The French also had their own ideas about what a mobile weapons platform should look like. Despite the Russian military's best efforts to free the 60-ton behemoth, it remained in that spot until 1923, when it was sold for scrap. When testing began in a forest outside Moscow, the rear wheel became mired in soft soil. Thanks to two 250-horsepower Sunbeam engines powering either wheel, the Tsar could reach a respectable speed of up to 10.5 mph. But they severely limited the firing range of the 12 water-cooled machine guns situated in between the massive wheels.

The giant bicycle-style wheels in front of the tank did prove effective for traversing a variety of terrains. The vehicle resembled a hanging bat when viewed from above, so it gained the nickname 'Netopyr,' which translates to 'pipistrellus,' the genus name for 'bats.' Russian engineers Nikolai Lebedenko, Nikolai Zhukovsky, Boris Stechkin, and Alexander Mikulin developed the Tsar from 1914 to 1915. Reportedly, when Nicholas II saw a model of the tank roll over a stack of books he was sold on the project and gave it his blessing.

The Tsar differed from modern tanks in that it didn't have treads, instead using two massive 27-foot-tall front wheels and a small third wheel, 5 feet in diameter, that trailed behind for steering. Tank development was in its earliest stages when Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia in the first decades of the 20th century. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

Designing military tanks books