Design Overview & Tactical Role
Object 279 is one of the most astonishing armored vehicles ever engineered: a heavy tank specifically designed to operate across a post-nuclear blast battlefield. To survive nuclear shockwaves without flipping over, its hull was formed into a flying-saucer-like aerodynamic cast ellipse. To traverse ground cratered or swampy from nuclear detonations, it featured four independent track assemblies mounted on hollow buoyancy beams.
Combat History & Battle Records
Developed at LKZ in Leningrad under L.S. Troyanov in 1959, the prototype demonstrated phenomenal cross-country mobility. However, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev canceled all heavy tanks in favor of guided missile platforms, leaving this singular beast preserved at the Kubinka Tank Museum.
Related Armored Vehicles (Cold War)
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1948
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1961
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1964
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1973