The Russians Dream of Flying Tank (Antonov A-40)

The Russians Dream of Flying Tank (Antonov A-40):
It's the middle of WW2, and the Russians are trying to develop a way to get tanks into combat faster. Well, meet the Antonov A-40.

Known in Russia literally as ‘The Winged Tank’, the Antonov A-40 was the brainchild of Oleg Antonov, a soviet aircraft designer known at the time for his A-7 military glider and later works such as the SKH[-1], and a series of aircraft named after him like the An-12 quad turboprop, An-28 reconnaissance plane, and the An-124 strategic transporter.

Before the A-40 came into existence, the Russians had experimented with strapping lighter T-27 and T-37 tanks to the underside of bombers to be flown into combat as early as 1935., but these earlier designs were scrapped because the tanks were simply too small with too little armor to be of any use against the Panzer II’s and III’s being deployed by the Germans.

Antononv, sketched a design for a set of glider wings that could be outfitted on a much larger tank, enabling it to glide while literally being towed in the air behind another aircraft. The flying tank, in theory, would take off behind the wings of a heavy bomber from a normal runway before gliding to the battlezone.

The sketch remained just an idea for another 2 years, but after the Germans began their invasion of Russia, Antonov was commissioned to bring his design to life. Unsurprisingly, the results weren’t all that great. Antonov attached a pair of custom-built wings to a modified T-60 tank that would be ejected after landing on the battlefield. Cables running from the wings to the tank's turret would allow the plane to roughly control its movements. But due to how little lift the wings could produce, the plane was scrapped.

Watch the video to learn more!

All the Links:

(FYI: This specific link will take you to the mic I use to record my videos, but after you click the link you can buy ANYTHING on Amazon and this will help support the channel)

[EverythingScience]

Over the last few weeks we've been a bit worse about posting, but that's because we're working on some really great videos for the rest of the month that are taking a little longer to make than usual (plus everything gets hectic at the end of the year)!

[jadenexisted]

My dreams: flying through sky on a unicorn
Russian's dreams: Flying through the sky on a flying tank

[jadenexisted]

Keep up the great work dude, I'm here before you blow up!

[Mr-.Facts.]

Your work is amazing man, really cool video

[coolkid]

That's pretty gnarly brah. Music's dope as well