Object 279

Object 279

Object 279

USSR

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.0	9.0

Class:

Heavy tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The Object 279 is a gift rank VI Soviet heavy tank with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.97 "Viking Fury" as a reward for the "Space Race" event.

General info

Survivability and armour

Getting the exact armour thickness of this tank is quite tricky due to the cast nature of its outer shell. But that won't affect the way one may view its survivability, at the very least the armour thickness of the hull may reach up to 300 mm when faced frontally (excluding the driver's hatch, which is 30 mm flat). The middle of the hull (area below the driver's hatch) is the least angled part of the tank besides the tank's rear, and thus is usually the first spot that is shot at, whereas the sides surrounding this area (left and right parts of the hull when faced front) can reach absurd amounts of thickness, even reaching up to 1000 mm due to extreme angles. However, this will not stop any APFSDS rounds, which are abundant at its BR. Most, if not all tanks at your BR can penetrate you from the front.

The turret is arguably the most armoured part of this tank. Again, getting the exact thickness is difficult but it is guaranteed to be very hard to penetrate, even APFSDS shells will have trouble going through certain spots of this tank. The only prominent weak spot of this turret is the mantlet and machine gun port on the left side of the gun when faced front. Going through the mantlet will more or less only break the gun breech in most cases. One usually shoots the rear side of the turret because that is where the ready rack is located.

It is important to mention the cramped crew spacing. It is like most, if not all, Soviet tank designs where the engineers threw the entire concept of crew comfort out the window. This is important when it comes to the survivability of the crew whenever a shell is able to punch through its stubborn shell. The crew spacing is quite cramped and thus more susceptible to shrapnel damage caused by spalling. On the bright side, most nations have given up on the concept of APHE shell at around this tank's BR so the chances of one-shots are reduced to a degree. Though there are unlucky times when a shell goes through the plate and hit the ready rack behind the gun breech.

Another feature worth mentioning on this vehicle are its self sealing fuel tanks located along the tracks of the tank. To the inexperienced player, these may be an appealing target but that is not recommended unless the intention was to interrupt a repair, most of the time this will only cause a fire and maybe break some tracks (causing a fire is pointless due to the self extinguishing feature). A more recommended target on the side is the bulge made to accommodate the size of the turret (this bulge is also present on the T-62), it is the flattest part of the tank, besides the rear.

All around, this tank is a very hard nut to crack but one should not rely on its armour to stop incoming projectiles. It shares at least some similarities with the T-10M and it has a similar playstyle.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	59	20	60.4	1,291	1,908	21.37	31.59
Realistic	56	18		884	1,000	14.64	16.56

Armaments

Main armament

The main armament is a powerful 130mm gun. It has excellent ballistics and coupled with the rangefinder, HE filler, and APFSDS levels of pen make it a powerful main armament

130 mm M-65					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	40	-5°/+18°	±180°	Two-plane	14.6	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	11.1	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					10.7	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BR-482B	APCBC	312	309	294	277	260	245
OF-482M	HE	31	31	31	31	31	31

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-482B	APCBC	900	33.30	1.2	19.0	177.1	48°	63°	71°
OF-482M	HE	900	33.70	0.0	N/A	2,650	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
40	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Optics

Object 279 Optics
	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	x7.2	x8.0
Comparable optics	___

Machine guns

14.5 mm KPVT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	800 (50)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Object 279 is in a position where its main gun can penetrate most things it faces, and the large HE filler guarantees a one shot. However, the hull is weak, unless you are in a full downtier, it should definitely not be relied on. The turret, on the other hand, is incredibly strong. The Object 279 plays quite well like a TD, using your 1000m/s APHE shell and strong turret armour to quickly peek and take pot shots at enemy positions. This strategy is effective in uptiers. In a full downtier you can use it like a heavy tank, rushing caps and storming enemy positions but HEATFS is abundant even at 7.7 and will end you fast.

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine	ESS	Rangefinder	NVD

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great 130 mm gun; able to one-shot majority of the enemy tanks.
• Main gun has a two-plane stabilizer
• Great mobility
• Rangefinder and NVD
• Coaxial 14.5 mm machine gun is great for dealing with light vehicles and aircraft
• Fuel-tanks are self-sealing and will extinguish by themselves without incurring damage
• Extremely angled and thick cast armour
• Quick reloading speed, first stage ammo consists of a 13 shell auto loader

Cons:

• Inadequate turret traverse speed
• Inadequate depression angle, a feature shared by all Soviet tanks
• Very vulnerable to high calibre HE; pylons connecting tank to tracks make for very appealing targets for such shells
• Engine fires still require FPE
• Most tanks at your BR can penetrate you from the front

History

The Object 279 Kotin was conceived in 1959. It was supposed to be a breakthrough tank that was also able to withstand a nuclear blast's shockwave. The development of the design started at the Kirov Plant in Leningrad, the head designer was L. Troyanov. The project was started in 1957 under the requirements of 1956. The pre-production Object 279 was completed at the end of 1959.

Although 3 vehicles were built in total, the project was later abandoned in favour of lighter vehicles which ended the Soviet heavy tank programs, due to Soviet leader at the time, Nikita Khrushchev's decision on July 22, 1960, to stop the production of tanks weighing more than 50 metric tons, in favour of smaller and lighter tanks.

Media

• 

  Black camouflage for the Object 279 earned through the Space Race event

• 

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Object 279