From Flying Tanks To A Tractor. Here Are 12 Of The Weirdest Army Tanks Ever Seen On The Battlefield
Tanks have always been crucial in any land battle of the modern times. From fancy direct fire mortars to automatic large fibre canons these armoured fighting vehicles always prove to be a game changer in every war. But before the invention of most modern era tanks armies dreamt of getting bigger and bette. In pursuit to be the best they made some of the oddest looking tanks ever.
Tanks have always been crucial in any land battle of the modern times. From fancy direct fire mortars to automatic large fibre canons, these armoured fighting vehicles always prove to be a game changer in every war.
But before the invention of most modern era tanks, armies dreamt of getting bigger and bette. And in pursuit to be the best they made some of the oddest looking tanks ever:
#1 Mark one
Mark 1 was a British heavy tank which was created during the WW1. It had an unusual rhomboidal shape with a 57mm cannon machine gun which had a range of 38 kilometers.
#2 T-35
T-35, was a Soviet heavy tank which came in service in 1933. Because of its enormous size, symmetry and fast bristling machine guns this tank was considered far more superior from the contemporary tanks at that time.
#3 Russian Tsar Tank
Tsar tank was made in 1914 and was designed by N Lebedenko . It was called the Tsar Tank after Tsar Nikolaj who helped in financing it. It was hoped that such unusual shape of Tsar Tank will enable the Tsar to pass any obstacle but it couldn¡¯t so the tank was dismantled.
#4 Mobile Gunpoint 3
In 1885 German engineers came up with a cylindrical tank machine called Mobile Gunpoint 3. The way by which it was brought to battle field was by a horse or rails. It went into mass production in 1890.
#5 Antonov A-40
Tanks at that time weren¡¯t capable enough to pass a rough terrain, so to make tanks better Russians created a Flying tank. Antonov A-40 was basically a tank strapped to a plane that could allow tank to glide over rough terrain. But in order to make a heavy tank fly it had to be stripped off all of its ammunition, which made the flying tank useless.
#6 Railway Gun
Also known as the Great Gustaf, this was the largest calibre rifled weapon ever used in combat. It was developed in late 1930¡¯s by Germans and was used during the second World War. This marvelous tank could fire shells weighing up to 7 tonnes to a range of 47 Kilometers.
#7 Tortuga
This turtle shaped tank was designed in 1934 by the Venezuelan army to scare the neighbouring country Colombia from invading. It also had a machine gun fitted inside.
#8 Bob Semple
Bob Semple tank was named after its designer Bob Semple, who was the New Zealand Minister of Works. This tank was built during the war hysteria which gripped New Zealand during the second World War. This tank was made on a tractor base and had a top speed of twenty four kilometres per hour. But due to the impracticality of the idea on which this tank was made, it was finally rejected by the New Zealand Army.
#9 Screw driver
The idea behind Screw driver tank was to cover maximum area possible on any kind of terrain which included snow, ice, mud and swamp. Instead of the usual wheels and conveyor belt, which most tanks had, this Russian Screw Driver tank moved with the help of large rolling cylinders.
#10 Mine Flail
Mine Flail also called the USMC Sherman Flail was a mine detonator which used chain tipped flails to detonate contact mines and set off magnetic mines.
# 11 German 85mm Gun
85mm was one of the largest anit- aircraft weapon used by the Germans in the second World War. With maximum firing range of 11,900 meters it was used during the Spanish Civil war and the Sino-Japanese war. It was designed by Krupp in 1928.
#12 Gas Dynamic Minesweeper
Gas Dynamic minesweeper was a Soviet tank which was designed to detect and sweep mines laid on roads.