Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, work was underway in the USSR and Germany to create a new type of weapon. Subterrins (combat underground "boats") were intended for covert movement under enemy territory, and then a surprise attack on strategic objects. Moreover, their destruction could be attributed to natural disasters. This technique was also perfect for a surprise landing.
An underground boat designed by Trebelev.
The history of the appearance of subterins
The first apparatus was designed by the Soviet engineer A. Trebelev. His device could pass through the ground at a speed of 10 km / h. Using X-ray, the movements of the head and legs of a mole digging a hole were simulated. In front were the auger with a drill, and in the back the car was pushed off with 4 jacks. It was required to supply electricity to the subterrine from the surface of the earth, using a special cable for this, so the design was considered unreliable, and the project was closed. In 1940, the work on improving the apparatus was entrusted to the design engineer P. Strakhov. He managed to create a prototype that worked without communication with the ground, but with the beginning of the war, work was curtailed.
In the pre-war years, a similar machine was simultaneously designed and even patented by the German engineer von Wern. Its subterrine was designed to carry 5 paratroopers, a crew, and 300 kg of shells. However, the idea remained unrealized, since the Germans had another, more ambitious project of creating an underground train on a caterpillar track "Serpent of Midgard". The construction of such a unit was extremely expensive, and it was not possible to improve it due to the rapid advance of the Soviet troops.
Subterrine.
Promotional video:
Creation of "War Mole"
After the war, the idea of creating a subterrine was supported by the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence (SMERSH). Professors G. I. Babat and G. I. Pokrovsky were involved in the work. Having studied the captured German drawings, they made a conclusion about the possibility of building in the USSR a powerful underground machine with the code name "War Mole".
N. Khrushchev especially liked the idea of "getting the imperialists out of the ground". In 1962, near the village of Gromovka in the Crimea, a plant was built to create an underground defense vehicle. It was assumed that in the event of aggravation of relations with the United States, it would be possible to secretly deliver subterins to the shores of California on submarines, and then install underground nuclear charges there.
Large funds were allocated to create a secret project. The new combat vehicle was equipped with a nuclear reactor. The planned speed was 7.5 km / h, but tests showed that the device can easily move at speeds up to 15 km / h, crushing rocks on its way.
Scheme of the Soviet project of the underground boat "Battle Mole".
The underground boat was a capsule 35 m long and 4 m wide (according to other sources, respectively, 25 m and 3 m), made of titanium. High cross-country ability was provided by a heavy-duty drill. The boat was designed to carry 15 people and 1 ton of cargo.
The tests took place in the Sverdlovsk region, near the city of Kushva. The results were fantastic. Subterrina passed through the Grace Mountain and destroyed the imaginary enemy's underground bunker.
However, during the second experiment, a terrible accident occurred. The device exploded underground. All crew members and paratroopers were killed. The cause of the accident was not disclosed, and work on the defense facility was postponed. An underground nuclear explosion in the Urals was recorded by seismic devices in various regions of the Earth, including the United States and other NATO countries, which almost led to an international conflict. The project was finally canceled.
Underground boat drawing.
After Leonid Brezhnev came to the leadership of the country, the priority was to invest in the protection of near-earth space. The "Battle Mole" installation was initially supposed to be used for excavation during the construction of the metro (in particular, in Kiev). But, as it turned out, the construction machines created by that time were much cheaper, safer and easier to manufacture.
