The vehicle had an empty weight of 4,420lb with a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 17,205lb. Its listed overall length reached 39.6 feet. while the wingspan reached 59 feet.
Most, if not all, of the work on the T-60 glider tank was had in 1942 - by which point the system was designated as the Antonov A-40 but also eventually recognized as the "A-40T" and the "KT" in sources. A Tupolev TB-3 four-engined heavy bomber was to serve the project during its active testing phase. However, during the maiden flight held on September 2nd, 1942, the mothership was forced to drop its tank payload due to its sheer weight and generated drag (this despite the tank lacking some of the necessary combat components such as its full ammunition and fuel load). The tank was glided to the surface under control by its driver and managed to survive the precarious fall. This ended the An-40 venture as more conventional weapon systems were relied on instead going forward - and these instruments helping to bring the Third Reich sufficiently to defeat before the middle of 1945.
The An-40 was therefore something of a success and a failure for its short time aloft. The Soviet Air Force lacked a more powerful heavy bomber component to help see the program through and the glider tank concept appeared more-and-more novel with each passing month of the war. Despite this failed initiative, the Red Army continued work in the field during the post-World War 2 period and ended up generating a family of successful lightweight air-droppable tanks complete with an amphibious capability to boot. These systems have developments such as the An-40 to thank for their existence in the Soviet-Russian ranks.
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