From the moment heavy armored vehicles, later called tanks, entered the battlefield for the first time, work on their improvement has never stopped. This is best seen if we recall the largest tanks. In the world, along with successful samples that were widely known and mass-produced, there were archaic designs that did not correspond to the spirit of the times, complex projects, which were economically and technologically very difficult to implement 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, aircraft and tanks served as a kind of catalyst for the activity of designers. Many leading states also had their own developments, but most of them did not even go beyond the initial design.
Now most of the developed samples can be considered only as a curiosity, but then they threatened to blow up the whole world. tanksthen and now they are considered as the main striking force of any ground force grouping, equally effective in offensive and defensive operations. However, let's consider the main contenders for the role of armored force leaders.
Landkreuzer R1500 "Monster" was created as a super-heavy tank, planned for the 800 mm Dora gun, with a range of up to 37 km and a weight of the projectile itself of 7 tons, as well as two 150 mm SFH18 howitzers 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 impossibility of transportation by road, greater vulnerability to air raids (it is simply impossible to hide such a colossus) and the huge fuel consumption during the operation of four engines similar to those used on Type VIII submarines.
A slightly smaller project was the Landkreuzer R1000 "Ratte" (rat), the weight of which 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 turret from a battleship with two 180 mm caliber guns and twenty anti-aircraft guns located throughout the hull. The estimated crew size was determined at 100 people.
The world's largest built tanks saw the light of day in the Third Reich. One of them is the Panzer VIII "Maus".
Its weight was many times greater than any of the mass-producedheavy 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. The design was completed in the middle of 1942. Production was started, but before the end of the war, only 2 prototypes were completed, which were captured by Soviet units. Later they were dismantled and transported by trophy teams to the USSR, one of the cars is still 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 model was not built. Its equipment included guns of caliber 90 and 47 mm, as well as 6 machine guns. French designers included the possibility of its transportation by rail, and the weight and dimensions were as follows: length - 10-11 m, width - 3 m, weight - up to 140 tons.
English 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 weighing 80 tons was built, but due to the archaic and complex design, as well as weak artillery weapons, work on it was frozen. Another vehicle was the A39, which weighed 78 tons and had a 96 mm cannon, which also did not go into production due to the fact that factories were busy manufacturing Churchill tanks.
In the USSR, a three-turreted KV-5 tank (or "object 225") was developed. Due to the outbreak of war, frequent changes were made to the project related to the need to reduce the cost andmaintenance improvements. Work on this model was carried out at the Leningrad plant named after S. M. Kirov. Due to the threat of the enemy's access to the city, at the end of the summer of 1941, the project was curtailed, and the forces were sent to finalize the KV-1. The weight of the tank was 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 each.
Designed 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 only be seen in images and also in computer games.
