BTT projects: one more amazing than the other
“The man who received his sight answered them:
it’s surprising that you don’t know
where is He from, and He opened my eyes. "
Gospel of John 9:30
it’s surprising that you don’t know
where is He from, and He opened my eyes. "
Gospel of John 9:30
History armored vehicles. Today we will again become like a biblical man and again go to our tank freak show - look at the unusual designs of these combat vehicles. Last time we stopped at the 30s of the last century. Today we will also start our excursion from this time.
"We were born to make a fairy tale come true!" - they sang in the USSR in those years, and it really seemed to many that the people “liberated” from the former exploitation were capable of this. Collective farmers and students expelled for academic failure, Red Army men and ... military engineers, literally in batches offered their "inventions" to the competent authorities, and those ... just as massively refused them due to the complete fantasy and unrealizability of their projects.
But some were very lucky, although for the time being. So, pilot Pavel Grokhovsky became the chief and chief designer of the Special Design Production Bureau of the Air Force of the Red Army (1932-1934), and then the chief and chief designer of the Experimental Institute of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry for Arms of the Red Army (until 1937).
There he and his employees didn’t invent anything ... However, it all ended very badly for him: on November 5, 1942, he was arrested. By a special meeting at the NKVD he was sentenced to death and on May 29, 1943, he was shot at the Kommunarka shooting range. True, then he was rehabilitated in 1957. His wife, the first Soviet paratrooper-paratrooper, survived, spent many years behind barbed wire.
Here is one of his developments: a twin-engined hovercraft armored car! It is clear (just look at it) that this design is completely inoperable. Fortunately, they did not try to translate it into metal!
The project of a tank by Grokhovsky with a fan propeller on skis! That is, for the first time in history, a purely winter tank was proposed, capable of operating in deep snow. Original, but very specific and costly.
The project of a boat on an air cushion V.I. Levkova
But the hovercraft V.I. Levkov was more fortunate, and Levkov himself died of a stroke, and not of a bullet in the back of the head. He created a whole series of boats L-1, L-2 ... L-13 - only 15 machines, which developed a phenomenal speed of 130 km / h on the water and could carry torpedo weapons. True, the war did not allow them to be brought to mind, and there was simply nowhere to use them. But they were, and here it is our country that has an unconditional priority!
The fight against mines, starting with the First World War, became more and more urgent and turned into a serious problem when the Second World War had already begun. Special land minesweepers were required, and it was decided to use tanks as them. But the designs of the mine trawls hung on them were very different. And the Germans did create a huge three-wheeled armored trawl with machine-gun armament in the tower.
Tank minesweeper T10
The Americans took a different path. Instead of attaching large "mortar" wheels to a new chassis, they put them on the Sherman M1944A4 tank in 2! The result was a machine capable of paving a wide "road" free of mines. The minesweeper tank received the designation T10 and was tested at the Aberdeen proving ground, but it was not adopted for service due to the very large size and metal consumption of the structure. In addition, due to its large weight, it buried itself when moving on soft ground, and even its speed was too low. In this regard, minesweeping tanks with striking trawls turned out to be much more profitable.
Tank minesweeper T10. Photo from the Aberdeen Proving Ground
The dimensions of the car (there is a person next to it for scale), of course, are impressive!
Even in the pre-war years, tanks began to be equipped with two guns in one turret. But this layout did not take root, but in the 70s of the last century, an original reckless tank with two guns in the VT1 hull appeared in Germany. It was planned to replace the tank "Leopard-2" with it, therefore it is sometimes called "Leopard-3" and this machine turned out to be so unusual that it belongs in our tank freak show!
"Leopard-3" VT1-1 on the chassis of the MBT-70 prototype tank
In total, two tanks were manufactured: VT1-1 and VT1-2. They differed not only in the type of guns (rifled 105-mm and smooth-bore 120-mm, respectively), but also in engines. The VT1-1 had both automatic loaders, while the VT1-2 had only one automatic loader. The aiming lines of both barrels crossed at a distance of 1 meters.
The machines accurately hit the target, firing from stops, however, firing from two guns in one volley was prohibited due to the too strong recoil. But the barrel of one gun after the shot was displaced from the aiming line along with the tank after each shot, and it was necessary to aim again, which was inconvenient. The result was a seemingly good and low (80 cm lower than the serial Leopard!) Vehicle, which was classified as an ACS, but ... which was presented as a tank.
"Leopard-3" GVT on a new chassis
As a result, in 1976, tests of both machines were stopped due to their complete futility, but in the 1980s they returned to the Leopard-3 project again, believing that the Leopard 2 should be replaced with something completely new. However, a new version of the vehicle with guns close to the central axis - GVT, was unsuccessful and was not adopted for service. Now, if both guns had automatic loaders, could aim at one target and fire a volley fire at it, then it could still be at least "something." But only the price of such a machine would be too high, and it itself would have a very specific purpose.
In general, projects of too specific combat vehicles usually turn out to be unviable.
For example, here is a hypothetical view of an air-cushion infantry fighting vehicle, which at one time was very fashionable to offer and consider. You can build such a car! And on the water during the landing, it will operate with greater efficiency than a conventional amphibious infantry fighting vehicle. But ... on land, it will not have any advantages over a conventional machine. Only the extra weight will have to be carried on yourself. Well, extra traction will help if the car suddenly gets stuck in a swamp. That is, "the game is not worth the candle."
Fighting vehicle EFV. It has an extremely high speed on the water (up to 46 km / h) and can be disembarked from a landing craft not three to five kilometers from the coast, but “over the horizon”. Armament - 30-mm autocannon and a machine gun in the tower.
Well, this car was even built. It was tested and planned to be adopted by the US Marine Corps.
Outwardly, a very "impressive car"!
But on January 6, 2011, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates proposed to close this extremely ambitious project in order to save budget funds, on which more than $ 2,9 billion had been spent by that time. As a result, the US Marine Corps refused to acquire the EFV, and instead continues to use the modernized AAV7A1 armored personnel carriers and will use them at least until 2025.
She's afloat - look how she rushes!
In fact, the idea of high-speed delivery of armored vehicles to enemy territory was sick not only in the United States, but in our country too.
There was "Project 80" - high-speed delivery of tanks across the Black Sea on hydrofoil boats. Attaching the tank to the pontoon boats before going out on the water took only 45 minutes, but the tank could get rid of them and go ashore in just 3 minutes. And this despite the fact that he was moving along the sea at a speed of more than 50 km / h. The only trouble was that excitement with a force of more than three points was contraindicated for this coupling, and such an almost calm weather at sea, including Black, is extremely rare. So what do you want? Sit the landing units and “wait for the weather by the sea”? That is, it was weaponthat could be built, but definitely impossible to apply!
Tank-carrier boat "project 80". Side view
And this is how "it" looked from the front!
On the "Voennoye Obozreniye" there was a very detailed article, which understood all the pros and cons of this project. And in the end there were more minuses than pluses! So the project was closed in 1971, but one of the boats, without wings, of course, is in Kubinka, in the tank museum. Nevertheless, for our freak show of amazing tanks, this project is just the right thing!
PS
The author and the site administration are grateful to A. Sheps for the color illustrations provided by him.
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