A Neo-Atomic Tango Thru a World of Dreams

Photograph of KV-5 prototype "Победа" shortly before it tipped over and exploded during pre-production trials, 1943. After the German seizure of Leningrad and subsequent two-pronged advance toward Moscow, Soviet industry went into overdrive, creating increasingly bizarre stopgaps as supplies of raw materials began to dry up. The KV-5 was one of these. Intended to be a mobile artillery battery, it instead proved to be a massive failure. The first prototype, shown here, fell over during maneuver testing. Poor design of the ammunition storage racks caused the vehicle to explode, killing the crew as well as the photographer. The second KV-5, "Родина" survived maneuver testing, but the recoil of the upper main guns broke the turret in half during weapons testing. By that time, 50 KV-5s had already been produced. Most saw success, laid on their sides, as roadblocks during the 1945 Battle of Moscow.

Early American attempts at cross-species tank mating, 1917. The first lab-grown and semi-sentient armoured vehicles were deployed with great success at Flers-Courcette in 1916. However, the three-year manufacturing process proved an obstacle to further armoured vehicle development-- until it was discovered that lab-grown tanks had dimorphic sexes and could be bred. This resulted in the famous "Male" and "Female" series of British tanks. Tanks had a gestation period of only three months, and reached adulthood after five weeks. The Americans were the first to attempt cross-species breeding, as see here with this Renault FT and Mark VIII. While initial attempts proved unsuccessful, further experimentation would give rise to the turreted main battle tanks that we know today.

Valentina Stolnichaya and Natalya Rusakova pose in front of their T-34 ChTZ, 1943. The two are members of the 167th Independent Tank Batallion, one which was composed entirely of women. The idea was first proposed in 1937 by a Major Artur Rabinovich. Drawing on the image of the mother bear protecting her cubs, he believed that women would fight harder than most men if they could be made to believe their loved ones were under imminent threat (from some invasion)

While the 167th was never anything more than an experiment, its members distinguished themselves well at Rostov and Seelow Heights. After it was disbanded at the end of the war, Rusakova wrote a popular novel based on her experiences, titled "A Woman in the Red Tank Brigades".

The medical bag Ruskova carries is the tank's first-aid-kit, she and "Stolni" had stepped out of the tank to get the kit restocked when Vladimir Shvetsov snapped this photo.

Soviet T-62s equipped with mine rollers lie abandoned and scuttled in the desert sun. Scenes like these were fairly common towards the end of the Afghan War, as Red Army troops deserted by the truckload. The bulk of the deserters were tank crewmen, and for good reason: the average lifespan of a tanker in Afghanistan was about eleven days.

These soldiers must have been desperate to get out, as most of the stowage is still in place. The figures you see in the picture are mujahideen looking for salvageable goods, and the photo was taken by an American SOG operator inserted with the Northern Alliance.