Found And Explained | What ever happened to flying tanks? @FoundAndExplained | Uploaded November 2021 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
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Antonov A-40 Flying Tank
Is it a plane? Is it a tank? Is it a glider? Well, let’s just say its a combination of all three. The World War 2-era Antonov A-40 was a mind-boggling combination of machinery that was part plane, part tank and even part glider too.
The Nazis may have been leaders in slightly demented military machinery during the Second World War, but this Soviet plane slash tank was right up there with some of the most optimistic and a little crazy Nazi German inventions.
But if you could apply one rule to Soviet or German crazy WW2 projects, that would be “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.
I’ve covered quite a few weird and wacko flying machines on this channel, but few are quite as weird and wacko as the one I’m going to talk to you about in this video. This one takes quite a bit of beating in the bizarro stakes, trust me!
The concept of the Antonov A-40, which was also sometimes referred to as the A-40T or KT, was actually quite simple: devise an aircraft that doubled as an armoured vehicle too, so that it could swoop into a battle zone as quickly as possible like any fighter plane. Then, once landed, the aircraft could detach its wings and transform into a battle-ready tank. The plan was for the craft to also be used to take out low-altitude bombers, as well as fly low over enemy lines to flank from the back.
However, the chief purpose of the A-40, which the Russians dubbed Krylya Tanka or “tank wings,” was the ability to fly tanks into needed battlefields as quickly and efficiently as possible. Mobility and flexibility were key to the A-40 design concept.
The assumption was that the flying tank could detach from its towing aircraft some 20 to 26 kilometres or 12.4 to 16 miles from the target. Importantly, it would do so silently before it landed and immediately engaged in battle.
The thing that set this quasi-aircraft apart is that it didn’t appear to have any engines. Well, that’s because it had no engines. Enter the glider part!
the aircraft was specifically designed to operate as an engine-less glider and thus fly stealthily and at low altitude into a combat zone. Think of the T-60 tank as the ‘fuselage’ of the unit, whilst the tank’s unlocked tracks would be the craft’s de facto ‘landing gear’.
So, yeah, this was technically an aircraft that actually flew like a glider and just happened to transform itself into a tank once on the ground.
The bulk of the craft would be one of the lightest Soviet tanks available, the T-60. This particular light tank was considered an excellent choice by the Soviets given that it was easy to mass produce and could be assembled in automotive factories using a wide range of automotive production assemblies and parts. It was compact in its dimensions and had what was considered a manageable weight. Also, the tank only required two crew members to commandeer it.
The T-60 tank would have fabricated biplane wings attached to it, as well as a twin tail for much-needed stabilization. The biplane wings were made of ultra-light plywood and fabric, with a wingspan estimated to be just over 18 metres or 59 feet and an overall area of 85.8 square metres or 923.5 square feet. Each biplane wing would be unstaggered and feature a pair of tail booms with twin vertical surfaces and a high-mounted single horizontal surface. Aerodynamic controls for the craft comprised a single lever that operated all flying surfaces from the driver's position.
The A-40 would immediately drop the cradle to which the wings were attached once the tank was deployed onto the battlefield. It’s presumed that the cradle and wings would be left where they were discarded.
Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was the designer who concocted this particular design. And, far from being some crazy aviation designer plucked out of the depths of the Soviet gulag prison system, this was indeed the celebrated Antonov who was the father of the Soviet Union’s aviation industry. It is the same Antonov after which so many famous Soviet-era aircraft, both military and commercial, were named.
The tanks would not break apart on impact as long as their gears were in neutral. The drawback was that tank crews had to be dropped separately from the tanks, which delayed the deployment of these tanks once they were on the ground. Also, the tanks being deployed were simply too small to be very effective in combat. Nor was it worth risking a bomber just to put one of them into battle.
The logic was that light armoured tanks literally ‘falling’ like hail from the skies would be an unexpected and nasty surprise for any enemy.
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Antonov A-40 Flying Tank
Is it a plane? Is it a tank? Is it a glider? Well, let’s just say its a combination of all three. The World War 2-era Antonov A-40 was a mind-boggling combination of machinery that was part plane, part tank and even part glider too.
The Nazis may have been leaders in slightly demented military machinery during the Second World War, but this Soviet plane slash tank was right up there with some of the most optimistic and a little crazy Nazi German inventions.
But if you could apply one rule to Soviet or German crazy WW2 projects, that would be “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.
I’ve covered quite a few weird and wacko flying machines on this channel, but few are quite as weird and wacko as the one I’m going to talk to you about in this video. This one takes quite a bit of beating in the bizarro stakes, trust me!
The concept of the Antonov A-40, which was also sometimes referred to as the A-40T or KT, was actually quite simple: devise an aircraft that doubled as an armoured vehicle too, so that it could swoop into a battle zone as quickly as possible like any fighter plane. Then, once landed, the aircraft could detach its wings and transform into a battle-ready tank. The plan was for the craft to also be used to take out low-altitude bombers, as well as fly low over enemy lines to flank from the back.
However, the chief purpose of the A-40, which the Russians dubbed Krylya Tanka or “tank wings,” was the ability to fly tanks into needed battlefields as quickly and efficiently as possible. Mobility and flexibility were key to the A-40 design concept.
The assumption was that the flying tank could detach from its towing aircraft some 20 to 26 kilometres or 12.4 to 16 miles from the target. Importantly, it would do so silently before it landed and immediately engaged in battle.
The thing that set this quasi-aircraft apart is that it didn’t appear to have any engines. Well, that’s because it had no engines. Enter the glider part!
the aircraft was specifically designed to operate as an engine-less glider and thus fly stealthily and at low altitude into a combat zone. Think of the T-60 tank as the ‘fuselage’ of the unit, whilst the tank’s unlocked tracks would be the craft’s de facto ‘landing gear’.
So, yeah, this was technically an aircraft that actually flew like a glider and just happened to transform itself into a tank once on the ground.
The bulk of the craft would be one of the lightest Soviet tanks available, the T-60. This particular light tank was considered an excellent choice by the Soviets given that it was easy to mass produce and could be assembled in automotive factories using a wide range of automotive production assemblies and parts. It was compact in its dimensions and had what was considered a manageable weight. Also, the tank only required two crew members to commandeer it.
The T-60 tank would have fabricated biplane wings attached to it, as well as a twin tail for much-needed stabilization. The biplane wings were made of ultra-light plywood and fabric, with a wingspan estimated to be just over 18 metres or 59 feet and an overall area of 85.8 square metres or 923.5 square feet. Each biplane wing would be unstaggered and feature a pair of tail booms with twin vertical surfaces and a high-mounted single horizontal surface. Aerodynamic controls for the craft comprised a single lever that operated all flying surfaces from the driver's position.
The A-40 would immediately drop the cradle to which the wings were attached once the tank was deployed onto the battlefield. It’s presumed that the cradle and wings would be left where they were discarded.
Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was the designer who concocted this particular design. And, far from being some crazy aviation designer plucked out of the depths of the Soviet gulag prison system, this was indeed the celebrated Antonov who was the father of the Soviet Union’s aviation industry. It is the same Antonov after which so many famous Soviet-era aircraft, both military and commercial, were named.
The tanks would not break apart on impact as long as their gears were in neutral. The drawback was that tank crews had to be dropped separately from the tanks, which delayed the deployment of these tanks once they were on the ground. Also, the tanks being deployed were simply too small to be very effective in combat. Nor was it worth risking a bomber just to put one of them into battle.
The logic was that light armoured tanks literally ‘falling’ like hail from the skies would be an unexpected and nasty surprise for any enemy.
