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British TOG2

Super-heavy tanks were designed in response to the arms race of ever-increasing armament and armour in tanks. Although some models were built, they were impractical and saw no active service or combat. Most heavy tanks suffer from problems related to tactical mobility (soft ground, crossing bridges), strategic mobility (transporting on rail or truck), reliability of mechanical components under severe stresses, and other practical problems, like the sheer difficulty of handling extremely large ammunition. Above a certain weight threshold these problems become insurmountable.^{[citation needed]}

Some extreme tank designs approved by Adolf Hitler during World War II were devised to be all-conquering monsters of the battlefield. A prime example of these would have to be the Maus, a design which only reached the prototype stage. These tanks were designed by the Nazis as a possible way of winning the war and by the allies as a way of countering any advances in enemy armour.

British Flying Elephant model

At the time they seemed sensible as both sides could see the others tanks and anti-tank weapons improving and both required a way of countering the others superiority.^{[citation needed]} Hitler was a keen advocate of super-heavy armoured fighting vehicle and personally agreed to the development of the Maus whereas in Britain and America the stunning effectiveness of the German 88mm's forced home the point that much thicker armour and much better armament was needed on their own tanks.

Super-heavy tanks of 1,000 tonnes or heavier were even considered, including the P. 1000 "Ratte", an enormous conventional tank, and the P. 1500 "Monster", a gigantic self-propelled artillery platform. These were deemed impractical and neither was built, as Albert Speer quickly put an end to these fearsome but fantastical behemoths.

The idea of super heavy tanks saw less development after the war, except in the Soviet Union where some relatively heavy tank prototypes were tested for the Cold War nuclear battlefield. These might be considered super-heavy by the standards of Soviet tank design, where the emphasis was on small size and low weight, but they were no heavier than the standard U.S. and British heavy tanks of the period.

American super-heavy tanks

• T-28 Super Heavy Tank - self propelled gun (95 tonnes, 5 pilots built)

British super-heavy tanks

• TOG1 (tank) (80 tonnes, 1 prototype)
• TOG2 (tank) (80 tonnes, 1 prototype)
• Tortoise heavy assault tank - self-propelled gun design of 78 tonnes, 6 pilot models built and tested
• Flying Elephant (100 tonnes, project only)

French super-heavy tanks

• Char 2C - 69 tonnes, 10 built in the 1920s
• FCM F1 (139 tonnes, project only)

German super-heavy tanks

• K-Wagen (120 metric tons, project only)
• Jagdtiger - self propelled anti-tank gun (71.7 tonnes, only super-heavy tank to have seen combat, 88 produced in total)^{[citation needed]}
• Panzer VII Löwe (76–90 tonnes, project only)
• Panzer VIII Maus (188 tonnes, 2 prototypes, 1 completed, 1 hull completed)
• E-100 (tank) (140 tonnes, 1 hull completed)
• Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte (1000 tonnes, project only)
• Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster (1500 tonnes, project only)

Soviet super-heavy tanks

• Grotte Tank (TG-5 or T-42, 100 tonnes with 107mm main gun and four subturrets. project only - 1931—Zaloga 1984:85)
• Obyekt 279 (60 tonnes, one prototype, two planned - 1957)

Japanese super-heavy tanks

• Experimental O-I Super HeavyTank (130 tonnes. Purportedly one prototype was produced in 1944 and sent to Manchuria.)
• Experimental O-I Ultra HeavyTank (modification of the O-1 Super Heavy Tank with four turrets)

• Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two, London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.