Some of you may be familiar with the Mammoth tank from Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn or Red Alert. One of its most noticeable features is that there are 2 pairs of tracks in a peculiar configuration as in not in the same way the T95 or Object 279 has two pairs of tracks. You might think that's utterly daft doubling the number of drive sprockets, increasing the ground pressure and doubling the tracks to keep properly tensioned and maintained; it could've only came from a mind of an artist unfamiliar with the world of mechanical engineering and conceptualizing something justifiably as mad as the world envisioned in Tiberian Dawn.

This rendition courtesy of Red Alert: A Path Beyond

Of course the Murica is also a pretty mad world. If they were mad enough to build not one but two T95s and actually making serious considerations in using them to invade Japan of all places; they're mad enough to tackle quad threads again...

From: Abrams: A History of the American MBT by R.P. Hunnicutt pages 17 to 20

"Chrysler Corporation received two contracts under the research and development program. One was to produce a concept of a new medium tank with a four track suspension system and the other considered a new medium tank with the usual two track suspension. Preliminary studies of a four track tank had been in progress for some time at Detroit Arsenal. Sketches of such an arrangement appeared in a presentation on tank and automotive development to the Research and Development Board on 16 May 1951 and a preliminary study of a four track tank with a hydrostatic drive was carried out at the Arsenal by Joseph Williams and Clifford Bradley. One of the most attractive features of the four track system was its reduced vulnerability to mine damage. Even if the two front tracks were disabled, the two remaining rear tracks would permit the tank to maneuver under its own power. The four track arrangement also permitted a better armor configuration when using very large diameter turret rings."

"The contract with Associated Engineers, Inc. also investigated the concept of a four track medium tank and their work produced a far more detailed analysis than any of the other concept studies. Their initial work considered a four track electric drive vehicle with four separate traction motors similar to the Chrysler proposal, although the design was developed in much greater detail. The 105mm gun T140 was installed in a large turret mounted on a ring with an inside diameter of 110 ½ inches. A coaxial .30 caliber machine gun was fitted to the left of the cannon with a telescopic sight for the gunner to the right. The crew members were located in their normal positions with the tank commander, gunner, and loader in the turret and the driver in the front center of the hull. The commander's cupola with its .50 caliber machine gun was installed at the right rear of the turret roof, but still within the turret ring. A commander operated optical range finder was located just in front of the cupola. A remote controlled .30 caliber auxiliary machine gun was mounted on the right front fender for use by the driver. The estimated combat weight of the tank was 54 tons."

"As on the phase I vehicle, the armor protection was equal to that on the 90mm gun tank M48. On the phase II tank, the tank commander was relocated to the left rear in the turret bustle, but the gunner and loader remained in their usual positions. The new turret also featured an escape hatch in the rear wall of the turret bustle. The armament remained the same as on the phase I vehicle. The phase II tank had an estimated combat weight of almost 51 tons for the electric drive version and just under 49 tons for the model with the hydraulic torque converter transmission. Both vehicles made far more effective use of the available power than the phase I tank. However, the study showed that neither was as efficient as a two track tank. Also, the gap between the two tracks on each side resulted in increased ground pressure and the mobility remaining after the loss of a track was impossible to predict. It would have depended upon the terrain involved and on the rolling resistance of the damaged suspension unit. Whatever it was, it was not considered worth the added complexity and reduced efficiency of the four track system. Further development of the four track tank was discontinued."

As for the Mammoths armament, the twin main cannons in a tank turret were thought to be useless well before tanks could look cool as the MTLS-1G14 can attest to. Or even multiple guns in different turrets as Joseph Stalin once said: "Why make a tank into a department store!".

Of coarse there are the Versuchsträger 1-2 tanks but those were casemate AFVs more akin to tank destroyers.

Wait never mind the Soviets made a proposal addressing the upper half of the Mammoth

From: Tank Archives: ST-II

Block Quote "The heavy ST-I tank is a powerful combat vehicle, equipped with a rapid-firing high caliber gun and sufficient armour. This design is an improvement to the previous tank, mostly in the areas of increased accuracy and rate of fire, and has the following novel features:

Installation of two guns of identical (medium or high) caliber, and two machineguns (or low caliber cannons). These four guns give the tank unprecedented firepower, increasing its combat value. Two guns provide very high rates of fire when serviced by two loaders, using a special rapid-fire ammo rack (shells and propellant are loaded pointing in the direction of the guns in the turret bustle). The tank can strike a moving target immediately, due to the ability to fire a second shell immediately as the first one lands near the target. This allows for faster ranging in. If one gun is out of action (misfire, semi-automatic mechanism fault, failure to extract, breakdown, loader error, etc), the second gun continues firing, and the tank remains in action. The coefficient of armour, engine power, and weight compared to the gun doubles. Accuracy when firing at moving targets or on the move increases, as aiming is done by one person with the ability to follow up a shot almost instantly. The tank surpasses two tanks of identical firepower, as it would not be possible to attain such a high rate of fire and accuracy. All other mechanisms of the ST-II are equivalent to the ST-I.



Engineer Ganin

Engineer Chasovnikov

June 11th, 1945"

CAMD RF 38-11350-396

So conceivably were the world to come under the protection of a Global Defense Initiative, what was formerly the Soviets and NATO would combine the two proposals together giving us the X-66 Mammoth Tank. Command and Conquer Tiberian Dawn is therefore historically accurate. If that game weren't set in the 90s', I would've advised investing in ominous green crystals in the near future.