Big Wind firefighting jet tank

[Jon]

Big Wind is a firefighting tank, made from a WWII-era T-34 Soviet tank, with two MiG-21 jet engines mounted to its roof. Its primary use is putting out oil well fires.



Although Big Wind does shoot water, its main method of extinguishing fires is by blowing them out with jet engine exhaust. It was constructed by Hungarian engineers, and builds on an old Russian trick of extinguishing oil well fires with a jet engine mounted to a truck.

Each jet engine produces around 27,000 pounds of thrust, and the tank also sprays water at around 220 gallons per second.



Big Wind was notably used in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. Saddam Hussein's army, retreating in defeat, set hundreds of oil wells on fire, in a literal scorched-earth tactic. This sparked a legitimate environmental catastrophe, and an opportunity to show off Big Wind's ability.