Stranger Than Fiction Armor

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Here it is...

UDES XX20 Articulated Tank

The tank which the Swedish army manufactured as an experiment in 1985 armed with a 120mm gun

Originally Posted by cyberia

I don't think the photo was shopped, but one can never be certain these days. However, I also don't see how a vehicle that size could take the stress of a gun that large.

I'm guessing the the design was never followed up.

I was thinking that exact same thing when I saw it.

[Tom Houlihan]

Unless it was recoilless, or light-recoil. Why not? Recoilless was available in WWII, so why not after?

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Tom Houlihan

Unless it was recoilless, or light-recoil. Why not? Recoilless was available in WWII, so why not after?

Would you want to be in that vehicle when all that gas came out the back of a recoilless gun?

[cyberia]

Just located this shot of the same vehicle...

[Panzermacher]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Just located this shot of the same vehicle...

I am thinking the strange muzzle brake takes out some of the recoil.....

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Pirate-Drakk

The flying tank idea was the brain child of Walter Christie an early tank designer famous mostly for developing the Christie suspension system used on the T-34 among other tanks.

Here is the entire article from the magazine above. It's rather amusing.
Flying Tanks that Shed Their Wings

Note that we do have flying tanks today. They are called attack helicopters such as the AH-47 Longbow and the Russian Hind. Christie was way ahead of his time.

I love the optimism of these period pieces. There never seems to be a doubt that the design will work, and become the ultimate weapon.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by Pirate-Drakk

The flying tank idea was the brain child of Walter Christie an early tank designer famous mostly for developing the Christie suspension system used on the T-34 among other tanks.

Christie's suspension system was genius, but he had a few designs that didn't exactly "fly".

1922 Christie Amphibious Tank

Christie shopped this design to nations the world over but it was universally turned down.

[PanzerBob]

Originally Posted by Jim O

Would you want to be in that vehicle when all that gas came out the back of a recoilless gun?

I'm quite sure that's an autocannon, and I would guess no more than 2 or 3 for a crew. Crews are an expensive part any weapon system and hardest part to protect, which accounts for a drive towards robotic vehicles in and on all three elements and space if you like. One of the failings of such vehicles is maintenance still must be done and two man crew, or even three in an large or major AFV is placing too much work on them. Four man crews are even stretching things. Support teams in peacetime sound good but the concept fails again once real combat is joined. Tankers and Panzer Crews in WWII spent a lot of time maintaining and repairing their beasts and some of which done under combat conditions. Smaller crews make this difficult or impossible. This would make for more abandoned units. Taking soldiers off the ground always has a price, and unfortunately that price is paid in blood.

[cyberia]

The ultimate "what were they thinking"...

The Landkreuzer P-1000 "Ratte" (Rat) was an extremely large nazi pipe dream for a tank for use by Germany during World War II. It was designed in 1942 by Krupp with the approval of Adolf Hitler, but the project was canceled by Albert Speer in early 1943 and none were ever completed.

The 1000 metric ton Krupp P 1000 "Ratte", started construction but was cancelled before completion. It would have carried two 280mm guns (mounted in the same type of gun turret used in Gneisenau class warships), a single 128mm gun, eight 20mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns and two 15mm Mauser MG 151/15 guns.

Weighing in at 1000 metric tons (a million kilograms, or 2.2 million pounds), the P-1000 would have been over five times heavier than the Maus, the largest tank ever actually built.

It would have been equipped with six 1.2 meter tracks with three tracks per side. Its power would have come from two MAN V12Z32/44 24 cylinder Diesel marine engines with 8500hp each or eight Daimler-Benz MB501 20 cylinder Diesel marine engines with 2000hp each to achieve the 16000hp needed to move this tank.

The primary armament was a warship-like turret holding a pair of 280mm naval guns. One such turret was built before the project was canceled, and was installed in a coastal defense battery in Norway. In addition to these guns, the same type used in Gneisenau class warships, the P-1000 was to have carried a single 128mm gun, eight 20mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns and two 15mm Mauser MG 151/15 guns.

And yet, one colossal bad idea apparently was not enough...

An even heavier device, the P-1500 "Monster", was in the very early stages of design when both projects were canceled. It was meant to be a self-propelled version of the Schwerer Gustav (or Dora) 800mm siege cannon.

It can be noted that an actual military application of this tank would be almost impossible to find; indeed, such a vehicle would likely be unable to travel over most paved roads and bridges for risks of buckling them under its massive weight. The vehicle would additionally have been essentially incapable of dodging enemy units or avoiding land mines, and vulnerable to demolition charges and air strikes.

[cyberia]

Next up a contribution from the British...

1915 Pusher Armored Car

Yes sir, planned for desert warfare they put a fan on at the rear to push this reconnaissance vehicle along.

Can anyone guess why it did not work as well in reality as it did on paper?