Historical Thursday: Flying Tanks

After World War I, military development and testing had reached an unprecedented height. The recent developments in technology had given birth to new inventions that changed the landscape of the battlefield. Two machines in particular emerged in the previous decades that had never been used on a large scale; tanks and airplanes. The next step was obvious - combine the two.

America, Russia and England all tinkered with the idea of transporting the grounded beasts, but the USSR really led the way. After attempts at parachuting mini-tanks from bombers, they hired engineer Oleg Antonov to design a dedicated glider that could parachute full-sized tanks.

After years of development and multiple failures, the project was finally scrapped when the Soviets finally acknowledged there was no plane in existed that could carry the weight of a tank. Fortunately the world never had to experience the fear of a tank gliding 200mph through the air, and the scientist began their work on flying sharks.