ΥΠΕΡΑΣΠΙΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ, ΤΗ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΛΟΓΙΚΗΣ: Strange! Object 279 The Soviet Heavy Tank Designed To Survive A Nuclear Explosion

Δευτέρα 28 Μαρτίου 2016

Strange! Object 279 The Soviet Heavy Tank Designed To Survive A Nuclear Explosion

In 1959, at the height of the cold war era, Soviet Union built this experimental nuclear explosion proof heavy tank called Object 279. It was one of the last Soviet prototypes of heavy tanks before Kruschev banned any tank heavier than 37 tons.

Only one unit of Object 279 was built at Kirov Industrial Plant in Leningrad. It weighs 132,277 lbs or 60 metric tons. It had a running gear consisting of four-tracks and a 1000 hp 2DG-8M diesel engine that could power the tank to achieve a speed of 55 kmph with an active range of 300 km per refueling.
The hull of Object 279 had 182-319mm thick armor with CBRN or chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection. It was also covered by a thin, elliptical shaped shield protecting it against Armor piercing projectiles and shaped charge ammunition. The elliptical shield also protected it from overturning due to shockwaves of possible nuclear explosions.

Object 279 during a demonstration at Kapustin Yar, 1960
One of the reasons that this tank project was abandoned, as with other heavy tank projects, was the fact that the Soviet military stopped operating with heavy fighting vehicles of that type, tanks and similar, as of 1960.
Since then, the heaviest ones are kept at about 50 metric tons of weight; that is without counting in any extra equipment such as additional reactive armor, mine clearing devices (mine plows, mine rollers), etc.

It was something concerning the current Soviet policy change that took place on July 22, 1960. At the demonstration of new technology on the range of Kapustin Yar, Nikita Khrushchev strictly forbade any tanks with a weight of more than 37 metric tons to be adopted by the military. Thus, the entire program of heavy tanks was written off.

Source: World of Tanks forum
Adding to this decision was the fact that Nikita Khrushchev himself was a supporter of an alternative – guided missile tanks, the most prominent of which was IT-1.
Furthermore, the Soviet military wanted tanks with a suitable weight for crossing their own bridges, in case of homeland defense situations similar to those that occurred during World War II, which at that time seemed to be unreliable for heavy vehicle crossings.
Another reason was the fact that a number of serious deficiencies of the running gear appeared during the trials. These deficiencies included low nimbleness, efficiency loss during swampy area crossings, complex and expensive production, maintenance and repair, and impossibility of reduction in the overall height of the tank.