Zukhavaya

The Objekt 640 Zukhavaya is a Volgan superheavy tank deployed since 1945, from the Volgan borders to the Justenian front lines, usually in heavy shock tank divisions and independent heavy tank battalions. It was designated the Objekt 640 Zukhavaya, often shortened to Zukhavaya. The Zukhavaya gave the Volgan Army its first fully-enclosed armored fighting vehicle that mounted the the 140 mm M1943 PtP-50 naval gun.

While the Zukhavaya was an incredible design for its time, it was plagued with problems. It was rather expensive to produce due to the materiel required to construct it. The Zukhavaya, while being very mechanically reliable, was limited in range due to its hefty fuel consumption and expensive to maintain. It was almost impossible to transport owing to its gigantic dimensions and extremely heavy weight, but not too vulnerable to immobilization due to its particularly thick side skirts and tracks. Even when large rocks get lodged between the drive wheels, the sheer weight of the vehicle and the wheels themselves is enough to crush them.

The tank was given the nickname of Zukhavaya by one of its top designers, Kawasaki Akihito.

Today, around 10 Zukhavayas are displayed publically in museums, with the rest in military service. Type 2605 No.110, in the Khabarovsk Tank Museum, is the only museum Zukhavaya in running condition.

Development History
After disappointing results with their multi-turreted T-35 superheavy tank, Volgan tank designers started drawing up better supertank designs. According to Volgan tank military doctrine of the time, the T-35 was far too underpowered, undergunned, and underarmored for its humongous size. The Great Regional War, while still in progress at the time, already demonstrated the need for much heavier armor on tanks due to the development of better and better anti-tank weapons all around the world, and was the main influence on Volgan tank design ever since their inception and especially just prior to the Volgan Conquering.

Several competing design were offered. All had extremely heavy armor for their time and were all of welded, cast and riveted construction. One of the main competing designs was the O-I III, which had three turrets; the main one was armed with a 15 cm howitzer, and the two others mounting 75 mm tank guns. The designers of the O-I III also independently drew up a different single turreted, much more heavily armored design, whose prototype was the precursor of the Type 2605, and this received approval of the highest order. Two O-I IIIs were ordered, alongside a single Type 2605. The single turret and larger hull allowed the designers to install heavier all-round armor in exchange for heavier tonnage.

The O-I III's armor held up against small to mid-caliber guns, but heavy guns would wreck the tank badly. However, the Type 2605's armor was highly resistant to contemporary anti-tank guns, and was resistant to even its own gun.

The original 1943 model was armed with a 127 mm naval gun, which was then replaced with 140 mm guns. It had extremely wide tracks to compensate for the ridiculous tonnage, and a very powerful engine and drivetrain. As a countermeasure to the growing effectiveness of AT guns, it was protected by extremely thick armor, and almost every AT gun then in service would have to go point blank to have a chance of immobilizing the tank. The tank was very roomy, although this was mitigated slightly by the large gun breech and the size of the shells.

Design
The Type 2605 was similar to its predecessors; large, bulky, slow, heavily armed and very heavily armored. However, unlike its predecessors, it had a boost

Armor
The Zukhavaya had frontal hull armor 270 mm thick, frontal turret armor of 280 mm and a 280 mm thick gun mantlet. The Zukhavaya had 220 mm thick hull sides and 50 mm side skirts. The roof and underbelly armor was 50 mm thick. The armor plates were mostly flat, with interlocking construction. Contrary to its external appearance, its hull is not riveted, with the joints welded and stepped together and made of maraging steel.

Gun
The 50-caliber long 140 mm M1943 PtP-50 was chosen as the main armament for the Zukhavaya. The gun had a low trajectory, and even with the precision of the (insert gun sight name here), was still quite inaccurate. The gun's maximum firing range was 3,750 m.

The gun enabled the tank to take on multiple roles, being a heavy tank destroyer and pseudo-heavy artillery, and thanks to its superb armor protection, as a heavy assault gun. The weight of the shell was sometimes enough to kill the crew of a tank.

There were 5 types of ammunition compatible with the 140 mm M1943 PtP-50:
 * 140-BP-450 (Armor Piercing)
 * 140-BPKZh-425 (Armor Piercing Composite)
 * 140-VVT-500 (High Explosive Anti Tank)
 * 140-DDV-475 (Long Range High Explosive)
 * 140-PPBr-450 (Long Range Concrete Piercing)

Variants

 * Type 2605
 * M1943 - Early production models. Slightly more prone to breakdowns than later models. Armed with the 127 mm M1928 ObO-50. 363 built.
 * M1945 - Utilized the 140 mm M1943 PtP-50. Improved mechanical reliability. Standard model in production.
 * M1945 s ekranami - Heavier riveted steel plates bolted on.
 * Type 2605 Ausf. R - Mounted the 152 mm M1906 ObO-50. 3370 built.
 * Type 2615 - Superheavy assault tank with a 203 mm M1908 TMR-45, the 2615 was produced at the same time as the 2605. Used to destroy bunkers a heavy fortifications. The larger gun and longer turret profile meant that the tank moved slightly slower due to heavier weight. The turret traverse was significantly slower, and with improper handling, could be jammed when the gun fired. 460 built.
 * Type 2624 - Experimental. Front hull and turret armor: 250 mm. Weight: 140 tons. New dual 1500 HP engine. Engine deck is higher than the 2605. Turret had two 'mouse ears' on the turret but in all other ways identical to the 2605. One prototype constructed but was damaged in battle, and is now on display at the Khabarovsk Tank Museum.
 * Type 2635 - Experimental. Mounted a 254 mm PtP-40 onto the turretless chassis and the gun was protected by a heavily armored gun shield protecting the front and sides of the gun. Not taken in service. Is now on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum. It's missing a set of drive wheels and part of the left side-skirt.
 * Type 2700 - Experimental self-propelled gun. Armed with 3 cannons: 1 120 mm M1927 Dt-45 and 2 76,2 mm M1941 Dt-40. One unit produced and tested in 1947.
 * Type 2750 "Palach" - See Palach. Heavy tank destroyer based on the Zukhavaya.
 * Type 2606 - Experimental heavy tank destroyer. Mounted a specially designed 170 mm M1945 TG-40 in a superstructure. One prototype constructed.
 * Type 2600 - Experimental. Used the 1500 HP engines from the Type 2624 but fitted with a turbocharger. New high-velocity 120 mm M1948 Dt-50. One prototype was constructed in 1948. The tank was lost in battle after a direct hit by a heavy howitzer (presumably a 15 cm) on the gun.
 * Type 2606KZ - Experimental chemical tank. Was equipped with 8 external toxin tanks on the back of the hull. Toxins would be blasted out of the tanks when opened by the exhaust of the engine. Tanks were surrounded by 40 mm of armor
 * Type 2645VK - A Zukhavaya with 4 rocket launchers on each side of the hull. Each launcher housed a 380 mm rocket. One prototype was constructed and tested in 1945. Participated in shelling the city of Athelin.
 * Type 2665 - Experimental flamethrower tank. Main gun replaced with a long range flamethrower, and a smaller flamethrower in the hull. Fuel tanks mounted in the turret.