A “hopping” tank and capable of shoot 360°: no, it is not a strange vehicle from some science fiction film, but a patent actually deposited in 1942. Crazy as it was, this idea had as its main objective to solve some common problems among tanks, although, as we will see, it ended up creating new and much more serious ones.
The hopping tank idea
Before seeing the technical characteristics of this vehicle, I think it is interesting to understand where did this idea come from?. In fact, at the time the tanks had various problems, such as:
- there protection of the mediumwhich was mainly frontal;
- change direction it required time, given that the vehicles were designed to advance mainly in a straight line, and during curves it could have exposed the less armored sides to the enemy;
- there turret it could only be turned in the direction of a target, remaining uncovered from behind while firing.
With these flaws in mind, it was thought that a possible solution to these problems could be a symmetrically shaped tank, capable of providing the same all-round protection and firepower.
The hopping tank project
Thus was born an apparently crazy idea: that of a tank round shapecapable of offering the same all-round offensive and defensive capabilities. Obviously such a vehicle would be complicated to move on tracks or wheels, and therefore the idea was born of inserting a sort of telescopic leg capable of “launching” the cabin into the air and making it land safely further along the route. This technique, among other things, would have allowed the ground tank to have no vulnerable areas and to turn into a real metal bunker. The main structure consisted of a shaped cabin “donut”, so as to accommodate the movements of the piston.
Overall they were present 6 firearms separated by 60° from each othereach of which has a range of motion equal to 45°: this would have made it possible to minimize the blind spots between one weapon and the next. Obviously the heart of the wagon was his”foot”, necessary to make the leaps: it was a retractable piston with an octagonal base which, unlike what we might think, was not operated by a hydraulic system but by gas explosions inside a special chamber. In practice, this is the same principle that drives the pistons in a car engine, but bigger. To operate it the fuel it would be injected into the top of the cylinder via extendable cables and, with a single detonation, the expansion of the gas would allow the vehicle to leap upwards, moving and away from potential dangers.
As final technical information, the number of members on board is mentioned, which is equal to 8:
- 6 soldiersone for each weapon;
- a pilot;
- a commander.
Criticisms of the project
There is a reason if this tank was never built… or rather, more than one.
Starting from jumping mechanismwithin the patent no mention is ever made of the possible impact on the health and comfort of the occupants: although a shock absorber system could have been contemplated, it is probable that the interior of the wagon would not have been “eventful”, but also taking aim would be almost was impossible.
Another critical aspect is linked to the fact that all the mass of the wagon would be concentrated in one single pointthe octagonal foot. As a result, it is probable that in most terrains the chariot would have sunk, unable to perform subsequent jumps. At best the cart would have simply gotten stuck, at worst the foot might have been stuck breakcausing the cab overturning. The same goes for landing in areas with even a minimal slope which could easily cause the vehicle overturning. According to the author of the patent this problem would later be solved by using two gyroscopic stabilizers, but no technical details were provided in this regard.
In short, these – added to other critical issues – meant that this vehicle was never created and that it remained just a curious idea deposited in a patent office.
Little curiosity: the man behind this absurd patent is called Henry Wallace. We don’t have much information about his life, other than his two patents: one is that of the jumping tank, the other is that of a flexible snake-shaped pen to roll on the wrist.
