Antonov A-40

Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka

Company type	Experimental military vehicle
Industry	Military aviation and armored vehicles
Founded	1942
Headquarters	Soviet Union
Products	Flying tank glider prototype

For the Soviet amphibious jet, see Beriev A-40. For the Soviet ground-attack aircraft known as "The Flying Tank", see Ilyushin Il-2.

The Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka (Russian: крылья танка, translating to "tank wings") was a Soviet innovation aimed at enabling a tank to glide into combat zones after being air-towed, providing support to airborne troops or partisans. A single prototype was constructed and underwent trials in 1942, but the concept proved impractical. This vehicle is occasionally referred to as the A-40T or KT.

Design and development

File:T-27 tb-3.jpg

TB-3 bomber transporting a T-27 tankette, 1935

Rather than loading light tanks into dedicated gliders, as practiced by other countries, Soviet airborne forces had previously attached T-27 tankettes beneath heavy bombers for deployment onto airfields. In the 1930s, experiments included attempts to deliver tanks by parachute or simply dropping them into bodies of water. During the 1940 occupation of Bessarabia, it is believed that light tanks were dropped from low altitude by TB-3 bombers; if the transmission was left in neutral, these vehicles could roll to a halt after landing.

A major challenge with dropping vehicles separately from their crews is the potential delay or inability for personnel to operate them immediately. Utilizing gliders allows crews and vehicles to arrive simultaneously at landing zones. Additionally, this method reduces risk to valuable towing aircraft, which do not need to fly directly over combat areas. Consequently, the Soviet Air Force commissioned Oleg Antonov to develop a glider capable of delivering tanks.

Antonov took a more innovative approach by attaching a removable framework with large wooden and fabric-covered biplane wings and a twin tail assembly directly onto a T-60 light tank. This design allowed the tank to glide into battle, detach its flight apparatus upon landing, and be combat-ready within minutes.

In 1942, one T-60 was transformed into this glider configuration, intended for towing by either a Petlyakov Pe-8 or a Tupolev TB-3. The tank was modified for aerial deployment by removing its weapons, ammunition, headlights, and carrying only minimal fuel. Despite these alterations, during its sole flight on September 2, 1942, the TB-3 had to release the glider prematurely to avoid an accident caused by the T-60's significant aerodynamic drag—though reports indicate that the tank itself glided smoothly. The test pilot was renowned Soviet experimental glider aviator Sergei Anokhin. After landing in a field near the airbase, the tank's wings and tail were detached, allowing it to be driven back to its base. Due to the absence of an aircraft powerful enough to tow it at the necessary speed of approximately 160 km/h (99 mph), development of the project was discontinued.

Specifications

File:Antonov A-40.svg

Antonov A-40

See also

• Winged tank
• Baynes Bat, a British World War II concept involving attaching glider wings to a tank
• General Aircraft Hamilcar, a military glider from the same era designed to transport light tanks
• Ilyushin Il-2, a ground-attack plane commonly referred to as "the flying tank"
• Messerschmitt Me 321 and Junkers Ju 322, German gliders intended to carry light armored vehicles
• The nicknames Flying Tank have also been applied to the T-80, T-84, and Mil Mi-24—the first two for their exceptional speed on land, and the latter for its durability as an airborne vehicle

Bibliography

• Gunston, Bill. The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995. London: Osprey, 1995, pp. 19–20.
• Kotelnikov, Viktor. "Russia's Real Flying Tanks." The Aviation Historian, no. 13, 2015, pp. 124–129.
• Shavrov, V. "Istoriya konstruktsiy samoletov v SSSR." Bronekollektsiya, no. 4, 1997.
• Winchester, Jim. The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. Barnes & Noble Books, 2005, p. 62.
• Zaloga, Steven J., and James Grandsen. Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1984, pp. 192–193.

External links

• T-60 modifications (archived) at battlefield.ru
• Antonov KT flying tank at unrealaircraft.com (archived)
• KT-40 flying tank at the Russian Aviation Page (archived)
• Krylja Tanka, an illustrated page in Lithuanian (archived)
• Flying Tanks that Shed Their Wings by Lew Holt in Modern Mechanics and Inventions, July 1932 (archived)