From the moment heavy armored vehicles, later called tanks, entered the battlefields for the first time, work to improve them never stopped. This is best seen if you recall the largest tanks. In the world, along with successful models that were widely known and mass-produced, there were archaic designs that did not meet the spirit of the times, complex projects that were very difficult to economically and technically realize in metal.
The best tanks in the world were produced by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, which were the main opponents during the Second World War. It should be noted that Adolf Hitler’s painful weakness for giant ships, planes and tanks served as a kind of catalyst for the activities of designers. Many leading states also had their own achievements, but most of them did not even go beyond the initial design.
Now most of the developed designs can only be considered a curiosity, but then they threatened to blow up the whole world. Tanks, then and now, are regarded as the main striking force of any land force grouping, equally effective in offensive and defensive operations. However, we consider the main contenders for the role of leaders of armored vehicles.
Landkreuzer R1500 "Monster" was created as an extra-heavy tank, planned for the 800-mm Dora gun, with a range of destruction of targets up to 37 km and the weight of the projectile of 7 tons, as well as two 150-mm howitzers SFH18 and a large number of small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. The total weight together with the gun mount was supposed to be up to 2500 tons. The main reasons for abandoning the production of the “monster” were the following: the inability to transport on roads, the great vulnerability to air raid (it’s simply impossible to hide such a colossus), and the huge fuel consumption when operating four engines similar to those used on type VIII submarines.
A slightly smaller project was the Landkreuzer R1000 "Ratte" (rat), whose weight was envisaged in the range of 900-1000 tons, with a length of 39 meters and a height of 11 meters. It was planned to install one converted ship tower from a battleship with two 180 mm guns and twenty anti-aircraft guns located throughout the hull. The estimated crew size was determined at 100 people.
The largest tanks in the world of the built saw the light in the Third Reich. One of them is the Panzer VIII “Maus”.
Its weight was many times greater than any of the mass-produced heavy tanks of Germany, the USSR, Great Britain or the USA, amounting to more than 180 tons. The armament of the “mouse” included one 128 mm and one 75 mm guns. Design completed in mid-1942. Production began, but before the war ended, only 2 prototypes were completed, which captured the Soviet units. Subsequently, they were disassembled and transported by trophy teams to the USSR, one of the machines is now on display in Kubinka.
The FCM F1 project became the heaviest and largest tank of non-fascist origin. However, before the defeat of France, this sample was not built. Its equipment included 90 and 47 mm guns, as well as 6 machine guns. French designers included the possibility of transporting it by rail, and the mass and overall indicators were as follows: length - 10-11 m, width - 3 m, weight - up to 140 tons.
The British designers who worked on the creation of infantry support vehicles, also developing this theme, created their own samples. These are not the largest tanks in the world, but quite exotic. So, in 1941, one prototype of the TOG2 tank was built, weighing 80 tons, but due to its archaic and complex design, as well as weak artillery weapons, work on it was frozen. Another machine was the A39, which has a mass of 78 tons and a gun of 96 mm caliber, which also did not go into production because of the factories occupied by the manufacture of Churchill tanks.
In the USSR, a three-tower tank KV-5 (or “Object 225”) was developed. Due to the outbreak of war, frequent changes were made to the project due to the need to reduce the cost and improve maintenance. Work on this sample was carried out at the Leningrad plant named after S.M. Kirov. Due to the threat of the enemy entering the city, at the end of the summer of 1941 the project was curtailed, and forces were sent to finalize the KV-1. The weight of the tank provided for 100 tons, the main armament was a ZIS-6 gun with a caliber of 107 mm, three machine guns of 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm.
Created in different countries, the largest tanks in the world often had a futuristic appearance, but the possibilities for combat use were extremely limited, and now most of them can be seen only in images, as well as in computer games.
