The heaviest tank in the world is not built in Russia. And all right ...

Visitors to the Moscow Kremlin can admire a real masterpiece of ancient Russian weapons art - the Tsar Cannon. It is huge, and one of its kind could terrify the adversaries, but could not find military application.

If the world's heaviest tank was preserved today, then its fate would be the same. You could look at him, walk around, marvel at monstrous dimensions, admire the destructive power of his guns. And then make a conclusion about the complete unfitness of this monster to perform the main task of any weapon. You can not fight on such a scale.

Tanks are different, for each of their class clearly defined tasks. This they are like ships: where a destroyer is needed, the battleship does not fit.

The division of tanks into classes by weight again resembles the ranks of ships according to their displacement. It is very conditional, besides it differs in different countries. In general terms, the picture is as follows: small (up to 5 tons) armed only with machine guns and intended for reconnaissance and raids on enemy lines. Light (5-15 tons) had small caliber guns, were built as an analog of cavalry, carrying out rapid attacks and bypass maneuvers. The mass of medium tanks reaches 40 tons, their task is to break through the fortified defense. All that is bigger and stronger is heavy.

Already in 1917 the Germans began to build a mobile fortress K-Wagen. It was the heaviest tank in the world, it weighed 150 tons. The German command irritated the positional character of the war on the Western front, something was needed that could crush the French defense lines. In fact, the "K-wagon" was an artillery battery of four guns, creeping across the field at the speed of a pedestrian. The model of armament did not crown itself with laurels of glory and had no influence on the outcome of the war.

The lesson of the defeated did not go on for the benefit of the winners. A similar monster before the war began to build the French, their car FCM-F1 weighed 145 tons. He had a little left before the title of "the most difficult tank in the world." FCM-F1 never managed to apply, he shared his uselessness with the Maginot line.

All the other armored heavyweights suffered similar structural defects, negating the advantages and thick armor, and powerful weapons. They were inactive, had a small power reserve, bridges and railway platforms could not stand them.

In the conditions of a permanent deficit of metal, overstrain of production capacities and a catastrophic situation on all fronts, the Germans built a giant 140-ton steel mouse Maus E-100, as the Führer ordered. They started in 1944, but they did not finish it - the war was over. The previously created monster Maus-VIII weighed 188 tons. It was the next heaviest tank in the world, realized in metal, and at the same time a vivid example of the absurdity of totalitarian thinking. The Germans built two copies, and both are useless.

Before the Soviet tank builders did not set the task of increasing the mass of the machine. On the contrary, it needed to be minimized, providing powerful protection and equipping the tank with an instrument capable of crushing any target. The USSR's heaviest tank, Joseph Stalin-7 weighed only 68 tons, armed with a C-70 gun of 130 mm caliber and had inclined armor up to 350 mm thick. At the same time, the IS-7 could move at a speed of 60 km / h, had a low profile, improving stealth. However, the state commission rejected this masterpiece. For a modern war, it was too heavy. In the early 60's, Soviet designers first realized the promise of medium-weight armored vehicles.

American "Abrams" is the heaviest modern tank. Its weight exceeds 62 tons, and it proved to be good in wars in the Middle East, where there is no need to force water barriers or bridge bridges. Perspective Russian models of armored vehicles are much easier, up to 47 tons. Our designers give preference to patency and maneuverability. However, they do not forget about firepower either.