The skating rink of war is not a figurative expression. Someone thinks this brainchild of a gloomy American genius is a mine-clearing machine, someone is a highway tank, but it is, of course, first of all - a symbol of a tank breakthrough, heavy, fast and unforgiving.
This "roller of war" was originally made for minefield clearance and belongs to the category of so-called medium tanks.
During World War II, enemy minefields posed a great danger to tanks. They tried to fight mines in different ways, but it seemed the most rational to teach the tank to make its way. For this, they began to come up with mine trawls of various designs, in which the Americans were leading by the degree of exoticism by a large margin. One of the most interesting examples was the T10 Sherman M4A2. The Sherman tank lost its tracks, and instead got powerful heavy rollers that could crush and blow up mines without risking its own steel skin.
Judging by the various photographs, there were several modifications of such minesweepers, which suggests that this project still had some "life", unlike many other engineering and technical monsters.
Another variant of experiments with the "Shermans" was the trawl of the "Crab" system - a bundle of chains with weights attached to the shaft in front of the tank, which, when the combat vehicle moved, rotated and hit the ground in front of it with all their might. At the same time, clouds of dust rose, and the mines were also blown up at the same time. It turned out to be very spectacular.
