What was the Antonov KT?

The Antonov A-40 Krylya Tanka — "tank wings" — was a Soviet attempt to let a tank glide onto the battlefield after being towed into the air by an aircraft, intended to support airborne forces or partisans. In 1942, a T-60 was converted into a glider, meant to be towed by a Petlyakov Pe-8 or a Tupolev TB-3. The assembly received large wood-and-fabric biplane wings and a twin tail. To lighten it, the armament, ammunition, and headlights were removed, and it was left with a very limited amount of fuel. Behind the design was Oleg Antonov, then a 36-year-old glider designer who would later head the Soviet Union's main transport aircraft design bureau.

On 2 September 1942, test pilot Sergei Anokhin took the controls. The A-40 took off and flew. According to accounts, the tank glided smoothly. However, the TB-3 bomber had to release the glider during that single flight to avoid crashing, due to the T-60's enormous drag. Anokhin detached, glided down, landed in a field, and braked; he then did exactly what the design called for: he jettisoned the wing-and-tail assembly, and the T-60 returned to base under its own power.

No Soviet tow aircraft had enough power to pull it at the required 160 km/h (99 mph), and the project was abandoned.