This tank may well be considered a symbol of a nuclear war that never began. Its design is optimally suited to resist the shockwave, and its four-track undercarriage is optimally suited for driving in a likely nuclear winter …
Heavy tank - "Object 279", one of a kind and, without a doubt, the most unique. Its hull had a cast curvilinear shape with thin-sheet anti-cumulative screens, complementing its contours to an elongated ellipsoid. This shape of the hull was supposed to prevent the tank from overturning by the blast wave of a nuclear explosion.
Let's take a closer look at this project …
Maybe the beginning of the post is somewhat pretentious and exaggerated, but first, let's rewind the events a little.
In 1956, the GBTU of the Red Army developed the tactical and technical requirements for a heavy tank, which was supposed to replace the T-10. The design bureau of the Kirov plant in Leningrad began to create a tank, with extensive use of ideas and individual components from the IS-7 and T-10 tanks. Received the index "Object 277", the new tank was created according to the classic layout, its undercarriage consisted of eight support and four support rollers on board, suspension on beam torsion bars, with hydraulic shock absorbers on the first, second and eighth rollers. The hull was assembled from both rolled and cast parts - the sides were made of bent rolled armor plates, while the bow was a single casting. The tower was also cast, hemispherical in shape. A well-developed niche accommodated a mechanized ammo rack to facilitate the actions of the loader.
The armament consisted of a 130mm M-65 gun, stabilized in two planes with the help of the Groza stabilizer, and a coaxial 14.5mm KPVT machine gun. Ammunition of 26 separate loading rounds and 250 rounds for a machine gun. The gunner had a TPD-2S stereoscopic rangefinder sight, the tank was equipped with a full set of night vision devices. The power plant was a 12-cylinder V-shaped diesel M-850, with a capacity of 1050 hp. at 1850 rpm. Transmission planetary, type "3K", made in the form of a single block mechanism for changing gears and turns. Unlike the transmission of the T-10 tank, the band brakes of the planetary turning mechanism were replaced with disc brakes. The crew consisted of 4 people, three of whom (commander, gunner and loader) were in the tower. With a mass of 55 tons, the tank showed a maximum speed of 55 km / h.
Two copies of Object 277 were produced, and shortly after testing began, work on it was phased out. The tank compares favorably with the T-10 with more powerful weapons and a more advanced MSA, including a rangefinder, but the ammunition load was small. In general, "Object 277" was created on the basis of well-developed in a series of units and did not require long-term refinement.
Promotional video:
The second contestant was the tank of the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant - "Object 770". Unlike "Object 277", it was decided to design the tank "from scratch", relying only on advanced solutions and using new units. A characteristic feature of the tank was a completely cast hull, the sides of which differed in both differentiated thickness and variable angle of inclination. A similar approach can be traced in the armor of the hull's forehead. The turret is also completely cast, with variable armor thickness reaching up to 290mm in the frontal parts. The armament and control system of the tank are completely similar to the "Object 277" - 130mm M-65 gun and coaxial 14.5mm KPVT machine gun, 26 rounds and 250 rounds of ammunition.
Of interest is the power unit of the tank, made on the basis of a 10-cylinder diesel engine DTN-10, with a vertical arrangement of cylinder blocks, which was installed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tank. The engine power was 1000 hp. at 2500 rpm. The transmission of the tank included a torque converter and a planetary gearbox, the parallel connection of which made it possible to have one mechanical and two hydromechanical forward gears, and one mechanical reverse gear. The undercarriage included six large-diameter road wheels per side, without supporting rollers. The roller suspension is hydropneumatic. The tank was distinguished by its ease of handling and good dynamic characteristics.
The most unique and one-of-a-kind prototype of a heavy tank - object 279 - was developed in 1957 by a team of designers of the Leningrad Kirov plant under the leadership of L. S. Troyanov according to the tactical and technical requirements for a heavy tank proposed by the Office of the Chief of Armored Forces of the Soviet Army in 1956. The tank was intended to break through the prepared enemy defenses and operate on terrain that were difficult to pass for conventional tanks.
In defiance of the conservative Object 277, the car was created completely anew, and not only in terms of the units used, but also in concept. Cast hulls with differentiated armor, elliptical shapes have been encountered before, but in this vehicle the idea was taken to the absolute. Assembled from four cast parts, the body was covered around the entire perimeter with an anti-cumulative screen, which supplemented its contours to an elliptical shape (not only in plan, but also in vertical section). Thanks to the reduced armor volume to the limit, which amounted to only 11.47 m3, it was possible to achieve unprecedented values of the thickness of the armor both along the normal and reduced - the frontal armor of the hull reached 192 mm at large angles of inclination and turn, side armor up to 182 mm, at smaller angles. The cast turret of a flattened hemispherical shape had a circular booking of 305mm,except for the stern.
The armament was the same 130mm M-65 gun and 14.5mm KPVT machine gun, with 24 rounds of ammunition in a mechanized ammo rack with semi-automatic loading and 300 rounds for a machine gun. The combined efforts of the loader and the cassette semiautomatic loader provided a combat rate of fire of 5-7 rounds per minute. The MSA included a stereoscopic sight-rangefinder with independent stabilization of the field of view TPD-2S, a two-plane electro-hydraulic stabilizer "Groza" and a full set of night vision devices.
The power plant of the tank was developed in two versions - a DG-1000 diesel with a capacity of 950 liters. from. at 2500 rpm or 2DG-8M with a capacity of 1000 liters. from. at 2400 rpm. Both engines are 4-stroke, 16-cylinder, H-shaped with horizontal cylinders (to reduce the body height). The tank's transmission was also distinguished by its unusual and innovative approach - a hydromechanical and a planetary 3-speed gearbox, and the switching between the two top gears was automated.
But the most conspicuous part of the tank is certainly its chassis, which featured four tracked propellers!
The undercarriage was mounted on two longitudinal hollow beams that served as fuel tanks. The design of the caterpillar propeller provided high cross-country ability in deep snow and wetlands. It eliminated the landing of the tank on the bottom when overcoming vertical obstacles (nadolby, stumps, hedgehogs). The average ground pressure was only 0.6 kgf / cm², that is, it was close to that of a light tank. It was a unique example of a heavy off-road tank.
In relation to one propeller, the undercarriage consisted of six road wheels, three support rollers, a sloth and a drive sprocket. The suspension is individual, hydropneumatic, adjustable. Thus, the concept of clearance became only a formality, and the tank could overcome vertical obstacles without the threat of landing on their bottom.
The specific pressure was also very small - only 0.6 kg / m2, which made it possible to overcome deep snow and swampy areas. The disadvantages of the chosen undercarriage were poor maneuverability and increased resistance to movement, especially on heavy soils. The maintainability left much to be desired, due to the high complexity of the design and the inaccessibility of the internal pair of tracks.
The prototype of the tank was built in 1959 and began to be tested, but it immediately became clear that such an expensive vehicle had no chance of mass production. The successor of the T-10 was supposed to be one of two tanks "seven hundred and seventy" or "two hundred and seventy-seventh", but none of the contestants was never adopted.
The tank's crew consisted of four people, three of whom - the commander, gunner and loader - were located in the tower. The driver's seat was in the front of the hull in the center, there was also a hatch for getting into the car.
Of all the tanks developed simultaneously with it, object 279 had the smallest booked volume - 11.47 m3, while having a very complex armored hull. The design of the undercarriage made it impossible to land the vehicle on the bottom, and ensured high cross-country ability in deep snow and swampy areas. At the same time, the undercarriage was very complex in design and operation, making it impossible to reduce the height of the tank.
At the end of 1959, a prototype was built, the assembly of two more tanks was not completed.
Object 279 is in the Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka.
Photos of the tank "Object 279" from the exposition of the Military-Historical Museum of BTVT, Kubinka.
Table of tactical and technical characteristics of tanks:
And it's also a pity that this option did not pass, although of course there are reasons for this.
Based on this, the initial concept of the "Coalition-SV" included two weapons - one on top of the other. The cannons could work both simultaneously and out of sync. From here, by the way, the name went: "a coalition of two guns." On the project of such a double-barreled machine, two design bureaus worked at once - "Burevestnik" from Nizhny Novgorod and SKB "Uraltransmash". However, in the end, their employees decided to abandon the idea of a double-barreled SPG.
- I think it was a utopian idea. After all, the guns there were not 57 mm or even 100 mm, but 152 mm, explains Nosov. - The location in the fighting compartment, or, as we call it, "in the cap" of so many charges … In general, it was impossible. In addition, the tests that were carried out showed that it is very difficult to be in the fighting compartment when a shot from such a gun occurs. This is, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. There was a lot of controversy, discussions, but in the end we came to the concept of an SPG with a single barrel.
However, this change in concept had almost no effect on the fighting qualities. "Coalition-SV" can hit the target from a distance of 70 kilometers. And how powerful the shot is, can be judged by the fact that the designers even had to invent the latest shock absorption system in order to extinguish the incredible recoil.