Unusual Tanks |
Gallery opened 14 Apr 2020 | ![]() ![]() |
THE TSAR TANK: 1915
![]() | Left: The Tsar tank: 1915
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![]() | Left: The Tsar tank: 1915
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THE BOIRAULT BRIDGE TANK: 1914
![]() | Left: The Boirault Bridge tank Version-1: 1914
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![]() | Left: The Boirault Bridge tank Version-1: 1914
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![]() | Left: The Boirault Bridge tank Version-1: 1914
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![]() | Left: The Boirault Bridge tank Version-2: 1916
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![]() | Left: The Boirault Bridge tank Version-2: 1916
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THE TREFFASWAGEN: 1917
![]() | Left: The German Treffaswagen tank: 1917
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![]() | Left: The German Treffaswagen tank: 1917
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THE SKELETON TANK: 1918
![]() | Left: The USA Skeleton Tank: 1918
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![]() | Left: The USA Skeleton Tank: 1918
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![]() | Left: The USA Skeleton Tank: 1918
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THE ANSALDO MIAS/MORAS TANKETTE: 1935
![]() | Left: The Ansaldo MIAS/MORAS 35: 1935
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THE RUSSIAN JUMPING TANK: 1937
A tank that can jump across rivers and other obstacles sounds like a ridiculous proposition. But the Soviet Russians tried it.
![]() | Left: The TPP-2 jumping tank: 1937
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January |
As you might imagine, testing did not go entirely smoothly. While the tank could certainly be made to jump, it did not jump far and sustained considerable damage to its engine and transmission when it landed. The driver's seat was fitted with hydraulic shock-absorbers.
If you think the concept of tank-jumping died there and then, you would be wrong. It is done on a competitive basis at the Russian Army Games. The second video shows some tanks jumping, eg at 0:22 in.
THE SCHOFIELD TANK: 1940
The Schofield tank was developed in New Zealand when the Pacific war was getting closer and there seemed little prospect of getting fighting vehicles from Britain. It had both four wheels and tracks.
![]() | Left: The New Zealand Schofield tank in wheel mode: 1940
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![]() | Left: The New Zealand Schofield tank in track mode: 1940
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THE KUGELPANZER BALL TANK: WW2
![]() | Left: The German kugelpanzer tank: WW2
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![]() | Left: The German kugelpanzer tank: WW2
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THE GERMAN WARGEL LW 3 TANK: 1942
![]() | Left: The German Wargel LW 3 tank: 1942
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THE SWEDISH S-TANK: 1961
The opposite philosophy to that of the Tsar Tank was adopted by the Swedish Stridsvagn 103, better known as the S-Tank. This had some radical design features to give it a very low profile for a tank.
![]() | Left: the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 fixed-gun tank
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There is a good Wikipedia page on the Stridsvagn 103.
There is a great deal of information at tanks-encyclopedia.com.
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