The M1A1 Abrams is a beast, but these tanks are monsters

Tim Kirkpatrick
May 27, 2020 12:27 PM PDT
1 minute read
World War II photo

SUMMARY

Ever since the first tank prototype rolled off the assembly line in 1915, armored vehicles have dominated enemy forces on the battlefields in which they deployed. In modern warfare, the M1A1 Abrams is currently our tank of choice and weig…

Ever since the first tank prototype rolled off the assembly line in 1915, armored vehicles have dominated enemy forces on the battlefields in which they deployed.


In modern warfare, the M1A1 Abrams is currently our tank of choice and weighs in close to 68-tons — equivalent to 29 Toyota Corollas.

The M1 series tank is equipped with a 1500 horsepower engine and houses a 105mm main gun (some come with a 120mm cannon) and three secondary machine guns. It takes a four-man crew to operate this battlefield beast and comes with a price tag of around $9 million.

M1A1 Abrams firing its massive main cannon.

If you think the Abrams is massive, wait until you've seen these next armored behemoths.

Rewinding to the first world war, the French developed the Char 2C, which comes featured in the "Battlefield: One" expansion pack. Although designed in 1917, the first unit wasn't built until three years after the war ended.

At 69-metric tons, the Char 2C was slightly heavier than the M1A1 we use today. It featured a 75mm main cannon and came with four secondary machine guns placed on the front, in the back and the vehicle's sides.

It stretched 33-feet long and 10-feet wide, and took a crew of 12-men to operate the machine fully.

The Char 2C.

The Germans constructed a tank that was so massive, it couldn't be transported in one piece; it had to be broken down into six separate parts.

Known as the K Wagen, once this tank arrived by rail close to the battle front, the Germans had to quickly assemble the armored vehicle before fully deploying it.

The K Wagen weighed in twice the size of an Abrams at 120-metric tons and measure nearly 43-feet in length — just shy of the width of a regulation basketball court.

The weaponry was just as impressive as its size. The K Wagen had four 77mm fortress guns and seven MG08 machine guns mounted on the shell.

A rendering of the K Wagen. (Source: The Tank Room)

Fortunately for allied forces, the war ended just before this massive piece of tech was battlefield tested.

When World War II began, the Germans designed the heaviest tank to-date — the Panzer VIII Maus. This monster weighed in at 188-metric tons. That's 3.5 times larger than our standard Abrams. The tank featured a 128mm main gun capable of destroying any armored vehicle of that era from distances up to two miles away.

The skin was constructed of nearly 9-inches of tough armor.

Due to its massive size, the Panzer was limited as far as transportation as it commonly would cave in bridges and other structures it rode over.

The Panzer VIII Maus.

Do you think that's where this story of these monstrous tanks ends? Think again.

Meet the Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte.

The Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte. (Source: Armorama)

Personally approved by Adolf Hitler, the tank was intended to weigh 1,000-metric tons. 16 times heavier than our modern M1A1 Abrams.

Approximately 300-metric tons were dedicated for the tank's ammunition alone. Reportedly, the plan was to make the Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte 128-feet long — which is longer than the length of a basketball court.

Luckily, the tank never went into production as it was decided that it would make for a great target for enemy aircraft raids despite being armed with eight anti-aircraft guns.

Check out Real Life Lore's to see these beastly marvels for yourself.

YouTube, RealLifeLore

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