The Army hopes that T28 can penetrate the western wall of Nazi Germany, which is the German counterpart of the French Maginot Line. The huge western wall is a line of defense nearly 400 miles long, composed of anti-tank traps, bunkers and medicine boxes, which would hinder a joint attack on the heart of Germany. Anti-tank obstacles are serious obstacles, such as Czech hedgehogs, railings welded together to stop tanks, dragon teeth, square concrete pyramids used to slow down or hinder tanks, and mechanized obstacles.
In order to help the United States and the Allies take the lead in pushing it to the wall, the T28 is equipped with an almost incredible armor package. The front part of the hull is entirely made of one foot of solid steel. Most importantly, the tank’s thick gun mount protects the bottom of the gun mount and provides additional armor protection. The lower hull and part of the suspension of the T28 are also covered with a 4-inch thick steel skirt. Coupled with the tank’s round hull front and man warhead, the T28 may withstand any German anti-tank fire it might encounter.
However, all this armor protection comes at a price: the T28 weighs more than 90 tons and has poor maneuverability. This is also because the T28 power plant is a small 500-horsepower gasoline engine. Despite the heavy weight of the T28, its ground pressure may be less than expected.
Unlike almost all two-track tanks, the T28 has four tracks, each of which is nearly a foot wide. In order to facilitate transportation, the two outermost tracks of the tank can be dismantled, and the tanker crew is expected to reassemble the tank for battle within two hours. The Soviet Union will also test the four-track design of its “Target 279″ heavy tank, which aims to eliminate the nuclear battle.
The T28’s large 105mm main gun is mounted on a hull-shaped hull, a bit like the German Jagdpanzer. Although it is large, the T28 has a small shape. Although the T28 lacks a conventional tank like a turret, its main gun is slightly maneuverable due to its spherical shell and can move left and right.
In 2020, the Army was refurbished and reassembled. This is one of the few T28 tanks they have survived. The video can be seen here and is impressive, showing the huge size and weight of the tank.
Unfortunately, for T28, the Allies broke through the German Western Wall before it was put into use. After the victory in Europe, the United States considered the potential use of the tank for its invasion of Japan, although the battlefield was over before the T28 went into battle.
Caleb Larson is a national defense writer. He holds a master’s degree in public policy, covering security in the United States and Russia, defense issues in Europe, and politics and culture in Germany.
Post time: Mar-09-2021