Super-heavy tank

A super-heavy tank or super heavy tank is any tank that is notably beyond the standard of the class heavy tank in either size or weight relative to contemporary vehicles.

Programs have been initiated on several occasions with the aim of creating an indestructible vehicle for penetrating enemy formations without fear of being destroyed in combat; however, only a few examples have ever been built, and there is little evidence of any super heavy tank having seen combat. Examples were designed in World War I and World War II, along with a few in the Cold War.

History[]

World War I[]

The first super-heavy tank was designed by the Russian naval engineer Vasily Mendeleyev who worked on the project from 1911 to 1915. The tank was envisioned to be invulnerable to almost all contemporary threats but remained on paper due to its high construction cost.^[1][2] Following the production of their first tanks, the British "Flying Elephant" was designed as a tank that would be resistant to artillery fire. Since mobility was more important than protection, and the tanks already developed were successful, work on the project was stopped. The German K-Wagen (Großkampfwagen) was a very heavy design carrying 4 guns and needing a crew of 27. Two of them were under construction when the war ended and both were demolished.

In the early 1920s, the French produced the 70-tonne Char 2C. The ten tanks would see limited combat during the Battle for France in 1940, but were used mostly for propaganda purposes and French tried to pull them out of combat zones.

The pre second World War design and prototype of TOG 2* was a lot heavier than any other contemporary tank used by United Kingdom and also can be considered Super-Heavy Tank.

World War II[]

During World War II all of the major combatants introduced prototypes for special roles. Adolf Hitler was a proponent of "war winning" weapons and supported projects like the 188 tonne Maus, and even larger 1,000 tonne Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte^{[citation needed]}. The British and Soviets all built prototype designs similar to the Jagdtiger, and the US was working on the project then known as T95 Gun Carriage, which was later changed to T28 Super Heavy Tank. However, most of these designs never passed the prototype stage, and only some have ever been in existence.

Compared to other heavy tanks of the time, Tiger II could be considered super-heavy tank, considering that other heavy tanks were a lot lighter. However at the time Germans generally opted to use more heavy vehicles, with their Panzer IV being significantly uparmed and uparmored (and as a result - a lot heavier) and Panthers being considered medium tanks while of similar mass to other heavy tanks. As a result by late time German standards Tiger II was indeed heavy tank and nowhere near as heavy as Maus.

Cold War[]

The idea of very heavy tanks saw less development after the war, not least since the destructive force of tactical nuclear weapons would always overcome any feasible armour.^{[citation needed]} The advances in armour technology allowed large tanks to stay in the approximate 65 ton range. Examples include Object 279 (Soviet Union) and T30 Heavy Tank (United States), but neither can be considered a true Super-Heavy Tank.

Post Cold war[]

Further advances in armour technology have given the armour of late 20th century tanks the estimated equivalent of over a meter of rolled homogeneous armour (the type of armour used before, now used for comparison between different armour designs). At the same time the weapon development allows for any equal adversary to destroy any target detected and tracked by the wide array of different sensors available. This means adding more armour would not increase protection to any significant degree, and thus current development is instead focused on a combination of remaining undetected, interfering with tracking and active counter-measures to neutralize the enemy weapon systems.

List of models[]

United Kingdom

• TOG 1: 80 tons; built in 1940; designed for ground conditions similar to those experienced in WWI; one prototype.
• TOG II*: 80 tons improved design of TOG1; one prototype.
• Flying Elephant: First World War-era project at 100 tons; not built.
• Tortoise heavy assault tank: 80 tons, designed to attack fortifications. 6 pilot vehicles completed.

Neither of the TOG prototypes were built the way they were designed; had the sponsons been added, and the proper turret attached, their weight would have been different.

France

• Char 2C: 69 tons; 10 built, in service from 1921 to 1940; obsolete by World War II, 9 destroyed to prevent capture and the remaining 1 was shown in Berlin as a trophy.
  • Char 2C bis: 72 tons; modified Char 2C with 155 mm howitzer and different turret; one Char 2C was converted into this variant but later returned into the original configuration
• FCM F1: 139 tons; World War II era replacement for the Char 2C, to attack fortifications. Ordered and full-scale wooden mock-up was produced but no prototype built before the Fall of France (1940).
• ARL Tracteur C: 145 tons, developed by ARL to attack fortifications; wooden mockup was produced but canceled in favor of FCM F1 which was proven to be superior design (developed 1939-1940)
• AMX Tracteur C: 140 tons, developed by AMX to attack fortifications; the project was terminated after AMX being out of schedule (developed 1939-1940)

German Empire

• K-Wagen: 120 metric tons; two were nearly complete when World War I ended. Both were demolished.

Nazi Germany

• Panzer VII Löwe: About 95–100 tons; canceled in favour of Maus.
• Panzer VIII Maus: 188 tons, two prototypes. Both were captured by the Soviet army, although one had been partially destroyed. A composite of the two can now be seen at the Kubinka Tank Museum.
• Panzerkampfwagen E-100: 140 tons; one incomplete hull at factory captured by British and later scrapped.
• Panzer IX: Concept by Signal.
• Panzer X: Another concept by Signal.
• Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte: 1,000 tons; canceled, no evidence construction began.
• Panzerkampfwagen E 75 Standardpanzer: 92 tons; only a design concept.

Japanese Empire

• O-I series
  • "Super Heavy Tank": 120 tons. Purportedly one prototype was produced in 1943.^[3] According to another source, the O-I project was canceled before the 120-ton prototype was completed.^[4]
  • "Ultra Heavy Tank": Modification of the O-I Super Heavy Tank with four turrets. Project only.

Russian Empire

• Tsar Tank: A giant wheeled (about 9m diameter) tricycle gun platform of 1914 which was abandoned because it was vulnerable to artillery.
• Mendeleev Tank: 1911 to 1915 design for a heavily armoured "landship" which would have weighed around 170 tons if built

Soviet Union

• T-42 (Tank Grote or TG-V): 100 tons with 107  mm main gun and four sub-turrets. Models and drawings produced ^[5]
• KV-4: 1941 project. A proposed 90–100 ton tank, carrying a 107  mm main gun and a 45  mm or 76  mm secondary; various layouts were considered, with the hull-mounted 107  mm and a 76  mm turret chosen as the final option.^[6] Feasibility stage only.
• KV-5: another Kliment Voroshilov series 100-ton-class tank design. Armed with the same 107  mm main gun in a large, KV-2-style turret, and two 12.7  mm machine gun turrets (one on the forward hull, one on top of the main turret); powered by two V2 diesels due to wartime lack of a 1200  hp engine. Project stopped due to Siege of Leningrad and cancelled without anything built.

United States

• T28 Super Heavy Tank: Also known as T95 GMC, designed for attacking heavy fortifications. 86.2 metric tons; 2 prototypes built right after World War II; by layout a self-propelled gun. Very similar to British Tortoise. One can now be seen on display at Fort Benning, Georgia.

See also[]

• Bolo (tank)

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Estes, Kenneth (2014). Super-heavy Tanks of World War II. Osprey. ISBN 978-1782003830.
• Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two, London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.