Superheavy tanks really existed in reality, their development was carried out from the very beginning of the appearance of such a military machine until the 60s of the last century. Each country produced its own models in this category, but their release was unprofitable due to low mobility. This defect was not compensated by high armor, but this did not prevent various game projectors from using historical information to create fictional combat units. Tank "Mammoth" is one of them, its history of occurrence and mention in a variety of game, information sources, as well as in fiction are presented in the article.
First mention
Tank "Mammoth" was first mentioned in the famous story of the Strugatsky brothers under the name "Predatory things of the century." The main character, Ivan Zhilin, worked as a space pilot, and now works in the Security Council. His tasks include spreading the communist threat around the world. It is in his memoirs that the name “Mammoth” flashes. This type of equipment belonged to the category of heavy assault vehicles.
Game version
The Command & Conquer video game series has its own vehicle with the same name. His story begins with the work of the Mammoth-2 model. It was a strider, which, thanks to the promotion system, could not develop a sufficiently high speed. Because of this, the government of the Global Security Council decided to remove it from production and develop the Mammoth-3 model. She had to move on tracks, which would improve the mobility rate without sacrificing the protection parameter. Not everyone liked this decision, the Security Council was replaced by a huge number of engineers who specialized in the release of the second model. In any case, the production of the Mammoth tank still began, the three in the title were deleted, and this model is now considered to be the only relevant one. It is in this form that transport appears in different parts of the series.
Design and specifications
Before the events of the Tiberium Wars, the Global Security Council established a decision to replace models. Tank Mammoth was designed in Ust-Uryupinsk shortly before the fighting, and active production began after it. Despite the fact that the transition to caterpillars slightly increased movement, the model was not able to develop high speeds. Turning began to take less time, this is a clear plus. The main advantage of the tank was powerful armor, which could be penetrated by individual enemy guns. A multifunctional set of guns guaranteed the ability to arrange confrontations with any enemy equipment. The Mammoth Tusk installation is present in an amount of 2 pieces, it shoots with heavy missiles that reach the target incredibly quickly, making air defense useless. The second type of guns has 150 caliber, in some production lines it is replaced by Gauss-guns.
Some additional information
The above-described military equipment becomes available to players already in the game Command and Conquer 3: Kene's Wrath. It is here that the caterpillar model appears with the type of weapon described above. Thanks to the presence of Gauss-guns and the “Mammoth Tusk”, its power is one of the most powerful among all types of transport. Only rippers with a full charge can compare with it, only they have it completely consumed, after which the super-heavy Mammoth tank can easily deal with them. An interesting fact is that after the failure of the tank the hull does not remain in place, it simply disappears. This tactical element can positively and negatively affect the allied forces. The player will not be able to restore the defeated model, while the enemy will also not have such a function. Thanks to this, “Mammoths” are not reused, and they can be thrown into the thick of things.
Other technical characteristics
The Mammoth X 66 tank was a formidable weapon in the hands of the Global Security Council, the NOD fraternity was afraid of such a strength of its opponents. The car was difficult to hit from the air, because it had additional screens that provided good armor from shells fired from a height. If we compare the amount of health that any units in this line of strategies possess, then the tank is not in the first positions. It is overtaken by the rippers already mentioned above, as well as the Skrinovsky annihilators. They have a force field, due to which this parameter is more pronounced. If we take separately the possibilities of confronting the infantry, then the "Mammoth" shows itself worse than the "Exporters" and "Marauders". These technical prototypes are equipped with powerful flamethrowers that destroy huge waves of units. Here, “Mammoth” shows itself worse, but any confrontation with these four machines will easily win.
Next upgrade
When the game series Tiberium Wars was introduced to the world, the Mammoth X 66 tank underwent another change. X66 was replaced by a new model 27, which was produced in Reykjavik, code-named Mammoth Mk III. Already at the design stage, the task was set to make the equipment capable of performing operations at a long distance from the base. Tiberium Earth provides difficult conditions for movement, so the transition was made to the old and proven scheme with four tracks. This allowed the tank to perform better in open battles. Initially, "Mammoth 27" is equipped with a 150 mm gun: it can be improved to a railgun state, then the breakdown power increases significantly. The second weapon is double rocket launchers, which can shoot down targets in the air and provide additional protection against flying assets.