Antonov An-40 (Glider Tank)

History of Antonov An-40 (Gliding Tank)

In 1942, after Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet homeland in June 1941, the defenders had no concept (except retreat). Fighting the enemy became the battle cry from 1942 to 1943, and one of the Red Army's more unorthodox plans was the use of "glide tanks" that could be thrown into battle directly from passing motherships.

This became the short-lived Antonov A-40, but ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Oleg Antonov designed the concept to attach biplane wings, tail booms and tail fins to a light chain battle tank. The Soviets experimented with several of these airborne ideas in the 1930s and early 1940s including more traditional glider drops and parachute drops of tanks and tanks examples of which were dropped by Soviet bombers converted to mothership platforms.

The Glide Tank was developed as a solution in which the tank can be brought to or very close to the front line while the crew is already in the vehicle and ready to fight. The rationale was that many of these raiders could help overwhelm unsuspecting enemy positions and give the Soviets an edge in their quest for victory.

The selected vehicle became the T-60 light tank (detailed elsewhere on this page). Tracked combat systems of this type have been around since 1941 and were relatively numerous (total production eventually reached nearly 6,300 units before the war ended in 1945).

Its compact dimensions (4m x 2.3m x 1.75m) and manageable 5,800kg weight make it ideal for desperate Soviet troops. Also, the small vehicle's occupant promises to be just two people.

Moderate armament, with a 20mm cannon as the main weapon, while a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun provided the necessary infantry protection.

Around this starting point, an upper and lower biplane wing configuration was developed using N struts and proper bracing routing. The bracket allows the T-60 tank to be embedded in the frame. Emerging from the trailing edge of the lower wing element are two tail booms, each supporting a vertical fin for the desired stability/control.

A common spoiler connects the two spoilers to each other. Since the tank is the "fuselage" of the aircraft, no real landing gear should be installed - instead the tank's landing gear is used as the ground contact point for the system.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 4,420 lbs and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 17,205 lbs. Its total length reaches 39.6 feet. The wingspan is 59 feet.

Most of the work on the T-60 glider tank was done in 1942 - at this time the system was designated Antonov A-40, but eventually also known as "A-40T" and "A-40T" KT "In the sources. A four-engine Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber will serve the project during its active testing phase. However, during its maiden flight on September 2, 1942, the mothership was The weight and the resulting drag forced the tank to drop its payload (although the tank lacked some necessary combat components, such as a full load of ammunition and fuel).

Under the driver's control, the tank slid to the surface and survived the dangerous fall .This ended the An-40 project in favor of more conventional weapons systems - tools that were sufficient to defeat the Third Reich by mid-1945.

Thus, the An-40 was both successful and unsuccessful in its brief aerial flight. The Soviet Air Force lacked more powerful heavy bomber components to carry out the program, and the Glide Tank concept emerged with each month of the war. Although this initiative failed, the Red Army continued field work after World War II, culminating in a series of successful air-dropped light tanks with amphibious start-up capabilities.

The existence of these systems in the ranks of Soviet Russia is due to developments such as the An-40.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

750 to 780 x 20mm projectiles.

945x7.62mm ammo.

Changes