Visitors Kremlin can admire a masterpiece of ancient Russian art weapons - Tsar Cannon.It is huge and one of its kind could inspire horror adversary, but has not found a military application.
If today survived the heaviest tank in the world, his fate would be the same.It could be a look, walk around, wondering monstrous size, admire the destructive power of his guns.And then make a conclusion about the utter uselessness of this monster to fulfill the main task of any weapons.To fight such a colossus is impossible.
tanks are different for each class of clearly defined objectives.In this they are like ships: where needed destroyer battleship is not suitable.
tank division into classes by weight again reminds grades ships according to their displacement.It is very conditional, also differs in different countries.In general, the picture is as follows: small (weighing up to 5 tonnes) were armed only with machine guns and were designed for reconnaissance and raids on the enemy's rear.Lightweight (5-15 m) were small-caliber gun, built as an analogue of the cavalry, to carry out rapid attacks and flanking maneuvers.Weight medium tanks up to 40 tons, their task - to break a fortified defense.Anything more and more - heavy.
Already in 1917, the Germans began construction of a mobile fortress K-Wagen.It was the heaviest tank in the world, he weighed 150 tons.The German command irritated positional war on the Western Front, needed something that could crush the French defense.In fact, "K-Wagen" was an artillery battery of four guns, crawling across the field at a walking pace.Laurels of glory that pattern weapons themselves are not capped, and the outcome of the war had no influence.
Lesson losers did not go for the future winners.Such a monster before the war started to build the French, their car FCM-F1 weighed 145 tons.Little could he reached the rank of "the heaviest tank in the world."FCM-F1 and failed to apply, he divided his uselessness to the Maginot Line.
All other armored heavyweights suffered similar structural defects, nullifies the advantages and thick armor and powerful weapons.They were lethargic, had a small stock of progress, bridges and railway platforms could not withstand them.
in conditions of constant shortage of metal surge capacities and the catastrophic situation on all fronts, the Germans built a giant 140-ton steel "Mouse» Maus E-100 as the Fuhrer ordered.We started in 1944, but never completed - the war was over.Previously created monster Maus-VIII weighed 188 tonnes. This was the next heaviest tank in the world, implemented in the metal, and also a vivid example of the absurdity of the totalitarian thinking.The Germans built two copies, both to no avail.
Before Soviet tank designers did not attempt to increase the weight of the machine.On the contrary, it was necessary to reduce as much as possible, while ensuring the protection of a powerful tank and equipping a weapon capable to crush any target.The heaviest tank USSR - "Joseph Stalin-7" - weighed only 68 tons, armed with a gun C-70 caliber 130 mm and had a sloping armor thickness up to 350 mm.This EC-7 could move at a speed of 60 km / h, had a low profile, which improves stealth.However, this masterpiece of the state commission rejected.For a modern war, he was too heavy.In the early 60-ies, Soviet designers realized the prospect of the first medium-weight armored vehicles.
American "Abrams" - the most modern heavy tank.It weighs more than 62 tons, and it fared well in the wars in the Middle East, where there is no need to force the water barriers or bridges to overcome.Promising examples of Russian armored vehicles much lighter, up to 47 tons. Our designers prefer and maneuverability.However, on the firepower they, too, do not forget.
