler's blitzkrieg.

Created in 1943, the IS-2, with a mass of 46 tons, did not claim to be the heaviest, and was later deservedly called the “Victory Tank.” Its long-barreled 122 mm cannon, reliable armor - 90 - 120 mm, high maneuverability surpassed the best examples of German weapons, including:

The TOG II super-heavy tank, which was created in France and weighs 82.3 tons, was not mass-produced before the start of the war. Great Britain also made a small contribution to the design of such armored vehicles. Only in 1944 was an order placed for the production of 25 copies of the A-39 tank with a weight reaching 89 tons, but as a result, only 5 vehicles were manufactured, and those after the end of the war.

It must be said that French and American super-heavy tanks are actually international classification were assault self-propelled artillery units - breakthrough self-propelled guns, since they did not have a rotating turret.

The heaviest tank in the world, created during the Second World War, is the Pz.Kpfw VIII Maus with a mass of 188 tons. This armored monster did not participate in battles; by 1945, two vehicles were manufactured. An exhibition copy assembled from them can be seen in Kubinka in Military History Museum armored vehicles. Today, this principle of creating tanks, as well as the concept itself, have become history. A modern tank is built not by its weight, but by its unique combination of the latest technological developments - materials and systems.

Throughout the history of tank building, designers around the world have strived to create an invulnerable armored fort. Since 1939, the quest to create the largest tank of the Second World War has become a real necessity. With an increase in the thickness of armor, the installation of new, more powerful engines and on-board weapons with ammunition inevitably led to an increase in the weight of heavy tanks. Such vehicles practically broke into enemy defenses, swept away everything in their path, thereby opening the way for infantry. Let us remember some of these armored monsters, the heaviest and largest, even single copies of which are not all preserved in museums around the world.

T-35

The production of the land monster was organized at the locomotive plant in Kharkov. The tankers received a heavy tank with reinforced armor and additional weapons. Its main task was to occupy and hold enemy positions. The armor thickness reached 20 mm, the turret body - 30 mm. The structure of five towers was located in three tiers and created a continuous fire field around the vehicle, comparable in combat power to three light tanks. Each batch produced came with its own design features, as a result - in different tanks there was different quantities people in the crew (from 9 to 11).

The five-turreted T-35 tank had a power of 500 hp. With. with a travel speed of 30 km/h. The weight of the tank reached 50 tons; 900 liters of fuel were filled at a time. A total of 61 vehicles were produced, of which 48 tanks entered the battle. 13 were sent to military schools. The only surviving example of the T-35 tank is in the armored museum. It did not take part in battles, but to this day it has its own working engine.

FCM F-1

The FCM F-1 super-heavy tank was developed in France on the eve of World War II. In 1941, the combat vehicle was put into production with a mass of 145 tons. The main task of the tank was to break the enemy’s fortifications on the Franco-German border. In order for the car to move, two 550-horsepower Renault diesel engines with an electric transmission were installed in the middle part of the body. The design of the vehicle was similar in characteristics to Soviet tanks. But there were differences: there were 2 turrets installed on the tank, 100 mm of armor, and in some places even 120.

Despite many shortcomings and the huge mass of the tank, which not every soil or bridge could support, the project was approved by the technical commission and a pre-order for 12 combat units was made. But due to the occupation, not a single copy was made, and all drawings and designs were destroyed.

KV-1

On the eve of WWII, only the Soviet Union had established mass production of heavy tanks equipped with ballistic armor. These were KV tanks (Kliment Voroshilov), which the Germans called a monster. They became indispensable vehicles for breaking through enemy fortifications, since the KV-1 could withstand hits from any anti-tank gun shells. But he was unable to cope with the bunkers. Therefore, the KV-2 with a 152 mm howitzer was developed on its basis. Before the appearance German tank The Tiger KV-1 was the largest tank of World War II, which took part in battles and played an important role in containing the pressure of the German army. A participant in two wars, Finnish and World War II, the KV-1 left the battlefields with dignity in 1944.

VIII Mouse

This is the apogee of the developers of super-heavy tanks. Serial production of these machines never began. Two copies of these huge monsters were produced, both of which were destroyed when Soviet troops approached Berlin. The creators of VIII Mouse pursued the goal of quickly breaking through enemy defenses thanks to durable armor, powerful weapons, and a gigantic mass of 188 tons.

This super-heavy tank was not a miracle that could lead Germany to victory. Against the backdrop of the enormous mass, the armor was weak, unreasonable angles of inclination made it vulnerable, an overabundance of powerful weapons, unimaginable dimensions and low speed his movements made him an excellent target. After the end of the Second World War, Soviet designers were able to restore one of the VIII Maus, which is exhibited in a museum near Moscow.

IS-1

Tanks bearing the name of Joseph Stalin became a worthy response to the appearance of the German Tigers, easily penetrating their armor. Their prototype was the KV-1 heavy tank. The armor protection was strengthened, a more powerful engine and a new power transmission were installed. A total of 130 vehicles were produced, each weighing 44 tons. Engine power was 520 hp. at highway speeds up to 37 km.

Constantly modified heavy IS tanks were in service in the USSR until 1953.

"Tiger"

By 1942, when it became clear that the lightning war did not happen, and it turned into a protracted state, and Soviet T-34 tanks were effectively opposing German units, Germany decided to create a new heavy tank. The result was the Tiger tank, which took part in combat operations on all WWII fronts.

In August 1942, production of the heavy tank began, which lasted two years. A total of 1,350 vehicles were produced. Moreover, the cost of manufacturing one tank was extremely expensive - 800,000 Reichsmarks. The Tiger heavy tank had undoubted advantages: high degree security, amazing firepower, excellent communications, convenience for the crew. But along with the advantages, along with the enormous cost, the machines had poor mobility and low repairability. Until now, there are 7 copies left, which are in different museums in Russia, France, the USA, and Germany.

M-6

The American M-6 heavy tank did not participate in battles; its development began before the war. Only 43 of them were produced, all of them were used for training tank crews. The mass of the tank was 56 tons with a maximum possible power of 800 hp. After testing the M-6, the military command recognized the project as a failure: a very heavy vehicle, weak weapons, poor hull shape. Given these shortcomings and limited combat capabilities tank, it was decided that the production of a heavy tank model M-6 was inappropriate.

For many years, man has been haunted by the medieval principle “More is stronger.” This conviction affected tank developers like no other - they designed and built dozens of monster tank models. Today we will talk about the most interesting examples of the largest tanks in the world.

The first tanks of the First World War

British Mark I

Mark I was produced in two versions - “male” and “female”. The difference is in the weapons. The “men” were armed with two 57 mm cannons and 4 machine guns. The “female” version was represented by five machine guns - 1 Hotchkins and 4 Vickers. In all other respects, there are no differences: weight is about 30 tons, dimensions 8.05 x 4.26 x 2.24 m, average speed about 6 km/h with a power reserve of no more than 20 km, a crew led by an officer - 8 people.

In response, the Germans are creating a 30-ton A7V based on the Holt tractor. Work on its creation was entrusted to a group of engineers led by Joseph Feuler. The tank's dimensions were not much different from the Mark I (7350 x 3060 x 3300 mm), but it was 2 times faster and could travel 15 km more. The crew of 18 looked impressive. The A7V was armed with a 57 mm cannon and five MG-08 machine guns.

German tank A7V with crew

From the Tsar Cannon to the Tsar Tank

Tsar Tank Lebedenko

It was a wheeled combat vehicle, reminiscent of a giant gun carriage with two spoked wheels with a diameter of 9 meters and a rear one and a half meter roller with which the tank was controlled. The tank's armament consisted of several machine guns and two guns located in the central and side wheelhouses. It was assumed that it would move at a speed of 17 km/h. Its life, however, ended on the first test in 1915, when the rear roller became hopelessly stuck in the mud. Although Lebedenko’s project did not advance beyond the prototype, it went down in the history of military technology as the largest tank in the world.

Between First and Second

The FCM F-1 heavy tank was developed in France on the eve of World War II. This giant weighing about 145 tons was armed with two cannons 90 and 47 mm and six machine guns. The crew of the tank is 8 people. But he never had to fight. In May 1940, France capitulated.

Family of "Tigers"

With a combat weight of 56 tons, it had 10 cm of frontal and 8 cm of side armor. The engine, a 600-horsepower Maybach HL 210P30, provided it with a range of 140 km at a highway speed of about 40 km/h and in field conditions up to 20 km/h. In addition to the cannon, his arsenal included 2 MG-34 machine guns and 6 smoke grenade launchers. Subsequently, the engine power was increased to 700 hp. At the end of the war, F. Porsche created the 70-ton Tiger II.

Of the unrealized tank megaprojects of the Third Reich, the Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte is famous. It is no secret that Hitler was prone to gigantomania, which manifested itself, in particular, in the project of this supertank. More likely not a tank, but a dreadnought on tracks. After all, it certainly had to become the largest in the world - its dimensions are 35 x 14 x 11 meters, weight is 1000 tons. The width of the three-section tracks is 3.6 meters, the total power of the two Daimler-Benz MB501 engines that were equipped with submarines, was 17,000 hp. The two 280-mm SK-C/34 naval guns mounted in the rotating turret were supposed to completely plunge the enemy into terror.

Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte tank model

Soon after the war, the trend to build large tanks, as well as the term "heavy tank", became history. Today these are just tanks, equipped with powerful engines, the latest electronics, unique weapons, dynamic protection and intelligence.

With the advent of tanks, many designers had a completely logical idea that the significant size of the tank would allow it to be maximally armored and make it invulnerable to enemy fire, and its large payload would enhance its armament. Such tanks could actually become mobile forts that support infantry when breaking through enemy defensive formations. During the First World War (hereinafter referred to as WWI), when governments around the world directed multimillion-dollar funds to supply rapidly growing armies, funding for the most fantastic projects that promised an early victory also increased.

Starting from WWII until the very end of the Second World War (hereinafter referred to as WWII), hundreds of the most unimaginable armored monsters were developed, of which only a few reached the point of being embodied in metal. This article provides an overview of the ten heaviest, largest and most incredible armored vehicles from around the world, which were partially or fully brought to life.

"Tsar Tank"

The largest in size was the Russian Tsar Tank. Its developer Nikolai Lebedenko (in honor of him the car is also sometimes called the “Lebedenko tank” or “Lebedenko machine”), in ways unknown to us, achieved an audience with Emperor Nicholas II, which took place on January 8 (according to the new style - January 21), 1915. To the audience, the engineer brought a skillfully made wooden self-propelled model of his brainchild, which started and moved thanks to a gramophone spring. According to the recollections of the courtiers, the designer and the tsar spent several hours fiddling with this toy “like little children,” creating artificial obstacles for it from improvised means - volumes of the Code of Laws Russian Empire" The Tsar was so impressed by the model that Lebedenko eventually gave him that he approved the financing of the project. The design of the tank resembled a huge artillery carriage with two large front wheels. If the model was held by the rear of the “carriage” with the wheels down, then it looked like a bat sleeping under the ceiling, which is why the car received the nickname “ Bat" and "Bat".

Initially, it was clear that the project was not viable. The largest and most vulnerable element of the new tank were the huge 9-meter wheels, the supporting structure of which were spokes. They were created in such a way to increase the maneuverability of the tank, but they were easily disabled even by artillery shrapnel, not to mention high-explosive or armor-piercing shells. There were also problems with the vehicle's maneuverability. However, thanks to the royal patronage, the tank was quickly built. Already in August 1915, it was assembled at an improvised site near the city of Dmitrov, Moscow region, but due to unsatisfactory maneuverability, it remained to rust in the open air until the early 20s, until it was dismantled for scrap. As a result, thousands of rubles of public funds were wasted.

The tank's fighting compartments were housed in a hull located between its giant wheels. The armament was placed in a machine gun turret for six machine guns, built above the hull, as well as in sponsons located at its ends, protruding beyond the wheels. The sponsons could accommodate both machine gun and artillery weapons. It was envisaged that the tank's crew would be 15 people. A “carriage” was located perpendicular to the hull, the main purpose of which was to create a stop when firing. According to the "carriage" the crew got into fighting squads tank.

The dimensions of the Tsar Tank were amazing - its length was 17.8 meters, width - 12, height - 9. It weighed 60 tons. This vehicle became the largest and most ridiculous tank in world history.

Char 2C (FCM 2C)

This French tank became the largest and heaviest production tank ever. world history tank building. It was created by the FCM shipbuilding company at the very end of WWII, but never took part in hostilities. According to the designers, the Char 2C was supposed to be a breakthrough tank that could effectively overcome German trenches. The French military liked this idea, and on February 21, 1918, 300 vehicles were ordered from FCM. However, while the shipbuilders were starting production, the war ended. The tank turned out to be low-tech and expensive, and the production of each unit took a lot of time. As a result, only 10 machines were manufactured until 1923. Since the French government was experiencing certain financial difficulties after WWI, and the Char 2C was very expensive, a decision was made to stop its production.

Char 2C weighed 75 tons and had a crew of 13 people. It was armed with one 75 mm cannon and 4 machine guns. The tank’s engines “ate” an average of 12.8 liters per kilometer covered by the vehicle, so a tank with a capacity of 1280 liters was enough for a maximum of 100–150 km of travel, and on rough terrain this distance was even less.

The Char 2C was in service with the French army until 1940. With the outbreak of hostilities on French territory during WWII, a battalion of these already obsolete tanks was sent to the theater of operations. On May 15, 1940, a train with the battalion's equipment got into a railway traffic jam while en route to the unloading sites near the city of Nechateau. Since it was not possible to unload such heavy tanks from the platforms, and German troops were approaching the station where the train was stuck, the French crews destroyed their armored vehicles and retreated. However, as it soon became clear, not all Char 2Cs were destroyed. In particular, vehicle No. 99 fell into the hands of the Germans undamaged and was tested by them at the Kummersdorf training ground. Her further fate is unknown.

German soldiers pose against the background of the captured French giant tank Char 2C No. 99 “Champagne”.
Next to the tank are disassembled parts of its engine.

K-Wagen

At the end of March 1917, the Inspectorate of Automotive Troops of the Kaiser's Germany instructed the chief engineer of its experimental department, Joseph Vollmer, to create a tank that, in its own way, technical parameters would be capable of breaking through enemy defense lines.

If completed successfully and on time, this tank would become the heaviest WWII tank - its weight would reach 150 tons. Two six-cylinder gasoline engines from Daimler with a power of 650 hp each were chosen as power plants. every. The tank was supposed to be armed with 4 77 mm guns located in sponsons and 7 7.92 mm MG.08 machine guns. Of all the super-heavy tanks, the K-Wagen had the largest crew - 22 people. The length of the tank reached 12.8 meters, and if not for the Russian Tsar Tank, it would have become the longest super-heavy tank in the history of tank building. In the design documentation, the tank was called Kolossal-Wagen, Kolossal or K. It is generally accepted to use the index “K-Wagen”.

Construction of these machines began in April 1918, but the rapid end of the war stopped all work. German tank builders had almost finished assembling the first copy of the tank, and for the second the armored hull and all the main components, except the engines, were ready. But the Entente troops were approaching German enterprises, and everything produced was destroyed by the manufacturers themselves.

FCM F1

In the early 30s, it became clear to French military officials that the FCM 2C tank was hopelessly outdated. Since French military thought believed that future wars would be of the same positional nature as WWII, it was decided in Paris that the army needed new heavy breakthrough tanks.

In February 1938, the Armaments Advisory Board, headed by General Duflo, identified the main performance characteristics future tank to announce a design competition. The Council put forward the following requirements for the vehicle's armament: one large-caliber gun and one rapid-fire anti-tank gun. Besides, new tank had to be equipped with anti-shell armor that could withstand hits from shells from all anti-tank artillery systems known at that time.

The largest French tank builders (FCM, ARL and AMX companies) took part in the competition, but only FCM was able to begin creating a prototype. Its engineers designed a tank with two turrets arranged like battleships on different levels so that they do not interfere with each other's all-round firing. A 105 mm main caliber gun was to be installed in the rear (higher) turret. A 47-mm rapid-fire anti-tank gun is mounted in the front turret. The thickness of the frontal armor of the vehicle was 120 mm. The prototype was expected to be ready by the end of May 1940, but this was prevented by the rapid German offensive in France. Further fate semi-finished prototypes are unknown.

TOG II

In October 1940, the first prototype was created British tank TOG I. Its name, which stands for “The Old Gang,” hinted at the considerable age and experience of its creators. The old principles of tank building were evident in the layout and appearance of this combat vehicle, as well as in its characteristics. The TOG I had a WWI-era layout and a low speed of 5 mph (8 km/h). The guns and machine guns, originally located in the sponsons, were eventually replaced by a turret from the Matilda II tank, mounted on the roof of the hull. Its tracks, like those of other WWII tanks, covered the hull, and were not placed on the sides of it, like those of modern tanks. Since the weight of the vehicle was 64.6 tons, it is difficult to classify it as a super-heavy tank. The tank was modernized several times until 1944, but it never went into production.

In 1940, in parallel with TOG I, the creation of TOG II began. It was realized in metal by the spring of 1941. This tank was made heavier than the previous model - it weighed 82.3 tons. Thanks to long length, independent torsion bar suspension, and the fact that each track was driven by a separate electric motor, this tank had increased maneuverability. The electric motors were powered by a generator driven by a diesel power plant. Therefore, despite its heavy weight, the tank could overcome walls 2.1 meters high and ditches 6.4 meters wide. His negative qualities there was a low speed (maximum 14 km/h) and the vulnerability of the tracks, the design of which was hopelessly outdated. The tank received a specially designed turret, which housed the only 76.2 mm tank gun and a machine gun. Subsequently, design upgrades continued, and the TOG II(R) and TOG III projects appeared, but none of them were put into mass production.

Pz.Kpfw VIII Maus

In December 1942, Ferdinand Porsche, whose company’s designers completed the project of the super-heavy tank Maus (German for “mouse”), was summoned to an audience with Hitler. A year later, on December 23, 1943, the first prototype of the tank came out of the gates of the Alkett tank-building enterprise (Almerkische Kettenfabrik GmbH), which was part of the Reichswerke state concern. It was the heaviest manufactured tank in the entire history of world tank building - its weight reached 188 tons. The frontal armor plate reached a thickness of 200 mm, and the rear armor plate – 160 mm. Despite the fact that the tank had a huge mass, during its testing it turned out that it was very maneuverable, easy to control and had high maneuverability. The tank underwent modifications, passed field tests, and its second copy was manufactured. But in the second half of 1944, Germany ran out of funds to ensure regular supplies of even serial tanks, not to mention the launch of new expensive vehicles.

In mid-April 1945, the Kummersdorf training ground was captured Soviet troops. Both tanks, which were disabled during the battles for the training ground, were sent to the USSR. There, from two damaged vehicles, one whole one was assembled, which is still on display in the Central Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka.

Pz.Kpfw VIII Maus Porsche Type 205/1 with Krupp turret at the Böblingen factory, 9 or 10 April 1944

A39 Tortoise

From the beginning of 1943, the development of a new breakthrough tank began in Great Britain. The project was called Tortoise (English - “ land turtle"), since he envisaged that the future tank would have thick armor, powerful weapons and would be unlikely to have high speed. As a result of design research, a number of projects for vehicles with the “AT” index appeared, which never went into production. In the end, designers and customers from the Committee for the Development of Special Equipment of the British Ministry of Supply settled on the AT-16 model, which received the official index “A39”. In February 1944, 25 units were ordered for production, which were to be produced by September 1945. However, in May 1945 fighting in Europe ran out, and the committee reduced the order to 12 cars. In February 1946, the order was again halved, and as a result, only 5 vehicles were manufactured. The units of the sixth copy of the A39 were used as a source of spare parts.

Super heavy assault self-propelled artillery installation(according to the British classification - tank)
A39 project "Tortoise"

In fact, the Tortoise was not a tank, but a self-propelled gun, since the A39 did not have a turret, and the 94-mm cannon was located directly in the frontal part of the conning tower. However, according to the British classification, the self-propelled gun could not be so heavy (the weight of the A39 reached 89 tons), and it was decided to classify it as a tank. To the left of the gun was a BESA machine gun (English version of the Czechoslovakian ZB-53), and two more such machine guns were installed in the turret on the roof of the vehicle. The self-propelled guns did not go into large production, because against the backdrop of contemporary heavy Soviet tanks(after the war, Britain considered the USSR as the main potential enemy) it was outdated in terms of mobility ( maximum speed- 19 km/h), and in terms of armament, although its powerful frontal armor, 228 mm thick, impressed contemporaries.

The UK's heaviest tank, the A39 Tortoise project, at the Bovington Tank Museum

Pz.Kpfw. E-100

T28-T95 (Turtle)

They didn’t sit idly by overseas either. In September 1943, the United States began work on its own breakthrough tank. The United States was preparing to enter the war in Europe and feared that it would not be easy to overcome the Atlantic Wall, built by the Germans on the coast, and then the Siegfried Line. But, as often happens, army functionaries realized it quite late (apparently, they forgot to take into account that creating fundamentally new tanks is a long process).

It was planned to install a 105 mm T5E1 cannon as the main armament on the tank. starting speed its shell, as military officials believed, was sufficient to pierce the concrete walls of bunkers. The gun was supposed to be placed in the frontal armor plate of the vehicle - this decision was reached in order to reduce the silhouette of the T-28. In fact new car was not a tank, but a breakthrough self-propelled gun - the American military eventually realized this, and the vehicle was renamed the T-95 self-propelled gun. As Americans like to do, at the same time they gave her the nickname “Turtle”. The self-propelled guns were equipped with an electric transmission designed for installation on T1E1 and T23 tanks.

Design studies and bureaucratic delays led to the fact that the decision to manufacture prototypes was made only in March 1944. But the military rejected the finished project and ordered three vehicles, the frontal armor of which was supposed to reach 305 mm, which was one and a half times higher than the previously planned 200 mm. After the changes made, the weight of the vehicle increased to 86.3 tons. To reduce the pressure on the ground and increase the maneuverability of the self-propelled gun, it was decided to make its tracks double. As a result, the new project was not ready until March 1945, when hostilities in Europe and the Pacific Front were drawing to a close. The first prototype was shipped to the Aberdeen Proving Ground when it was no longer needed, on December 21, 1945. Production of the second copy was completed on January 10, 1946.

As a result of lengthy tests carried out in 1947, the American military again renamed the T95 into the T28 breakthrough tank, since, in their opinion, the self-propelled gun could not weigh that much. Almost simultaneously, they came to the conclusion that the low speed of the machine did not respond modern conditions waging war. As a result, the T28 (T95) was abandoned, but perhaps American bureaucrats were simply tired of puzzling over the classification of this vehicle.

"Object 279"

It would be unfair to ignore the USSR, a country that can rightfully be called the most “tank” power of the 20th century. In the last century, Soviet enterprises produced greatest number tanks and the largest number of their models have been designed. However, the country of the Soviets was not keen on super-heavy tanks. Before WWII there simply wasn’t enough money for them, and during the war there wasn’t even enough time. Thus, in the summer of 1941, the Leningrad Kirov Plant developed a project for a super-heavy tank KV-5, the weight of which would reach 100 tons, but in August German troops approached Leningrad, and work on this project was stopped.

After the end of WWII, with the advent of cumulative ammunition, it became clear to all tank designers that it was irrational to create combat vehicles heavier than 60 tons. With this heavy weight they cannot be made fast and maneuverable, which means that, despite the most powerful armor, they will quickly be shot down. But there was a ghost on the horizon nuclear war, and designers began to develop vehicles that were supposed to conduct combat operations in unprecedented conditions.

In 1957, an amazing tank was created at the Zh. Ya. Kotin Design Bureau of the Leningrad Kirov Plant under the leadership of L. S. Troyanov. Although it weighed only 60 tons and in terms of mass cannot claim the title of a super-heavy tank, in terms of its level of armor it does. The thickness of the walls of its cast tower along the perimeter was 305 mm. At the same time, the thickness of the frontal armor reached 269 mm, the sides - 182 mm. This thickness of armor was achieved thanks to the original shape of the hull, more like a flying saucer than a tank. The unusual product was given the index “Object 279”. The experimental armored vehicle was armed with a 130-mm M-65 rifled cannon with a barrel blowing system. Of all the super-heavy tanks realized in metal, the caliber of the main gun of the Object 279 is the largest.

The car was equipped complex system non-adjustable hydropneumatic suspension and double tracks. This technical solution made it possible to reduce the pressure on the ground and increase the tank's maneuverability, but seriously worsened its maneuverability. This factor, as well as the complexity of the machine to maintain, was the reason that the project did not go beyond the creation and testing of a prototype.

“Object 279” on display at the Central Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka