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the longest-range artillery in human history so far is undoubtedly the "barbados cannon" designed by the famous canadian artillery designer dr. gerald bull. although neither the united states nor the soviet union took a fancy to this super cannon with a maximum range of 4,000 kilometers. however, during the cold war, the united states and the soviet union actually developed extremely powerful and abnormal "nuclear cannons", that is, super cannons that used atomic bombs as shells. in terms of the development of nuclear cannons, the soviet union left the united states far behind with its unique ferocity. this is the unprecedented 406mm 2a3 nuclear cannon. the most amazing thing is that this is actually a nuclear cannon. self-propelled artillery!

on may 25, 1953, with a loud noise, a mushroom cloud rose into the sky in the desert of nevada, usa. this is the first test firing of the us military's 280 mm caliber m65 nuclear cannon, the first nuclear cannon in human history. in 1953, the ballistic missiles of both the united states and the soviet union were still in the development stage, and all fighter jets on both sides had switched to jets. propeller fighters had long been eliminated, but long-range bombers were still based on the traditional b-29 propeller aircraft. mainly, in order to achieve rapid nuclear strikes against the enemy, the us military established a project and developed the 280 mm caliber m65 nuclear cannon. the us military nicknamed the m65 "atomic annie". soon this giant cannon was deployed to the u.s. army stationed in west germany. the u.s. army's m65 artillery was organized in battalion units. each battalion had 3 companies. each company was equipped with 2 m65 nuclear cannons and was equipped with 4 tractors and 8 trucks, of which the tractors are used to tow the artillery, while the trucks are used to transport nuclear artillery shells and all personnel of the gun crew.

the soviet union immediately couldn't sit still, and immediately mobilized its huge military industry system to develop atomic cannons. finally, in 1957, it got its wish and put this 2a3 "nuclear cannon" in front of the world.

the soviet union's 2a3 nuclear cannon uses the chassis of an extended version of the "stalin 2" tank. the length of the vehicle is 20.02 meters, the width is 3.07 meters, and the total combat weight is 64 tons. it is powered by a v-12 diesel engine with a power of 750 horsepower. drive. its 406mm gun has a muzzle velocity of 716 meters per second and can eject a 570kg nuclear shell 25.6 kilometers away. but the embarrassing thing is that because the artillery used by 2a3 was originally a 406mm naval gun intended for use on the navy's "soviet-class" battleships, the recoil was huge.

during the test, it was also found that the car body could not withstand the huge recoil force. every time it fired, the transmission would be torn and the engine would be damaged. the transmission needed to be replaced and returned to the factory for overhaul. and the biggest embarrassment of the 2a3 nuclear cannon is that its maximum range is 25.6 kilometers, and the killing radius of the nuclear shells it launches is 27 kilometers! in other words, once this gun fires, the gun crew itself will definitely die, because the chassis will be directly torn apart by the shock wave of the nuclear explosion, making it impossible to even drive away.

the tank chassis has been reinforced and modified on the basis of the t10 tank. in order to adapt to the weight of the turret, the number of road wheels on both sides has been increased to eight, and the tracks have been further widened and thickened. in anticipation of the exaggerated recoil when the shells were fired, engineers also set up a certain buffer layer between the turret and the body, and the body suspension system was further strengthened. the 2a3 nuclear bomb cannon can only fire special tactical nuclear bombs or high-explosive grenades. because the shells are too heavy, there is no bomb inside the body, and a shell truck is specially installed at the back to load the bombs.

after reading this, you may ask, for such a big guy, the super recoil when firing will not overturn the car? you are right to think so. in fact, when we started to build this giant cannon, the main reason was to catch up with the united states. as mentioned at the beginning, i must have what you have, and the actual combat operability of the cannon was not considered at all. although the technicians at the military factory have strengthened the tank chassis through various means, this guy is still too powerful. after one shot, the entire vehicle has to be returned to the factory for overhaul, otherwise there is no guarantee that it will fall apart with the next shot. therefore, since its birth, the 2a3 nuclear cannon has been used as a display in military parades and has hardly been deployed in actual combat. later, long-range ballistic missiles became the main nuclear weapons delivery tool for nuclear powers. this soviet union's first and last nuclear bomb cannon walked a few turns on the parade ground and was hurriedly sent to the military museum. this artillery piece, once said to be the most powerful in soviet history, has become an exhibit to this day.

in fact, the soviet union also has another more abnormal 420mm nuclear cannon, which i will talk about later.

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