What happened to ball tanks? - Kugelpanzer

[@FoundAndExplained]

Obviously the channel exists thanks to Square Space, so if you do need a site, please do click my referal link for 10% off your first site and domain + 14 day free trial! www.squarespace.com/found

[@SpConstructionSite]

❤❤❤

[@keeganpretorius847]

Quick question why do you stream your videos to upload to KZbin I've seen other creators doing this aswell.

[@doozydude4209]

You should do a video about Die Glocke (German: [diː ˈɡlɔkə], 'The Bell') it was a purported top-secret scientific technological device, wonder weapon, or Wunderwaffe developed in the 1940s in Nazi Germany.

[@gabrielb9010]

@@keeganpretorius847 that's called a premiere

[@aerostarsreal]

the next video is an MD-12

[@Chris-ok4zo]

OK, who gave Pac-Man a full suit of plate armor?

[@VunderGuy]

Noseferatu.

[@ContemplativeCat]

Pac-Man: Metal Gear Solid.

[@MonkBannana]

At least it isn't plot armor

[@RextheDragon881]

Comment of the day award

[@poil8351]

but pac man likes to eat his enemies like kirby.

[@smharmon21]

U.S. Army tanker here for a decade. My thoughts: The major issue with this vehicle will be the amount of pressure per square inch it would put on the ground. Imagine it on concrete. All that weight would rest on a only a few square inches. It would sink in mud or even earth and would strugle to go anywhere, always having to climb "up hill" from the perspective of each "wheel" sinking in. Ground pressure for U.S. armored mechanized vehicles generally sits between 5-15 PSI. An average male, standing on one foot, produces 5 PSI for instance. Whoever made this "tank" would have soon realized it bogged down immediately. Virtually unusable. No way an engine that size could have taken it anywhere but up and down a reinforced concrete motorpool. It most certainly would have been a terrible "scouting vehicle" and I doubt it could have survived against even light machine guns.

[@6TDOW66]

Also, no suspension

[@AayYoWhatUp]

*BALL*

[@PissyKnish]

Shut up, nerd.

[@evill01]

My guess is it was designed in between 1920-1933 in order to contravene Treaty of Versailles because you could argue that it isn't a real tank, but when the bad guys took over they disregarded the treaty completely and simply designed real tanks.

[@jacksonmoore5429]

This is a good explanation

[@rsookchand919]

Ball tank detected. Deploying Giant Ronaldo

[@ContemplativeCat]

🤣

[@Battlemode-l9p]

Perasotirsh *SUUUUUİİİİ*

[@Spinex0196]

💀

[@joskethegreat4154]

Mecha with a giant ass ronaldo's face plastered onto its face

[@poodlescone9700]

It is probably a WW1 leftover. The design is so flawed the testers probably figured it out during testing and abandoned the project. This would explain the lack of documentation and the similarity of design to the era.

[@aarondavidlopezdegante7884]

tbh yeah, if i had done such an horrendus work i would burn the documentation. Like a sequel of a good movie thhat we pretend the sequel doesnt exist

[@S1337theoddoneout-ip9xc]

That tumbleweed tank looks straight out of fall out. I can see myself running around the wasteland looking for Shaun on one of those.

[@Russia_lion17]

Oh most definetly😂

[@MarkPereira-jz4ct]

Psh the way power armor eats cores this thing would last 2 min per core 😂😅😂

[@Pillar_of_Salt]

@@MarkPereira-jz4ct The cores used to be nearly infinite until Bethesda got ahold of the IP

[@christmassnow3465]

This raises the question why they are still secretive about such technology considered obsolete nowadays.

[@AllanMogensen]

They copy the technology for their war in Ukraine ;) They don´t want to reveal any military secrets

[@patrickstewart3446]

Probably because there are parts inside stamped in Cyrillic letters that read “Made in Soviet Union.” 😁

[@lordraptor11]

@@patrickstewart3446 i agree the crude nature clearly screams made in soviet union from junk left lying around.

[@CapitalTeeth]

I have another theory. Namely that it was designed just after WW1, when Germany was ridden with the Versailles Treaty, which forbid them from having tanks or an airforce. During this period they tried a lot of things to find any sort of loophole to the treaty, testing new designs in foreign countries under fake names like "Light Tractor". This Kugelpanzer could be among the earliest of them.

[@christiandeuer2425]

The most logical theory from all of them.

[@andreassehburger4308]

And the germans tested their early tank types in this period of time before WW2 in Russia.

[@IdenticXP]

Walked around that thing in Kubinka a few years ago, still scratching my head about it..

[@PYROWORKSTV]

English speaking people be like: I can't pronounce ö, ü or ä Also English speaking people: Kügelpänzer lol

[@bjorntorlarsson]

Many native English speaker play stupid. They do use many foreign letter sounds everyday. ö as in "a". ä as in apple. A sound they cannot pronounce is "u", or "ü". U is the shape of the tounge. Many don't have rolling r either. Poor tounge articulation, need to train that muscle. Improves kissing too.

[@alm5992]

@@Gurumeierhans You should hear different first language people try and speak English- they butcher it too lol!

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

​@@alphadawg81 how is it not obvious that he's talking about people outside of Europe 🤦‍♂️

[@lordraptor11]

funny thin is panzer is pronounced pantser LOL

[@Espadaejecutora]

Así es Ñ

[@christopherlee627]

Given that it was found in Manchuria, it seems odd that there's no speculation that it was actually a Japanese project.

[@avus-kw2f213]

That would explain the lack of documentation I’m pretty sure the Japanese destroyed most the documents at the end of the war Or Or It’s actually from the Qing empire and they invented the tank

[@christopherlee627]

@@avus-kw2f213 I actually suspect that it was one of the forgotten projects of the diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu.

[@pacificostudios]

See my comment above. Japanese forces experimented with one-man tanks in the 1930s, including one where a man CRAWLED on the ground under an armor-plated cover. The Kugelpanzer is more advanced than that.

[@lighthousegravyP51]

Found and Explained: "Let's never talk about the hopping tanks again." Me: *talks about the hopping tank😅"

[@x5x]

The Soviets/Russians do not let you look inside of it, there is only one in Kubinka. Maybe it is a something the Soviets come up for the Museum?

[@nacly4654]

that can be debunked if there are records before the museum was built in 1972.

[@alm5992]

Kubinka is already the craziest tank museum, though. They have the only Maus and some others with only one model left. It feels strange that they would need a fake vehicle to bolster visitors; though I can't say why they are so secretive about it.

[@WatermelonDog202]

​@@alm5992Imagine Hitler was inside of it 😳

[@PaperThinArmor]

Maybe the reason why they cant let people look inside it cause theres some sort of contaminate in it similar to how the T14 heavy in bovington had a radiation warning from leaking indicators which prevented people from going inside.

[@justsomehaatonpassingby4488]

​@@PaperThinArmor probably... I think Asbestos would be the thing inside this ball tank, since asbestos is used in ww2 as a fire shield

[@alankeith7866]

I'm actually working on that model kit right now... I am taking a little creative license about this vehicle though. I'm also making it into a small diorama, setting it as an abandoned vehicle. Thanks for this video!!!

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

I think you have the creative license to put anything other than Lazer guns on it seeing how experimental they were.

[@raywest3834]

Ball tank would be totally useless on all but ideal terrain. Surprised it made it beyond the looney idea stage.

[@asdf9890]

It is ridiculous 😂. I think the little back wheel is there so if the tracks get stuck, the compartment doesn’t spin like a clothes dyer.

[@embo4887]

I wonder if it was a prewar prototype then they just used it as like an entrance display coming into the proving grounds like they do here in the US. Like Grissom AFB has two super sabres at the entrance.

[@IAmTheAce5]

Wonder-waffles are no match for Belgian waffles!!

[@Battlemode-l9p]

You say so

[@mrbad3036]

😂😂😂

[@chrisfallis5851]

Obviously part of the Waffle - SS.

[@GarC170]

They both waffled in the end I suppose

[@woodchild2093]

I'm a scale model builder and have built a few of these. Cool to see a video about them

[@funzario144]

The Orc army in Warhammer 40k is always thankful for such inspirations.

[@sonofeyeabovealleffoff5462]

"Itz ORKZ not ORCS, an' ooz dis Tolkeen Git?!" -Ork meme.

[@sadisbhack]

Its nice to see a KZbin video come out.

[@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket]

I mean that thing looks like it'll get stuck all the time, and knocked over easily.

[@pegcity4eva]

A light breeze lol

[@TrueFork]

looks more like something intended for use in an environmental hazard lab setting than battlefields

[@asdf9890]

Imagine the wheels getting stuck and the middle part just spins around and around 😂

[@testerjs]

I want Droidekas up here at once! Where are those Droidekas? (First thought when i saw this video.)

[@pacificostudios]

What is the evidence that it wasn't a Japanese prototype? The Japanese Army experimented with one man tanks years before 1941. Chinese armies lacked many anti-tank weapons or good tanks of their own. As a system for wiping out enemy machine guns, etc., this might have worked well in the 1930s.

[@jacksontorres839]

That’s a good theory. Japanese tank doctrine was focused on light tanks with relatively light armaments, mostly for anti personnel roles, although they had some landing craft/tank destroyers for defense near the end of the war.

[@bwilliams463]

The lower tread profile of the Mark ! tank was based on the curvature of a wheel that had been calculated as the ideal size to cross a standard WW1 trench.

[@stcredzero]

If you make the wheel/track part bigger, it's just like a tank from Star Wars!

[@alm5992]

Oh wow, the "persuader" droid tank? It does look like that.

[@warhawkjah]

An up-armored version of Mr. Garrison’s invention.

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

😂 hopefully it doesn't have the same controls.

[@Derpy1969]

Beats flying!

[@Samuelhail-ye9er]

This is some star wars tech

[@suus01]

fr this is like the early prototype for general grievous' sick one wheel bike.

[@thingamabob3902]

The 1500ton Ratte would have had assigned 2 of the Kugelpanzer at all times .... you know, its Balls ^^

[@aleisterlavey9716]

"How much do you have to compensate? " Hitler: "yes"

[@sheep1ewe]

Those are zubehör for the Elefant gun... Frontrunners...

[@tonic8945]

That looked like a VW flat four in the diagram.

[@david-hf3dk]

Exactly what I thought.

[@IONIQver2pointO]

0:15 Skyros when it's raiding your beacon with Theseus skill:

[@metaplante]

As a writer, I always say that there are 101 possible origins and/or outcomes to any story. It could simply be a project improvised by the Russians, at the beginning of the war, captured by the Germans, who decided to use it for their own needs before being taken back by the Russians... And for that, reconnaissance, the deployment of telephone cables and messaging suit him well.

[@tolik5929]

It coud have been some sort of engioneering vehicle . Not meant for combat , but perhaps for use by sappers and engioneers , to help clear areas of booy traps , etc. It would offer some protection from explosions . Trip wire grenades , etc.

[@LupoSenpai]

Armed with 2 AT guns *shows AT gun and machine gun* not to mention the design is probably symmertrical so it has 2 machine guns and one cannon

[@lianglonglong]

The picture at 9:50 is of a German, Japanese and two finnish officers at the captured city of Äänislinna (russian: petroskoi)

[@SoloTURK11]

0:57 ah yes… a wonderwaffle

[@sforza209]

Hahaha gotta love wonderwaffles. Extra syrup.

[@charleshotchkiss1813]

Churchill proposed something very similar for attacking the Atlantic wall. It failed miserably in field testing.

[@asdf9890]

Thanks, I was looking for info on these silly contraptions a couple months ago.

[@AllanMogensen]

I actually thought of tumbleweed - and then suddenly it was there! :)

[@TheLoneWolfling]

Let's see: Utterly useless in non-flat terrain, silhouette well above the main gun meaning that others can shoot at you before you can shoot at them, prone to overturning at any speed, what speed lol, terrible armor slopes... Yeah, that sounds about right for prototypes that never got out of the prototype phase.

[@ludovisuis]

If it was supposedely found in Manchuria, which was a Japanese-occupied territory in current Northern China, why ruling out the possibility that it was simply a Japanese-made vehicle, and having nothing to do with Germany?

[@AymenAymen-w5m]

The certainty is that the wheel design is successful across various types of terrain. When someone applied this wheel design to a vehicle, it enabled that vehicle to traverse all kinds of terrain

[@hughmccabe3385]

Maybe the Kugelpanzerr is actually one of the Soviets prototypes that they're masquerading as a German project. Wasn't there a soviet ball tank concept, the Sharotank during WW2?

[@AntonDVasiliev-ss1ie]

i can't find any info about that one except from model kits, all i know it was once featured in WoT as event exclusive vehicle

[@lordraptor11]

@@AntonDVasiliev-ss1ie i remember that even from riggedgaming world of riggedbattles

[@lonwof2105]

Those ball tanks might be a good way to provide garrison force multipliers. That dumb shape and track style would probably be best used in city streets. Most resistance folks wouldn't have had anything more than a pistol. Those little ball tanks would be able to suppress most resistance actions.

[@serpentinious7745]

Option C: some drunk farmer's side project

[@byzmack1334]

If we could get a sample of the metal we could probably narrow down when it was made and maybe even in which country.

[@ambilysajan818]

Waiting for premier to start. Would love to know what the hell a "ball tank" is

[@gabrielb9010]

It's Exactly what it sounds like

[@bjorntorlarsson]

The one-man bunker and the Krummlaufgewehr (rifle with curved barrel and a little mirror, to shoot around corners) were other GREAT ideas in WW2.

[@lordflufffluff]

You are the first comment.

[@CaptainKrimson]

The engine in the drawing at 5:45 looks very much like a VW Beetle engine. In that case it would have been a 4-cylinder 4-stroke.

[@russbilzing5348]

According to the drawings that you showed, it used a 4 cylinder, air cooled, Porsche derived engine remarkably similar, if not identical, to the ones used in the Kugelwagon und Schwimmwagon during the war.

[@theBlankScroll]

"it's already too late, it is running away"

[@v.a.d1784]

🔴Can we get some more crazy tank project videos.

[@KemGreene-c7p]

"The first Tie fighter with plucked off wings"! also a great photo of the Jawas land cruiser too"!

[@meetoo594]

I would have put the larger span of the tracks on the bottom, not top. That thing looks like it would tip over very easily. As for its use? Im going with mobile command post or cable layer although a conventional armoured vehicle would do the job better. Probably why theres only 1.

[@drifter4training]

this contraception was similarly shown in justice league animated series (DCAU) in WW2 episodes

[@jonsi3559]

Watching this the thought struck me that perhaps it came from the Kama Tank school and the Russians have been so hesitant to let anyone examine it as to not bring attention to the fact that they cooperated with Germany. There's probably something that can easily debunk it but despite reading quite a bit about the Kugel I've never seen anyone make or disprove a connection to Kama. Regardless I don't buy the official explanation of it being a reconnaissance vehicle for a second when it only has a single tiny slit to see out of and is so slow, the complete opposite of what a recon vehicle usually is. Really any sort of front line duty seems exceptionally unlikely when the armor (assuming the reported thickness is correct) would only protect against light shrapnel and even rifle caliber weapons can penetrate it. In my mind it is a Russian built fake until proven otherwise.

[@barrywood7234]

Kugelblitz was so named because it's Mark 4 chassis had a rotating turret with a rounded top housing 2 anti- aircraft guns. The turrets top had a ball shape housing for these 2 guns

[@umbrellacorpsecurity6511]

Hmm a "Rush Tank" Maybe? 1-2 people. Anti-Infantry guns at front. 1 flamethrower each side and the ability to spray/drop Anti-personnel mines behind it. Could be used to "Rush" down street city's, runways,trenches ect. Can be mounted on a bomber as a "turret" and say disconnect to parachute into the area seconds after aerial bombardment and start covering the area in AP mines

[@jasonking2218]

Probably a prototype used as a demonstrator for a government contract and was rejected,it still happens today with the big defence contractors making fully sized mock ups

[@GadreelAdvocat]

With some tweeks to the design in would make for an interesting amphibious vehicle .

[@SargonKhaled]

Kugelpanzer, one of the interesting ball tank that used for defence I really like that ball tank

[@RichardChave-xl9yw]

Only the nazis could have invented the Daleks 20 years before Terry Nation. The irony is that Terry created them based on his experiences fighting Tiger Tanks in the Boccage in the weeks after D-Day.

[@Operator_Suerte]

The hopping tank is still my favourite, including this thing

[@charlessupp2543]

Remember Black Hawk in the comics? The "War Wheel"!😊

[@PennWolfsSailingAdventures]

"Ze furer vants to know vat your doing ozer zere". Tank driver: "NOZING, I'm playing vith mine ball".

[@jamesrose8048]

Try exploring the idea of a Kc390 converted to VIP seating for use by small governments for VIP TRANSPORT.

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

Can't wait for Alan Aztec to sing about this.

[@aleisterlavey9716]

Was rollt denn da durch Schlamm und Schnee? Kugelpanzer Extacy 😂😂😂

[@daydaykilla]

I was thinking of this kind of thing. I searched on google to see if it existed and someone already had the idea.

[@joshuabessire9169]

It's a kamikaze bouncing bomb. Japanese were gonna drop it on Hoover Dam with the Amerika bomber, but like most axis projects it was too complex and too stupid. I'm looking at you overlapping tank wheels.

[@RhettReimer]

The Orb has decided to grant you mercy

[@SuperYounice]

They look like the Sovjet Lynx robots from the video game Generation Zero, now I know where the developers took their inspiration from 👏

[@Stroopwaffe1]

20 minutes till the bus comes, think i can squeeze this in lol.

[@Visoko314]

Can you imagine how bloody uncomfortable , noisy, stinking of fuel and exhaust, boiling in summer, freezing in winter, and then the fact that you are an open target . My god. 😳

[@pietrosigismondodelvalenti6371]

Clearly an escape vehicle for a super villain.

[@raijinmeister]

When you take the expression "face roll" to another level.

[@Blechdackel]

I've seen a lot about WW2 but never saw or heard about this weapon

[@anthonyiocca5683]

In battle, the situation dictates tactics. The advantage is the element of surprise…

[@SleezyRider883]

fun fact this tank is the origin for the phrase "get on the ball"

[@999theeagle]

Ha thought with the accent you said "google panzer" and I said no that's why I'm watching this!!

[@palerider7171]

If it was an actual German design, a scout car is probable, maybe a command car so officers could observe forward positions safe from small arms fire, a courier vehicle especially urban warfare to allow protection between positions for messages, rearming pined down positions, lastly and escape pod for high level officers trapped at a position.

[@1SemperDad]

The profile of the engine at time mark 5:43 looks specifically like a aircooled VW engine. Not sure whether this is based on documented fact or artist license. The engine at this point in time would have been 985 CCs or later around 1943 1121 CCs. They would have only produced 23-25 horsepower.

[@Chef_Alpo]

Back in I think '89 I had a GI Joe vehicle just like that except it has a chainsaw chain razor track instead of treads. I have to assume it was based off of this.

[@ottopartz1]

I clicked because I thought that I read Kegelpanzer and thought it would be humorous.

[@conradchikwanda3510]

This reminds me of the cartoon Spiral Zone. There was something similar.

[@lb9355]

10:41 is the truth. They meticulously documented everything because they truly believed they would win and they were preserving their legacy. Besides, look at it. It's clearly a Soviet design.

[@thomasmolloy5447]

The obvious counter to a tank built in the form of a ball would be a giant robot dog!

[@GeorgeF-c4m]

Get the giant croquet mallet!

[@jankarieben1071]

If it’s not a tank, I like the designation, “A.R.V.” or Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle.

[@WetbackNoSetback]

I feel like it has the makings of power armor, like this would be mark 1 barely but thats basically what it is, a one man tank

[@luftmoth]

Do a video on the dornier do 31

[@PeterDuncan-y7n]

Clearing tracks though the jungle

[@ImpecuniousMax]

They should have built a giant pinball table to test it on

[@justinreedflynn]

I can tell that thing is totally incomplete. Probably used in one of the Nazi's "secret wars" we'll never hear about. Imagine it with wheel-covering rubber (with huge Swastika-like treads) and a tall skinny back wheel. That front porthole would have been for like a binocular or monocular attached to the weapon I'd think. It's something like a submarine being mistaken for a boat. The animation shows an old VW car engine, the narrator says a motorcycle engine, but then the narrator says "no engine". I'd believe a car engine. I think it's a sand dune/deep snow vehicle

[@Andre_Kummel]

They went balls up.

[@samuelmelton8353]

Warhammer 40k needs some new units

[@stag.3526]

Welp, there's 11 minutes I'll never get back.

[@roccocoyote]

your channel rocks!

[@Emre_Kermen]

Ball tanks make soo much sense and look really cool. Its a shame they are actually impossible.

[@tompraisan7642]

Hopping tank was my fav tank in the world!

[@TheBitterSarcasmOfMs.Anthropy]

I think my hamster now wants one of these but my house wouldn't survive long

[@traumgeist]

That has to be a test vehicle sent to the Chinese by an American entrepreneur for evaluation, given the commonalities between it and the Modern Mechanix tanks. You can see why they didn’t order any.