|
The T-42 (also known as the TG-V) was a Soviet super-heavy tank project of the interwar period. It was developed in 1932 by the design bureau, OKB-5, at the Bolshevik Plant no. 232 under the direction of a German engineer-designer Edward Grotte. Development did not advance past the stage of construction drawings and scale models. The design was passed over in favour of the T-35 project which was already at the prototype stage. ==History== From the late 1920s to early 1930s, the military-political situation in the Soviet Union demanded emergency measures for the modernization of the army. The implementation of the 1929 program by the Council of People's Commissars (''Sovnarkom'') was designed to equip the armed forces with improved tanks. Most Red Army armor at the time consisted of relatively modern light infantry support tanks like the T-18 (MS-1), and the role of medium and heavy tanks was fulfilled mainly by British tanks that were captured in the Russian Civil War. Work began to create indigenous medium and heavy tanks, but it quickly became apparent that the USSR lacked the necessary scientific base and experience for tank design. After several unsuccessful attempts to develop an all-domestic tank design (such as the T-30), it was decided that the Army would attract professionals from abroad, primarily from Germany. In March 1930 a group of experts from Germany - headed by engineer Edward Grotte - arrived by invitation in the USSR. The group was commissioned to draft future tanks to arm the Red Army.〔〔〔 Grotte's first job was "a powerful medium tank", designated "TG", which had an overall level of engineering ahead of its time. The tank made a very favorable impression on the leadership of the Red Army, but the high complexity of its design caused it to remain a purely experimental development.〔 However, this did not discourage Grotte, and the OKB started designing a heavy tank. Being a talented engineer, Grotte had impressive experience in designing tanks and at the beginning of the 1930s the Soviet Union was one of the few countries that was able to finance the design and construction of these machines. By March 1932 the German engineer presented the military draft of a heavy breakthrough tank weighing 75 tons, conventionally called the TG-VI.〔〔 This development did not receive special support from UMM RKKA, resulting in Grotte reworking it into a new project tank called the T-42 (or TG-V). It was even more impressive than its predecessor and weighed 100 tonnes. In the summer of 1932 the new project was considered by the military and, like its predecessor, met with little success.〔〔 By this time the UMM RKKA already had a choice of the T-35 as a heavy tank, which Grotte's machine was inferior to. The engine the T-42 needed did not actually exist, and the problem of powering the massive vehicle was not solved. The speed and maneuverability of the tank were questioned and high price noted. As a result, the UMM RKKA Commission decided that the T-42 was not fully consistent with the presented design goals and decided to end work on the project, focusing instead on the T-35.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「T-42 super-heavy tank」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|