Heavy tanks presented a truly formidable offensive power.
Developed in 1941,
these steel giants were the battering-rams
that forced their way through enemy defense lines.
However, the invention of the nuclear weapon
significantly affected the requirements of combat vehicles.
And heavy tanks had to be modified
to adapt to these new combat conditions.
World's Strangest Combat Vehicles
In 1955, the USSR started the development
of a new generation of heavy tanks.
New vehicles were to replace battle-proven,
yet technically outdated,
IS-2, IS-3, IS-4 and T-10 heavy tanks.
The historian Yuri Pasholok will tell us about this project,
which is considered to be the strangest heavy tank
with the best protection in the history of tank construction.
The development of a new concept of heavy tank
included works on four vehicles.
Three vehicles were developed in Leningrad,
and the other was in Chelyabinsk.
The project, developed in Chelyabinsk,
was a 55-ton Object 770.
In Leningrad, the Design Bureau of the Kirov Plant
was developing the Object 277 and Object 278 projects,
which differed only in engine type.
(The Object 278 was to be equipped with a gas-turbine engine).
The Object 279
was the third project designed by the Bureau.
The tank was literally “heavy”.
Its weight—around 60 tons— was the result
of its powerful engine and enhanced armor.
Object 279: the Warrior of the Apocalypse
Developed by the famous engineer Lev Troyanov
and the Joseph Kotin Design Bureau, the Object 279 stands out
when compared to traditional heavy tanks.
Yes, the vehicle does look quite strange:
an 11-meter (36-feet) flying saucer
with a flattened turret and dynamics of the T-34 tank.
Despite its 60-ton weight, this futuristic combat vehicle
was able to accelerate up to the same speed
as the most popular tank of WWII—55 km/h (34 mph).
So, why did the design incorporate such an unusual hull shape?
Back in the post-war period,
dynamic protection for tanks had not yet been invented.
In addition, neither the USSR nor western countries
equipped vehicles with modern composite armor.
Nothing like it existed at the time.
As a result, a HEAT shell could effectively penetrate
all types of cast armor —of any thickness—
even at significant angles.
There were two ways to solve this problem.
One solution required an immense increase
to armor thickness, which would result
in increased weight and low maneuverability.
The other way called for some technical solutions,
like increasing the slope of the hull armor.
As result, the cumulative jet of the HEAT shell
would go along the armor plate and leave a dent, but not penetrate.
And the Object 279 was developed on the basis of the second.
Despite the futuristic layout,
the vehicle had a classical design, similar to traditional tanks.
However, the design did feature a number of creative solutions
to improve the vehicle’s protection and crossing capacity.
The unique hulls of USSR tank construction
have always been different from other vehicles.
German, British, French and U.S.engineers
were really shocked by IS-3 tanks.
This vehicle only weighed 46 tons.
At the same time,
this type of armor was resistant
to the German PaK 43 gun.
The strict limits to combat weight
resulted in the emergence of new designs in tank construction
—hulls with shape structures of variable thickness and slope.
The all-casted hull, which was of medium weight,
combined with the turret, created armor of variable thickness,
which rangedfrom 40-50 mm (1.6-2 inches),
all the way to 300 millimeters (11.8 inches).
The hull of the Object 279 comprised
four casted armor elements, welded together.
A flattened turret with uniform armor
made it one of the best-protected heavies in history.
The Object 279 was equipped
with counter-HEAT screens on the front and side areas.
This curved “shell” provided the Object
with protection from all known guns, and from any distance.
For comparison,
the protection criteria of the Object 279
are double the armor of the heavy T-10 tank,
and are five times the armor of the T-34.
The armor protection showed fantastic characteristics:
269 millimeters (10.6 inches) in the front,
and 305 millimeters (12 inches) across the whole perimeter of the turret.
These are the highest parameters of protection
among all heavy tanks all over the world.
Thanks to the combination of several technologies,
such as the method
of variable thickness of the armor through casting,
the thickness of armor protection could reach 300 millimeters (11.8 inches).
At the same time,
the vehicle had a tough weight limitation of 60 tons,
which is not much when compared to the IS-7.
With the same dimensions,
the weight of the IS-7 is close to 70 tons,
while the armor protection is considerably thinner.
In addition, the Object 279
had a very compact configuration due to its loading mechanism,
allowing the 130-mm (5.1 inches) gun to fire 5 shots per minute.
This is quite a high rate of fire, even for modern vehicles.
This steel giant has a powerful armament:
it is equipped with a 130-mm (5.1 inches) M-65 gun
and 14.5-mm KPV heavy machine gun,
with a semi-automatic loading mechanism,
mechanized rounds rack, and stereoscopic aim.
But the main highlight of this alien-tank is its suspension:
the vehicle is equipped with a 4-track propulsion unit.
Each side has
6 built-in doubled rollers and 3 support rollers;
the drive wheel is positioned in the rear.
This was a forced decision: first,
the introduction of a four-track system
was being developed in the late 1940s
to increase crossing capacity;
second, such a configuration and layout of the hull
was implemented in order to increase
the armor and protection characteristics of the vehicle.
In fact, this heavy tank
featured rational slopes of armor plates
in order to deflect the shells of enemy vehicles.
This resulted in the current layout,
which looks rather strange and unusual.
U.S. engineers also worked
on similar designs for quite a long time,
but their concept was slightly different.
They tried to develop a tank,
not with 4 tracks positioned on the side,
but 4 tracks paired in a lengthwise position.
Which means it would be a vehicle with a hinge mechanism,
which allowed for better maneuverability on terrain.
A better crossing capacity meant it could drive across areas
that could not be crossed by any other vehicle.
The decision to use an unconventional suspension
turned the Object 279 into an armored off-roader,
which could cross unsuitable terrain and surfaces,
swamps, and huge masses of snow, as well as crash
through the enemy defense, even in winter conditions.
By the way, the specific ground pressure of this heavy vehicle
did not exceed 0.6 kg/cm² (8.5 psi).
Taking into account the weight,
its crossing capacity is closer to a light tank.
Military units were supposed to act
on terrain that would have been heavily damaged
from the impact of a nuclear blow.
This would include
some difficult terrain, swamps and tundra,
where the surface, affected by a nuclear impact,
would defrost significantly, and thus almost neutralize
the crossing capacity of standard vehicles.
The crew featured a conventional arrangement of four men.
The commander, gunner, and loader were seated in the turret.
The driver was seated in the center,
in the front section of the hull,
next to the entry hatch.
As in many USSR vehicles, the Object 279 had
quite limited space for the driver, which meant that a crew member who was
taller than 170 centimeters (5.6 feet) would feel quite uncomfortable.
In addition, this vehicle had a very low silhouette,
which was typical of Soviet vehicles.
In comparison, the British Conqueror,
with a similar weight, stands 3 meters (9.8 feet) height.
The Object 279 stands slightly over 2 meters (6.5 feet),
which meets the standards of modern tanks.
Back in the 1950s,
the world was split into two warring poles,
and the ghosts of large-scale military conflicts
were looming on the horizon.
Europe could become a battleground,
where two superpowers —the U.S. and USSR—
would confront and demonstrate the power of a nuclear weapon.
The design purpose of this heavy tank
was not just to survive a nuclear strike,
but also to continue its offensive in conditions of a nuclear fallout.
That is why the crew’s protection was critical.
The development of NBC protection systems
started in the 1950s; needless to say,
the Object 279 was no exception.
The vehicle was equipped with an armor radiation liner,
as well as with a special system,
which created overpressure in the vehicle
and kept out contaminated air.
This provided additional protection to the crew:
they were protected from radiation
and could remain on duty for a long time,
as well as pass through the epicenter
of a nuclear explosion of a limited yield.
The vehicle could function
in a contaminated area for a limited time.
The tactical requirements were aggregated and processed,
theoretical calculations were performed.
As a result, designers came up with plans
that would resolve the problems and open new possibilities.
And this was a common practice, quite similar to the 1930s,
before the beginning of WWII.
However, the Object 279
had the smallest under armor hull volume
of all heavy tanks —11.47 cubic meters (405 cubic feet).
This was quite a drawback.
Also, other disadvantages included expensive production
and the worst ever vehicle maneuverability.
Despite its amazing crossing capacity,
the vehicle required enormous power
and a lot of time to turn left or right.
Four tracks
drastically increased the number of breakdowns.
A number of technical ideas and solutions
were used later
in the development of the next generation of tanks.
However, the development of super-heavy tanks
was completely discontinued in the USSR.
It is widely said that this was the decision
of the First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev,
who relied mostly on the missile program.
In fact, the Object 279 showed outstanding characteristics,
when compared to a number of legendary heavy tanks.
However, the process
of its development and improvement was so long
that it would not be able to compete with medium tanks,
developed in the USSR in the 1950-1960s.
As result, a total number of 3 vehicles were produced,
and the unique Object 279 only remained a prototype.
All produced vehicles were simply scrapped.
Only one Object 279 (variant 2) survived,
and it is exhibited at the Kubinka Armor Museum.
This vehicle is the pinnacle of the concept
advocated by Nikolay Shashmurin,
one of the most prominent designers of heavy tanks.
The heart of the concept was to maximize
a vehicle's firepower and protection
while keeping its dimensions minimal.