Duane Beckett
World War II produced plenty of famous tanks, planes, and ships. It also produced some deeply strange vehicles, some of which made it to the battlefield. Others never got past the prototype stage, but they still show how far military designers were willing to push ideas when the pressure of war changed everything. Check out these five strange World War II military vehicles below.
Kugelpanzer, the German “Ball Tank”
Kugelpanzer was a small German armored vehicle shaped like a metal ball, and it’s still one of the oddest military machines from World War II.
It was built for one crewman and had two large side wheels, a rear stabilizing wheel, and armor that was only about 5 mm thick. Tank Encyclopedia states that the only known example is listed as Item #37 at Kubinka, and that it was captured by the Red Army, though whether in Manchuria or at Kummersdorf remains disputed.
It was probably meant for scouting, observation, or cable work, not real combat. No known evidence shows it ever fought.
Goliath Tracked Mine, the Tiny Explosive Tank
According to the Imperial War Museum, the Goliath, or Leichte Ladungsträger, was a German expendable miniature tracked vehicle built to deliver explosives by remote control. It looked like a toy tank, but it was a rolling bomb.
Operators guided it by cable toward tanks, bunkers, bridges, or other targets, then detonated it. The Armory Life reported that the first Sd. Kfz. 302 version was ready in early 1942 and carried a 60 kg explosive charge, while later gasoline versions carried more.
The vehicle was used during battles, including at Kursk and Allied beach landings, but it was slow, fragile, and easy to disable.
Panzer VIII Maus Super-Heavy Tank
This German super-heavy tank weighed about 188 tonnes, which Tank Encyclopedia describes as the heaviest operational tank ever made by any nation in any war. It was designed for Nazi Germany by Porsche and Krupp during World War II, with huge armor and a massive gun, but size became the enemy.
Two vehicles were moved to Kummersdorf late in the war; one was blown up, and Soviet forces later captured what remained. It was tested, rebuilt, and shipped to Kubinka, but it never saw real battle.
Landkreuzer P.1500 “Monster” Concept
Picture an 800 mm railway gun shoved onto tracks. That was the basic idea behind the German Landkreuzer P.1500 “Monster,” a proposed super-heavy self-propelled artillery platform from World War II.
Military Factory states it was tied to a 1942 German Ministry of Armaments requirement and would have carried an 800 mm K(E) main gun, with an estimated crew of around 100 or more. It was meant for smashing fortified positions, not tank duels.
The whole thing stayed on paper and was canceled by Albert Speer in 1943. No prototype was built, and no battlefield use occurred, landing the design on our strange World War II military vehicles list instead.
Minenräumer, the Mine-Clearing Vehicle
Old Machine Press found that the Alkett VsKfz 617 Minenräumer was designed during World War II by German firms Alkett, Krupp, and Daimler-Benz to clear mines by rolling over them.
The vehicle had two huge front wheels, one smaller rear wheel for steering, and heavy armor meant to survive mine blasts while opening a safe path for troops and vehicles. Built at Alkett near Berlin, the sole prototype carried chassis number 9537 and was registered as NK-101.
The vehicle was tested, but it never reached mass production and is not known to have been used in combat.