Russia’s Object 279 doomsday tank was built to be ready for a nuclear conflict, currently, the only prototype has returned from the museum.
Russian media has recently made headlines when it comes to the “doomsday tank” – Object 279 with high frequency.
Western military officials said that the special tank has just been removed from the museum by Russia and restored to operation.
Its role as a tough message is implicitly sent by Moscow to the West, that they are ready for all possible scenarios and that the opponent should not cross the “red line”.
Object 279 is the most mysterious and strange heavy tank. Its chassis is “unique” in that it integrates air suspension and 4 moving chains instead of 2 as standard.
This design solution allows the vehicle to move in conditions of low ground adhesion by creating a relatively small pressure on the surface, especially suitable for snowy terrain such as in Russia.
Object 279 is piloted by a crew of four. The thickness of the front armor is 269 mm, it is heavily armed with a 130 mm M-65 cannon and a coaxial 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun. The top speed on the road reaches 55 km/h.
However, the tank’s non-standard design coupled with the difficulty of its construction did not allow Object 279 to develop further. The Soviet Ministry of Defense considered it too difficult to use and repair.
Furthermore, the presence of four tracks at once limited the dynamic characteristics of the tank, which required lengthy fine-tuning, despite the benefits of maneuvering on slippery terrain.
Even so, Object 279 is to date considered one of the boldest attempts to break away from the classical vision of the traditional main battle tank (MBT) concept.
This is the clearest example of the extraordinary technical solutions of designers from the Soviet era and leaves present-day Russia with an extremely valuable legacy weapon.
According to American analysts from 19FortyFive magazine, just one look at this tank is enough to feel “chills”, so it will be interesting to see the aforementioned tank in action again.
But of course, they just want to see the Object 279 “doomsday tank” in action within the framework of military exhibitions, not everyone wants to see it operate as the original design requirements.
Currently, in addition to restoring mobility for this particular vehicle, the Russian press has not yet said whether the vehicle has been able to fire the cannon it carries.
