Object 279: The Nuclear-Proof Tank With Four Tracks
In 1959, Soviet engineers at the Kirov Plant produced what might be the most alien-looking tank ever built. Object 279 featured an elliptical, flying-saucer-shaped hull designed to deflect nuclear blast waves, four sets of tracks for maximum ground pressure distribution, and a 130mm rifled gun that could destroy any NATO tank at extreme range. Its flattened profile and curved armor were specifically engineered to survive on a nuclear battlefield.
The design was genuinely brilliant in several respects. The four-track configuration allowed Object 279 to cross swampy terrain that would trap conventional tanks. The thin, wide hull created excellent shot deflection angles. It weighed 60 tons but distributed that mass so effectively it could traverse soft ground with ease. Only one prototype was built before Nikita Khrushchev cancelled all Soviet heavy tank projects in 1960, declaring that missiles had made heavy tanks obsolete. The sole surviving Object 279 sits in Kubinka, looking exactly like what it was: a vehicle designed to fight World War III.
