Object 279

When Object 279 (Russian Объект 279) it was a Soviet prototype of a heavy tank, which was designed by a Russian development team headed by L. Trojanov in 1957.

Description

The tank has been specially designed to survive nuclear explosions nearby. Attempts by the Red Army had shown that tanks that in close proximity ( less than 1000 m ) are located on explosion datum are indeed overturned by the pressure wave, on the whole, but remain operational. The exterior of the object 279 has therefore been designed so that the shock wave, a very low resistance is opposed. Furthermore, the gravity of the vehicle was very low, so that the stability was further increased. To protect the crew radiation protection material was processed in the tub and in the tower. The four strands of chain also provided additional stability and positively impacted the ground pressure. The ground pressure of 60 ton vehicle amounted to less than 0.6 kg / cm ². On trial runs, it was possible the vehicle to drive on soft soils, which were regarded as not passable by tanks. It was planned to equip only reserve units of the High Command with this unusual armor. The object 279 was indeed successfully tested its development but was canceled in 1959 at the behest of Nikita Khrushchev, as these missiles Jagdpanzer as the IT -1 (Russian ИТ -1) preferred. The setting of the project was therefore politically motivated. The only example is in the Kubinka Tank Museum.

The armament was unusually high for the time of development; a stabilized 130 mm gun it was provided.

For the engine, two engine types were available: the 16- cylinder four-stroke diesel engine DG- 1000, which generated an output of 950 hp or engine 2DG -8M with a power of 1000 hp. These engines were able to tank at 55 km / h and to accelerate enabled a combat radius of 300 kilometers.