Object 279
In service Never entered service - Cancelled 1960
A four-tracked nuclear-battlefield heavy tank with a saucer-shaped hull, designed to be unflippable by a blast wave. One built.
Built byKirov Plant, Leningrad
Development history
Object 279 was the most extreme answer to the nuclear battlefield: four tracks in two pairs for very low ground pressure in mud and snow, a thin curved outer hull shell intended to deflect a nuclear shock wave rather than let it lift the tank, and 305 mm of effective frontal protection. It worked, but it was mechanically nightmarish to maintain, could not turn well in confined ground and cost far more than a T-10. Khrushchev ended Soviet heavy tank development in 1960 and the single prototype went to Kubinka, where it remains.
Variants
One canonical record, 1 recorded variants.
Object 279 prototype
1959Four-tracked heavy tank with 130 mm M-65 gun; single vehicle preserved at Kubinka.
Notable actions
- None - trials vehicle