MelaraClubPrez
Member
I'm not 100 percent sure yet if these are the actual drawings, but during the 1930s Ansaldo designed a series of super heavy tanks for the Russians that were the inspiration for the Russian T-39. A Russian gaming company called Wargaming had the blueprints for several years but nobody really knew what they looked like. I believe these are those drawings from this coming attraction/preview dated Dec. 2019:
https://www.mmowg.net/world-of-tanks-project-42-upcoming-new-tanks-for-2020/
IIRC, those should be 107, 152 and 203mm guns with smaller turrets ranging from 45mm to 76mm.
The project apparently started at an estimated 65-70 tons and was projected to increase to 90 tons as the armament and turret size grew. Anyway, the super heavy designs, although outrageous, influenced soviet tank suspensions for years to come and have been kind of a missing link to Italian heavy tank development. I think this leaves only the odd GL-4 as the least known out of the bunch.
Sources:
FTR WOT:
" That something else can only be the Ansaldo heavy tank project, which later inspired the T-39. In 1932, a 70-ton tank was designed for the USSR with a Char 2C-like electric motor, 30 kph top speed, and an impressive 152 mm or 203 mm main gun. Secondary guns included 76 and 45 mm turrets. The tank was never built, but its blueprints went on to inspire Soviet tank design for many years later, so odds are they are somewhere. Perhaps WG researchers will dig it up and reveal the wonders of the early super-heavy tank designs. Meanwhile, all we can do is dream. "
A short mention in this Warspot article:
https://warspot.ru/16917-sotryasateli-zemli
"Grote’s services were either refused or returned to cooperation with him. The reason for this was the backlog of the USSR in the program for creating its own breakthrough tank. Not the most famous fact is that the breakthrough tanks were thought out by the Red Army command back in the 20s, and they were inspired there not by anything, but by the French FCM 2C . It was assumed that this would be a 65-ton combat vehicle with bulletproof armor and a gun of at least 76 mm caliber. Due to the lag in work on the breakthrough tank, negotiations began with the Italian company Ansaldo from the late 1920s. This cooperation continued in the early 30s - it was no coincidence that a trip to Italy became S.A. 's only overseas trip . Ginzburg, at that time the chief designer of OKMO plant "Bolshevik". By order of the Soviet side, the Italians developed a project for a 65-ton tank, which went into the development of OKMO - the T-39 heavy tank. By that time, the requirements were tightened: the combat weight grew to 90 tons, the armor became thicker, while the requirements for armaments also increased. At the same time, alternative options for a breakthrough tank were also being worked out. The 85-ton tank was developed under the leadership of K.K. Sirken at the Bolshevik factory. Finally, in 1933, the project of a 100-ton tank (T-42 index) was developed by Grote. However, this car was a mere trifle in comparison with what Grote worked out in 1932-1933."
https://www.mmowg.net/world-of-tanks-project-42-upcoming-new-tanks-for-2020/
IIRC, those should be 107, 152 and 203mm guns with smaller turrets ranging from 45mm to 76mm.
The project apparently started at an estimated 65-70 tons and was projected to increase to 90 tons as the armament and turret size grew. Anyway, the super heavy designs, although outrageous, influenced soviet tank suspensions for years to come and have been kind of a missing link to Italian heavy tank development. I think this leaves only the odd GL-4 as the least known out of the bunch.
Sources:
FTR WOT:
" That something else can only be the Ansaldo heavy tank project, which later inspired the T-39. In 1932, a 70-ton tank was designed for the USSR with a Char 2C-like electric motor, 30 kph top speed, and an impressive 152 mm or 203 mm main gun. Secondary guns included 76 and 45 mm turrets. The tank was never built, but its blueprints went on to inspire Soviet tank design for many years later, so odds are they are somewhere. Perhaps WG researchers will dig it up and reveal the wonders of the early super-heavy tank designs. Meanwhile, all we can do is dream. "
A short mention in this Warspot article:
https://warspot.ru/16917-sotryasateli-zemli
"Grote’s services were either refused or returned to cooperation with him. The reason for this was the backlog of the USSR in the program for creating its own breakthrough tank. Not the most famous fact is that the breakthrough tanks were thought out by the Red Army command back in the 20s, and they were inspired there not by anything, but by the French FCM 2C . It was assumed that this would be a 65-ton combat vehicle with bulletproof armor and a gun of at least 76 mm caliber. Due to the lag in work on the breakthrough tank, negotiations began with the Italian company Ansaldo from the late 1920s. This cooperation continued in the early 30s - it was no coincidence that a trip to Italy became S.A. 's only overseas trip . Ginzburg, at that time the chief designer of OKMO plant "Bolshevik". By order of the Soviet side, the Italians developed a project for a 65-ton tank, which went into the development of OKMO - the T-39 heavy tank. By that time, the requirements were tightened: the combat weight grew to 90 tons, the armor became thicker, while the requirements for armaments also increased. At the same time, alternative options for a breakthrough tank were also being worked out. The 85-ton tank was developed under the leadership of K.K. Sirken at the Bolshevik factory. Finally, in 1933, the project of a 100-ton tank (T-42 index) was developed by Grote. However, this car was a mere trifle in comparison with what Grote worked out in 1932-1933."
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