From DIY tanks made from recycled cars to hanging from fighter jets, here are 12 of
the craziest tanks ever made!
12.
Screw Drive Tank (Zil-4904)Ok, let's start with a design that
probably had good intentions, but failed to live up to the expectations.
The first vehicle propelled by a screw was developed for agriculture in the US and during
WWII, the British thought about developing a tank that used a screw instead of treads
to battle it out in snowy countries.
However, the Americans rejected that idea.
The Germans then thought it would be great to have a screw-propelled tank because of
the problems they were having with the deep snow in Russia.
On paper, it sounds like a great idea, especially in a place like Russia where snow and ice
can make even the most battle-tested tank hesitant to cross certain terrain.
But theirs never went into production.
So who took tanks to the next level?
The Soviets.
Not only was their tank propelled by screws but it was also amphibious.
The ZIL-2906 was used to move through Siberia.
Then in the 70's they made the ZIL-4904.
This model was the largest screw driven vehicle of all time.
However, though they technically worked, they weren't anywhere near as efficient as they
felt they could be.
A particular problem they had was that they wouldn't stay balanced on the ground, and
would often tip over with one side of them hovering in the air.
After awhile, the project was scrapped.
11.
The Sham II This might be a weird name for a tank, but
trust me, the name itself doesn't even give it justice.
By definition, this is actually a homemade tank, and it's being used by the Syrian Rebels.
It may not be the most impressive looking tank ever made (in fact, it'd probably be
pretty low on that list), but you can't deny they made good use of what they had: an old
diesel car and parts salvaged from a junkyard.
Given the resources available they created a DIY tank complete with 5 different video
cameras that project inside to a flat screen TV!
Perhaps the most important feature, they have a 7.62 mm machine gun...controlled by a PlayStation
games console Controller.
I'm not even joking.
Naturally, as they are in a battle zone, they did pretty decently with the armor.
It can resist a limited amount of gunfire.
Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.
10.
Armored Quadricycle Take a look at this vehicle.
You might be saying to yourself, "That's not a tank!"
But it depends on what you consider a tank!
After all, this quadricycle has the body framework of a tank, has a Maxim machine gun, and some
armor shielding.
Doesn't that sound like a tank?
Ironically enough, the Armored Quadricycle, also known as the Motor Scout, was built years
before tanks actually saw action-about 10 years prior.
In 1899, British inventor FR Simms, made this motor scout, and it's actually considered
to be one of the first armored vehicles or tanks ever built.
This thing was actually powered by a 1.5 horsepower engine- Which at the time was pretty significant-
and could also be pedalled.
However, despite the uniqueness of the vehicle, it was never widely produced, probably for
everyone's safety.
Still, it holds a special place in history!
And now for number 9 but first, if you are new here, be sure to subscribe and click on
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9.
Bigfoot Tank Here is another vehicle that will challenge
your idea of a tank!
It definitely is one, just not in the ways you'd expect.
In the early days of monster truck races, everyone was looking to one up the competition
and make something truly unique and special.
So, a man named Bob Chandler decided to take the frame of a Ford Aerostar and strap it
onto the treads of a Patton tank.
And so, the Bigfoot Tank was born.
This thing is a monster in its own right, and actually requires two engines to power
it forward, not to mention the automatic transmission.
It doesn't have the suspension like similar trucks do since it's on tank treads.
Sadly, the Bigfoot Tank was only used a few times, and now it's used as a set piece for
certain events, but the idea never died.
Other models were eventually made using this concept.
Just goes to show that sometimes having fun can lead to interesting innovations, and don't
tell me you wouldn't want to drive this thing!
I know you want to!!
8.
Treadless Tanks As I mentioned before, tanks are mostly known
for their treads as their way of moving around.
However, many people were up to the challenge of changing that perception and figuring out
new ways for tanks to run around.
Just not with a screw...
Including race car driver J. Walter Christie, who was much more than a driver, he was actually
a tank builder.
That's right, this guy built tanks, and he loved thinking outside of the box, including
making tanks that didn't have treads, and focused its power in its wheels.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised by this, after all, he was a race car driver and liked
to go fast.
His designs for tanks usually focused on lightweight capabilities so that they could move more
quickly, supposedly 104 miles per hour!
(Although that's very questionable).
The designs were then sold to Russia and Poland believe it or not, and they made a lot of
tanks following these designs.
Faster, yes.
Do they look strange and unfinished?
Also yes….
7.
1K17 Szhatie Also known as a laser tank, while this might
look strange, this is also arguably one of the most useful tanks on this list.
The Soviet Union built this tank with the purpose of firing lasers to disable the equipment
of enemy missiles.
And believe it or not, it worked!!
The Pentagon managed to get information on them and nicknamed it the Stiletto.
It's not quite like a Star Wars ship, since these lasers can't blast aircraft out of the
sky, however, they can render them quite useless.
The lasers that are on this tank focus in on an enemy aircraft, missile, or anything
else that had a targeting system, and then it would fry it.
And given that many aircraft, drones, vehicles, and more rely on automatic targeting, target
lock-on, and more, that would give this tank the upper hand!
If we can't reliably fire a missile to where we need it to go, then that would cause a
lot of collateral damage.
Even though Soviet Union collapsed, the Russian Armed Forces decided to continue their work
on laser weaponry, so...keep an eye out!!
6.
Object 279 Have you noticed that a lot of these tanks
are from Russia?
And trust me, there are more to come.
Russia is known to have one of the best tank divisions in the world, and that's honestly
because they like to make tanks for every occasion.
Plus, like I mentioned they do well in the snow!!
Take, for example, Object 279, a literal one-of-a-kind tank.
Really, they only built one of these things.
Your eyes aren't deceiving you either, this tank had 4 tread lines, and that body shape
is something funky.
But what might surprise you the most is that this vehicle is actually designed to withstand
a nuclear explosion!!
It might just be the safest place on Earth!!
See?
A tank for every occasion.
The armor is so thick that it can withstand not just nuclear power, but radiation, chemical
attacks, and most other projectiles.
I would be surprised if they don't make more of these, given the constant threat of
nuclear war, especially in the past.
Who knows?
Maybe they have made more, what do I know?
5.
The Churchill Crocodile This terrifying tank made many German soldiers
immediately surrender!
While most tanks fire explosive shells that are meant to bombard the enemy, the legendary
Churchill Crocodile did something totally different.
This tank had a flamethrower!
Pretty scary stuff!!
I mean, picture it, a tank is coming closer to you, you're waiting for it to fire its
shell, but it never comes.
Suddenly, the fire blasts out!
It also retained the main gun and turret machine gun.
These tanks were actually designed for the Normandy invasion, and they worked well, including
helping get the enemy to surrender.
Just like Greek fire in ancient time!!
The tank was efficient, but it did have one key flaw.
Because it was a flamethrower, it had to have fuel to charge it back up (so to speak).
And so, it actually had to drag a trailer full of fuel and compressed Nitrogen with
it.
Pretty dangerous, AND it could explode while still connected.
Still, it served British forces well.
4.
Praying Mantis This tank was supposed to make everything
look easy, but instead it kind of did the opposite.
For most tanks, if you put enough of a barrier in front of them, they couldn't shoot through
it, or over it.
And so the experimental praying mantis was born.
It was created to take advantage of natural cover and sneak up on its enemies, and then
raise itself up and launch things over walls.
(Somehow looking like a praying mantis).
It's kind of hard to sneak up on anyone with a tank, and the crew had to ride laying
down in it.
It was extremely difficult to operate and the whole thing moved so much that the crew
would get motion sickness.
This project was considered a joke and eventually scrapped.
But hey, "A" for effort.
3.
Tortuga Tank Tanks can be intimidating.
They're large and loud and can rumble across all kinds of land in the most extreme conditions.
They are practically impenetrable and come firing and exploding things.
But...if you don't design a tank properly...you won't get that intimidating effect.
Venezuela found that out in 1934 when they tried to scare off their neighbor Colombia,
who was threatening to invade them, by making the Tortuga Tank.
I don't know about you, but this tank doesn't really send a scary message...During a parade
they revealed the Tortuga to the public as part of their military prowess.
Weapons wise, they only have a machine gun, which is effective, but hardly as intimidating
as a cannon.
Second, the shape is kind of odd.
In theory they were trying to mimic the UK's police helmets.
Good idea but doesn't really pan out in real life.
Also, "Tortuga"?
It means turtle in Spanish, so they are kind of appropriately named but not the best idea
to name tanks after slow, docile creatures...
I don't think the message was received.
2.
Flying Tanks You have to hand it to the Soviets, they decided
that it would be a great idea to glide a tank onto a battlefield.
Many countries were trying to figure out how to do this because getting a tank to its desired
location can be very tough, and slow, especially if you have to cross a body of water.
The Antonov A-40 was intended to fix that problem, as they would literally add wings
to tanks to glide them to where they needed to be.
One big problem though, tanks are heavy, very heavy.
And many countries stopped their testing when they couldn't solve the weight problem.
Russia kept trying though, and they did figure out a solution.
The Antonov A-40 had a detachable cradle that would hold a T-60 light tank with wings and
a twin tail.
Problem was, that solution was getting rid of all the ammo, so you literally sent an
armored vehicle to the ground, while attached to a glider...with no weapons to defend yourself.
The crew had to be dropped separately so they were often delayed or prevented from reaching
the tank once on the battlefield.
They couldn't get aircraft powerful enough to solve these issues and so the project was
scrapped.
1.
Hungarian Big Wind What do you get when you cross a Russian Tank
with a Jet engine??
A badass tank!!
There is no need to limit your creativity when it comes to military vehicles!
Hungarians took a T-34 tank and removed its turret and mounted twin MiG jet engines to
the treads.
The T-34 was another Soviet tank that was fast with incredible fire power.
While Big Wind looks cool, it is actually not a combat vehicle.
It is firefighting vehicle that was put together to put out oil fires in Kuwait the Iraqi Army
left behind as they withdrew from the country.
The engineers connected high pressure water hoses above each jet engine and now the machine
can launch 8000 gallons of water per minute at 770 mph.
(That's faster than the speed of sound!)
Thanks for watching!
Which tank was your favorite?
Let us know in the comments below.
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