Object 279: The Distinctive Soviet Tank That Was Too Heavy To Construct

Heavy tanks comparable to the USA’ M103 (pictured right here), although formidable, might be unwieldy, although they had been additionally awe-inspiring powerhouses that commanded respect. In 1957, the Soviet Union’s Leningrad Kirov Plant set about creating maybe essentially the most intimidating idea for such a car ever devised. Object 279, at round 60 tons in weight, completely put the heavy in heavy tank.

With armored plating round 11 inches thick, the idea for Object 279 was seemingly centered on one factor: frontal assaults. It was well-equipped to make them, too, boasting evening imaginative and prescient, infrared focusing on, a 130mm M-65 and a singular defensive design that might have enabled it to soak up enemy blasts by means of each armor thickness and its specific form. The crew inside additionally had entry to defenses in opposition to nuclear assault.

Moreover, its unorthodox association of treads could have helped it overcome that conventional weak point of the standard tank: tough terrain. Muddy floor can simply render tanks all however ineffective, trapped within the mire by their treads, however the colossal Object 279 could not have been as susceptible to this. It was positioned on distinctive beams and, working as two pairs of two, the 4 treads doubtless might have stored it from sinking into the bottom.

Theoretically, at the very least, Object 279 had the potential to be some of the distinctive and formidable (offensively and defensively) heavy tanks ever fielded. Its solely concern was that heavy tanks had been coming to the tip of their sensible lifespan because it was being developed.