150 TON O-I SUPER HEAVY TANK

OI is the collective term used to describe a series of Japanese heavy tank designs (sometimes classified as super heavy) from the Second World War. Cars of this series never entered mass production, and the only model was made in 1944. Probably the weight of these vehicles was to be from 100 to 120 tons, the length would be about 10 meters, and the width - about 4.2 meters. The drive would most likely be provided by two 12-cylinder engines with a total power of 1100 HP. The armament was to consist of a 105 mm cannon, a 37 or 47 mm cannon, and three 7.7 mm machine guns. The designs of the OI series cars were created as a result of bad experiences that the Japanese army had experienced during the Battle of Chałchyn-Gol in 1939. Based on these experiences, it was decided to develop a heavy tank with a large unladen weight, but with powerful armor and strong armament. It was also planned to create a centuries-old tank, which was rather an anachronism at the time. However, due to the complexity of the entire project and other military needs of Japan, the OI vehicle did not enter mass production. It is even debatable whether a driving prototype of it was ever built. It can be assumed that the OI tank would be an ineffective combat tool, which would be terrible in the field due to the use of a power unit with too little power for the total weight of the vehicle.