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Super-heavy tanks are armored vehicles of very large size, generally over 75 tonnes. They have been introduced on several occasions in order to provide an invincible vehicle for penetrating enemy formations without fear of being destroyed in combat.






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Tog2 Tank Bovington
Super-heavy tanks are armored vehicles of very large size, generally over 75 tonnes. They have been introduced on several occasions in order to provide an invincible vehicle for penetrating enemy formations without fear of being destroyed in combat. Examples date to World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 and World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 , along with a few Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 examples. Only a few examples were ever built, and with one exception none of these vehicles saw combat.

Flying Elephant Bovington 1
The earliest examples of super-heavy designs date to WWI, when the British worked on their Flying Elephant
Flying Elephant

The Flying Elephant was a proposed super-heavy tank, planned but never built by the United Kingdom during World War I.After the last order for an additional fifty Mark I vehicles in April 1916, it was not certain that any more tanks were to be produced....
 concept as a way to break through any potential defensive line. During WWII all of the major combatants introduced prototypes for special roles. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
 was a proponent of "war winning" weapons and supported projects like the 188 tonne Maus, and even larger 1000 tonne Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte and 1500 tonne Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster
Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster

The Landkreuzer P 1500 Monster was a German pre-prototype super-heavy tank designed during World War II, representing the apex of the Nazis' extreme tank designs....
. The British, Soviets and US all built prototype designs similar to the Jagdtiger
Jagdtiger

The Panzerj?ger Tiger Ausf. B Jagdtiger was a Nazi Germany tank destroyer Jagdpanzer of World War II. It saw service from late 1944 to the End of World War II in Europe on both the Western Front and Eastern Front ....
, but none of these saw combat as the need for such a weapon turned out to be extremely limited.

The idea of super heavy tanks saw less development after the war, except in the Soviet Union where some relatively heavy tank prototypes were tested for the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 nuclear battlefield. These might be considered super-heavy by the standards of Soviet tank design, where the emphasis was on small size and low weight, but they were no heavier than the standard U.S. and British heavy tanks of the period.

List of super-heavy tanks


American
  • T-28 Super Heavy Tank
    T-28 Super Heavy Tank

    The T28 was a prototype heavily armored tank destroyer, designed for the US United States Army during World War II. It was originally designed to be used to break through Nazi Germany defenses at the Siegfried Line, and was later considered as a possible participant in an invasion of the Empire of Japan mainland....
     - self-propelled gun, 86 tonnes, 5 pilot models built


British
  • TOG1 (tank)
    TOG1 (tank)

    The Tank, Heavy, TOG 1 was a prototype United Kingdom heavy tank design produced in the early part of the Second World War in the expectation that battlefields might end up like those of the First World War and was designed so it could cross churned up countryside and trenches....
     - 80 tonnes, 1 prototype
  • TOG2 (tank)
    TOG2 (tank)

    The Tank, Heavy, TOG 2 was a prototype United Kingdom heavy tank design produced in the early part of the Second World War in case the battlefields of northern France turned into a morass of mud, trenches and craters as had happened during the First World War....
     - 80 tonnes, 1 prototype
  • Tortoise heavy assault tank
    Tortoise heavy assault tank

    The Tank, Heavy Assault, Tortoise was a Great Britain heavy assault tank design developed in World War II but never put into production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility....
     - self-propelled gun, 78 tonnes, 6 pilot models built and tested
  • Flying Elephant
    Flying Elephant

    The Flying Elephant was a proposed super-heavy tank, planned but never built by the United Kingdom during World War I.After the last order for an additional fifty Mark I vehicles in April 1916, it was not certain that any more tanks were to be produced....
     - 100 tonnes, project only


French
  • Char 2C
    Char 2C

    The Char 2C was a France super-heavy tank developed, although never deployed, during the World War I. It was the largest operational tank ever....
     - 69 tonnes, 10 built in the 1920s
  • FCM F1
    FCM F1

    The FCM F1 was a super-heavy tank developed in France by the Forges et Chantiers de la M?diterran?e company. Twelve were ordered in 1940 to replace the Char 2C, but France was defeated before construction could begin....
     - 139 tonnes, project only


German
  • K-Wagen
    K Panzerkampfwagen

    The Gro?kampfwagen or "K-Wagen" was a Germany super-heavy tank, two prototypes of which were almost completed by the end of World War I....
     - 120 metric tons, project only
  • Panzer VII Löwe
    Panzer VII Löwe

    The Panzerkampfwagen VII L?we was a design for a Super Heavy Tank created by Krupp for the Nazism government during World War II. The project never left the drawing board, and was dropped in late 1942 in favor of the Panzer VIII Maus....
     - 76–90 tonnes, project only
  • Panzer VIII Maus
    Panzer VIII Maus

    The Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus was a Germany super-heavy tank design, and the heaviest tank to reach the complete working prototype stage in World War II....
     - 188 tonnes, 2 prototypes, 1 completed, 1 hull completed
  • E-100 (tank)
    Panzerkampfwagen E-100

    The Panzerkampfwagen E-100 was a German super-heavy tank design. The basic design was ordered by the Waffenamt as a parallel development to the Porsche Panzer VIII Maus in June 1943....
     - 140 tonnes, 1 hull completed
  • Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte - 1000 tonnes, project only
  • Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster
    Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster

    The Landkreuzer P 1500 Monster was a German pre-prototype super-heavy tank designed during World War II, representing the apex of the Nazis' extreme tank designs....
     - 1500 tonnes, project only


Soviet
  • Tank Grote (TG-5 or T-42 - 100 tonnes with 107 mm main gun and four subturrets. project only - 1931—Zaloga 1984:85)
  • Obyekt 279
    Obyekt 279

    Obyekt 279 was a Soviet prototype heavy tank developed in the Kirov industrial plant, Leningrad by a group headed by the engineer L. Troyanov in 1957....
     - Prototype tested


Japanese
  • Experimental O-I
    O-I

    O-I was the name given to a proposed series of Japanese super-heavy tanks, to be used in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The vehicle was monstrous, carrying 11 crew in its 120-ton body, but only one model was rumored to have been built in 1944 and afterward sent to Manchuria....
     Super HeavyTank - 130 tonnes. Purportedly one prototype was produced in 1944 and sent to Manchuria.
  • Experimental O-I
    O-I

    O-I was the name given to a proposed series of Japanese super-heavy tanks, to be used in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The vehicle was monstrous, carrying 11 crew in its 120-ton body, but only one model was rumored to have been built in 1944 and afterward sent to Manchuria....
     Ultra HeavyTank - modification of the O-1 Super Heavy Tank with four turrets


See also

  • Landship
    Landship

    A landship is a large vehicle that travels on land, as opposed to on water or in space where large vehicles are usually used. Because of their large size, their use on land is seen as wikt:impractical due to terrain wikt:obstacle, and soft ground that cannot support such large weight....