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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Wot's faster than a warbuggy, more killy than a warbike, and flies through da air like a bird? I got no bleedin' idea, but I'm gonna find out.''
In the military, innovation has driven military conquest as someone found new ways to do something that was better than what came before. However, in [[Speculative Fiction]], it seems that a lot of people have decided [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|combining previous concepts into one über-machine]] is easier than [[Creative Sterility|coming up with something original]].
Enter the
While generally members of [[Speculative Fiction]] or [[Science Fiction]], these can also show up in [[Steampunk]] as well. See [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]] and [[The Battlestar]] for specific [[Sub Trope|Sub Tropes]].▼
▲While generally members of [[Speculative Fiction]] or [[Science Fiction]], these can also show up in [[Steampunk]] as well. See [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]] and [[The Battlestar]] for specific [[Sub
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Land Battleship ==
The [[Base
=== [[Anime]]
* ''[[Gundam]]'' has a slight love affair with these, which have featured from the beginning to the more recent ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]''. Perhaps the most bizarre version was the Battleships of the [[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
** The ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' spinoff ''[[Gundam SEED Astray]]'' shows that that universe's land battleships are ''amphibious''; though designed specifically for land combat, they use an exotic "scale system" that works just as well on water as on land. ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' reverts to the relatively more conventional "giant tank" with tracked propulsion in the form of the [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed-destiny/hannibal.htm Hannibal class].
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' goes typically overboard, by making the [http://www.gurren-lagann.net/mecha/images/daigurren.gif featured land battleship] a literal ''battleship on legs'' and a [[Humongous Mecha]] to boot (ironically, it requires special adjustments to cross water). General Guame's Dai-Gundo is more typical of this kind of thing. {{spoiler|Ignore the phallic connotations of its design.}}
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** The humanoid designs are [[Justified Trope|justified]], as in the series, the human form is more conducive to spiral energy.
* The ''Rhinoceros''-class ships in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]: Original Generation''.
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' gives us [http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/Vehicles#G-1_Base several] [http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/Vehicles#Longdan types] of land bases, which are basically airships on the ground (until they perfect the float systems, anyway). The actual development of Knightmares themselves were stated to be a result of this, since the 1st and 2nd "Generations" were the result of cobbling together existing technology (Factspheres, Landspinners, emergency cockpits, legs, etc.) together [[For Science!]]. The 3d generation Ganymede was the first true unique advancement in the technology.
* ''[[Mai
=== [[Literature]] ===
* The titular Land Leviathan from [[Michael Moorcock]]'s 1974 novel "The Land Leviathan".
* The ''original'' land battleship, from the story "The Land Ironclads," by H.G. Wells, is possibly the earliest example, predating actual tanks.
* [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''[[Bolo
* ''[[Posleen War Series]]'': The Tiger IIIs from ''Watch on the Rhine'' are land battleships. The design of the Tiger III is never specified, but it is also known to be capable of shooting down spacecraft in low orbit as well as taking out swarms of [[Horde of Alien Locusts|Posleen]].
** The SheVa unit "Bun-Bun" has added weapons and equipment to arguably make count as a land battleship, but it still isn't quite on the same level as the Tiger IIIs. Other SheVa units, however, are more akin to just really big mobile artillery pieces.
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s short novel ''[["If This Goes
* Scott Westerfeld's [[Leviathan (
* Spoofed in the [[Harry Harrison]] short story ''Navy Day''. The US Army declares their waterbourne rivals obsolete after developing a technology that enables vehicles to drive on the ocean. Naval scientists work frantically while Congress debates whether to abolish the Navy once and for
* Subverted in Harry Turtledove's ''[[
** At the same time, they have the word "cruiser", which is a naval term, despite the Race hailing from a [[Single Biome Planet|desert world]] with no oceans or any other major bodies of water. In fact, it's specifically mentioned that our battleships and aircraft carriers are a mystery to them. They also call their spacecraft "ships", and it's not just [[Translation Convention]] either. A Chinese woman who has studied their language wonders why "planes that never land" are called "ships". The Race obviously can't think of space travel in terms of [[Space Is an Ocean]] because they never had an [[Age Of Sail]].
=== [[Live
* GoGoVoyager from ''[[Go Go Sentai Boukenger]]'' is basically a battleship with wheels (and a terrain-flattening roller), able to go from sea to land and leave a path of devastation. Did we mention [[Combining Mecha|it also seperates into five assault vehicles]] [[Humongous Mecha|AND combines again into a big horkin' robot?]]
* [[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger|Ultimate Daizyujin]]/[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Ultrazord]]. [[Description Porn]] warning: Start with an oversized robot brachiosaurus on wheels. Split the tail into two [[BFG
=== [[
* The Imperial Baneblade in ''[[Warhammer
* [[Truth in Television]]: there was such a school of thought in 1920s to 1930s advocating the use of powerful vehicles to serve as trench-breakers and infantry support. As the expected pace of warfare was restricted by both technological limitations and the speed of infantry, these largely concentrated on larger and more heavily armoured vehicles. ▼
** Both the British and Germans considered building these during [[World War II]]. The Germans prototyped at least one, with several more designs in the works before the war's end prevented their construction. By contrast, the British eventually gave up on the concept due to it being more expensive than it would be worth. ▼
** [http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-viii-maus-porsche-typ-205-tiger-iip.htm Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus]. "Mouse". At 188 tons, it is the heaviest tank ever constructed. Yeah, they really built this monstrosity.▼
*** [[Reality Ensues|Reality Ensued]]: it was a total failure. Sure, it had a [[BFG]] and was a fortress on wheels, but it broke windows on nearby buildings when it moved, and bogged down on anything except asphalt, cobblestone, or concrete.▼
** One proposed German design featured ''a pair of battlecruiser cannon''. It's none other than the [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=293 Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte] (Literally "Rat"; the fact that they called it "land cruiser" rather than "tank" is in and of itself telling). Wanna know what it would have looked like? [http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/mauspic/ratte100.jpg Have fun]. Note the soldier standing on top for scale.▼
*** Oh, it gets worse/better than that. Around the same time as the Ratte, they were also working on the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster, which would've been ''even bigger'', with a ''[http://paradiselost522.250free.com/dora_color.jpg Dora gun]'' mounted on it. Fortunately for the Axis (and to a ''much'' lesser extent, the Allies), Albert Speer realized how idiotic both projects were and canceled them.▼
** French [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=282 Char 2C]. 69 metric tons.▼
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲* The Imperial Baneblade in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' is a tank the size of a large house and mounts no fewer than 11 separate weapons ranging from high explosive cannon rounds, laser cannons and bolter (fully automatic armoured-piercing RPG) turrets. It should also be noted that the Baneblade chassis is the ''standard'' chassis which Imperial super-heavy tanks are usually based on. Like, for example, the Shadowsword [[Humongous Mecha|Titan]]-killer - a Baneblade chassis housing a [[BFG|Volcano Cannon]], usually found on the Titans that it is designed to destroy. Even larger examples of Imperial land battleships include the Ordinatus (tracked [[Wave Motion Gun]]) Leviathan (mobile command centre, basically a castle on tracks) and Capitol Imperialis (APC ''for tanks''). And let's not get started on the Imperium's [[Humongous Mecha]], the Titans, which are often referred to as "walking battleships."
** In older versions of the setting, the Baneblade chassis was said to be the size of a ''city block''.
** Though, to a certain extent, anything built by Orks qualifies.
** Not to mention Chaos has daemonically possessed/traitorous versions of all the above, sporting screaming mouths the size of houses and bladed tentacles the size of trains.
* The ''Ogre'', one of several classes of autonomous robotic moving fortresses from the game of the same name (and its successor, ''G.E.V.'') from Steve Jackson Games. The concept is partially derived from [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''[[Bolo
* [[Dystopian Wars]] has Land Battleships large enough to mount [[Up to Eleven|Saint Paul's Cathedral]] on their backs, while also carrying various weapons that make them more than able to live up to their moniker.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* ''Planetside'' - The Sunderer (and its variants) are basically ''giant'' (they're the size of a house) buses, with massive spikes on front, and tank cannons on top. And they can carry [[Powered Armor|MAX units]]. Oh, and they can use a EMP pulse on anything near them, making them minefield sweepers as well.
* ''[[Haze]]'' - The Land Carrier is what its name suggests: rather than a Land Battleship, it's a rather useless land helicopter carrier which seemingly whiles away the hours by driving in circles.
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** ''Metal Slug 2'' - The [http://metalslug.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Shiee Big Shiee], the boss of mission four.
** ''Metal Slug 5'' also has the boss of Mission four, which is a Land ''Submarine'' that can [[Sand Is Water|submerge itself in the desert]].
* ''[[
** In the sequel, all of the Cybran ships can do that, with the right research.
* ''[[Command
** ''Red Alert 3'' does one better, with ''amphibious battleships.'' Not a battleship-sized tank on treads, but a literal
** See [[
* The Marmotah from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' fits this trope to a T.
** So does the Batomys.
* ''[[Noitu Love|Noitu Love 2]]'' has one as its [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK37gN7kCwQ very first boss]. Humorously, when defeated, it sinks despite being fought ''on a city street''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' gives us a literal land dreadnought, the Tartarus.
* In ''[[Chrome Hounds]]'', there's the Tarakian Unidentified Weapon, "M-99 Super Patriot". It is literally a Modern-day Supertanker (you know, the giant, 5 mile long ocean going ship), loaded down with [[BFG|giant (triple barreled) cannons]], [[Kill It
* ''[[Area 88|U.N. Squadron]]'' - Land carriers are used for a few bosses.
* The ''[[Civilization]]: Call to Power'' series has Leviathans, enormous, heavily armed with most weapons of that particular period in that game, but extremely slow moving. In game, the unit is more powerful in every combat statistic than every other unit, but can only move one square per turn, even on roads. Fusion tanks in the same series might also apply.
* The arcade game series ''Raiden'' is chock-full of these, to the extent that in the later games, even the [[Mooks]] are a good example of the "smaller" types.
** The Stage 4 boss in the original is a mobile [[Temple of Doom]].
* Cocoon in ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'' is basically a battleship mounted on treads, complete with a hedgehog.
*
* The final stage of ''[[Battle Garegga]]'' has a giant land-based aircraft carrier.
* ''[[
* ''[[End of Nations]]'' features massive battleship sized tanks armed with more than a [[More Dakka|dozen cannons]].
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' has had a number of these in toy form, although they rarely appeared in the cartoons. One of them, the General ([
* The Nazi wheel tank from the ''[[Justice League (
* [[Losing Your Head|Skullus]], one of the [[Evil Sorcerer
▲* [[Truth in Television]]: there was such a school of thought in 1920s to 1930s advocating the use of powerful vehicles to serve as trench-breakers and infantry support. As the expected pace of warfare was restricted by both technological limitations and the speed of infantry, these largely concentrated on larger and more heavily armoured vehicles.
▲** Both the British and Germans considered building these during [[World War II]]. The Germans prototyped at least one, with several more designs in the works before the war's end prevented their construction. By contrast, the British eventually gave up on the concept due to it being more expensive than it would be worth.
▲** [https://web.archive.org/web/20180316103737/http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-viii-maus-porsche-typ-205-tiger-iip.htm Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus]. "Mouse". At 188 tons, it is the heaviest tank ever constructed. Yeah, they really built this monstrosity.
▲*** [[Reality Ensues|Reality Ensued]]: it was a total failure. Sure, it had a [[BFG]] and was a fortress on wheels, but it broke windows on nearby buildings when it moved, and bogged down on anything except asphalt, cobblestone, or concrete.
▲** One proposed German design featured ''a pair of battlecruiser cannon''. It's none other than the [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=293 Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte] (Literally "Rat"; the fact that they called it "land cruiser" rather than "tank" is in and of itself telling). Wanna know what it would have looked like? [http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/mauspic/ratte100.jpg Have fun]. Note the soldier standing on top for scale.
▲*** Oh, it gets worse/better than that. Around the same time as the Ratte, they were also working on the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster, which would've been ''even bigger'', with a ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20180831122824/http://paradiselost522.250free.com/dora_color.jpg Dora gun]'' mounted on it. Fortunately for the Axis (and to a ''much'' lesser extent, the Allies), Albert Speer realized how idiotic both projects were and canceled them.
* A slightly more modest concept was "put more weapons on it" - to shoot at more targets. The basic idea was to have two machinegun turrets, to fire both right and left while crossing a trench. This wasn't thought out well, because against hard targets you need a strong cannon, while infantry is in cover anyway when you are attacking, trenches are zigzagged (if defenders are competent), and a tank is not supposed to do everything alone either way. The result inevitably was worse than simple specialized designs: too big (easy to hit) and expensive (more limited in numbers) for infantry support and too weak for breakthrough. You can see a more practical solution on Soviet breakthrough tanks (heavies supposed to run ahead without infantry support, thus actually deal with cross-and-suppress situation) of single-turret types from KV-1 on: a machinegun in rear turret ball-mount, which points in the direction opposite to the coaxial machinegun, doesn't take much space or weight, and like AA mount, most of the time leaves the crewman manning it available for other jobs. "More light weapons" works for fast responce rather than quantity - in restrictive terrain where an enemy can pop up anywhere - but again, on specialized vehicles, not battlefield tanks.
▲** French [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=282 Char 2C]. 69 metric tons. Big, but not exactly a land battleship. One short cannon, 4 machineguns.
** British [[wikipedia:Vickers A1E1 Independent|A1E1]], Medium Mk I, and Medium Mk III,
** Even the Germans got in on the act with the Neubaufahrzeug, though having a greater presence of mind, cancelled the idea soon after.
** The Soviet [[wikipedia:T-28|T-28]], nicknamed ''Postivaunu'' (Stagecoach) by Finns in [[Winter War]]. Formidable three-turreted monster, but an abysmal failure in practise. The follow-up [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=346 T-35] was a veritable Games Workshop Tank with five turrets (reused from already produced tank designs, in different variants), but about as much use as you might expect. This one got into series, but soon canceled as obsolete. Their roles were split between [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=254 T-26] (mass produced infantry support tank), KV series (heavy) and T-34 (medium - reinforcing lighter or beefing up heavier forces rather than specialized).
== Submersible Carrier ==
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* The ''[[
* ''[[Gundam]]'' and its multiple continuities had several of these serving to launch both aerial and amphibious mobile suits.
* ''[[Macross Zero]]'' had the Auerstadt as the Anti-UN forces' home base, launching both variable fighters and transforming mini-sub OCTOS.
* The ''Tuatha de Danaan'' from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''.
* The Dai-Gunkai of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. Notable for being one of the few capable of creating ''its own ocean'' when it needs to travel over land.
* The ''Killer Whale''-class subs in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation''.
* UNS ''Daedalus'' from ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' is a submersible [[Humongous Mecha]] carrier.
* At one point, the team manager in ''[[Zoids]]: New Century'' brags that his already massive, snail-shaped Zoid carrier (overlapping somewhat with Land Battleship above) is capable of functioning underwater. Since it can launch flying Zoids, it pretty much counts.
* ''[[Super Atragon]]'': Both the ''Ra'' and ''Liberty'' are submarine-battleships. The ''Ra'' carries and launches jet-powered sea planes.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* ''[[Nextwave]]'' had a cross between an [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]]...and a ''submarine''.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* The ''Starsea Invaders'' series by G. Harry Stine has a US navy which has replaced its surface aircraft carrier fleet with cold fusion powered submarine aircraft carriers.
* USS ''Imperator'' in ''Silent Hunter'' by Charles D. Taylor was a submarine which carried a USMC contingent—a '''battalion''' if I'm remembering this right—and the '''helicopters''' to deploy those Marines '''and''' their supporting artillery pieces ashore. It's basically a submersible version of a ''Tarawa''-class amphibious assault ship, but heavily armed with torpedoes and lasers to defend itself against ordinary submarines, cruise missiles, etc. Also, it has to be '''bigger''' than a ''Tarawa'' so everything can be enclosed to submerge. [[Awesome But Impractical|Of course something that size can '''not''' be made stealthy]], [[Hand Wave|no matter how hard the author waves his hands]]....
=== [[Live
* Honorable mention to the S.S.R.N. Seaview of ''[[Voyage to
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* The USS ''Ticonderoga'' and NGR ''Poseidon'' in ''[[
** And a fan-made [https://web.archive.org/web/20080606000150/http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Rifts/Rifts-Earth-Vehicles/REEF_SSCR-1_Narwhal.htm thing].
* The "arsenal subs" of ''[[Transhuman Space]]'', though it helps that the aircraft are unmanned.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* ''[[
* ''[[Ace Combat]]'' 5 had a pair of these on the Yuktobanian side, although they were actually ballistic missile platforms that happened to be able to launch their own fighters for air defense. The first one, ''Scinfaxi'', had a rear takeoff area for Harriers and F-35s, while the Hrimfaxi had unmanned aircraft in vertical launch tubes (it can even launch them while submerged!).
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' gives us Arsenal Gear, a submersible [[Humongous Mecha]] carrier.
* ''[[Crimson Skies]]'' included a mission where a British submarine carrier, the HMS Barracuda, tries to attack and destroy their own base as well as destroy the Fortune Hunters and their zeppelin in order to hide evidence that they were planning an invasion of Hawaii.
=== [[
* [[Truth in Television]] once again. [
== Amphibious Tanks ==
Aren't just tanks that can travel on water, but often are entirely submersible until they surface on the beach.
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* Perhaps taking the concept from the other direction, the aquatic [[Zoids]] known as War Sharks are shown in the third anime series as being capable of [[Sand Is Water|swimming through the ground]].
=== [[Literature]] ===
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s novel ''[[The Puppet Masters]]'' had amphibious submersibles.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The Fatboy from ''[[
** Preceding the Fatboy were the "Crock" and "Triton" tanks of ''[[Total Annihilation]]'', which also had hovercraft of its own.
** The Cybrans even have a battleship that ''sprouts legs'' and walks onto land.
* [[Metal Gear]] RAY. A giant, walking, swimming battletank, with an armor-piercing water cutter.
* The two [[Boss in Mook Clothing]] tanks in ''[[Raiden]] II'''s second stage, and the Stage 3 boss in most installments.
* The Empire Of The Rising Sun in ''[[Command
=== [[Western Animation]] ===▼
▲* The Empire Of The Rising Sun in [[Command and Conquer|Red Alert 3]] will have the [[Meaningful Name|Tsunami Tank.]] The Stingray from the Soviets is a boat that sprouts legs. And there's the above amphibious cruiser from the Allies. The game makes extensive use of amphibious units, as a way to make the inclusion of sea combat less frustrating and complex.
▲== [[Western Animation]] ==
* On ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', Cobra had a couple, the most notable being the [http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/90/hammerhead/hammerhead_title1.jpg Hammerhead], which was not only a submersible tank, but also a submersible carrier for its own mini-fleet of smaller vehicles.
* "Katastrophe", The first [[Season Finale]] of ''[[
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* See the ''[[
** In the latest Codex: Space wolves there is mention of the Space Wolves batteling Tau under 5 miles of oceans, after having driven their Land Raiders there, on the bottom of the sea.
=== [[
* [[Truth in Television]] yet again; several sorts of [
** A more extreme example is the German "Tauchpanzer" variant of the [
*** More extreme still was the gargantuan proposal ''Midgardsschlange'' for a 60,000 ton armoured, articulated ''train'' that could run on land, the bottom of the sea or even drill underground. It was designed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and got to the vital asking for funding stage before the engineers involved were forced to go work on something sensible.
** The German ''[
** The first working prototype was [http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/UK/tetrarch-light-tank-mk-vii Tetrarch] "Duplex Drive" modification.
** Japanese approached this differently - [[wikipedia:Type 2 Ka-Mi|theirs]] [[wikipedia:Type 3 Ka-Chi|floated]] using removable pontoons.
** The first amphibious tank ''actually produced in series'': Soviet [http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=565 T-37A].
*** The [[wikipedia:PT-76|PT-76]] is probably the most successful of modern amphibious tanks. Arguably, its biggest success is in being cheap, lightweight, and armored enough to serve as an universal chassis for the whole lot of other Soviet vehicles, from self-propelled artillery to SAM launchers, adding more to its
== Amphibious Jet Fighter ==
These can fight equally well in the air or in the water.
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* The VF-0s in ''[[Macross Zero]]'' can, apparently, fly underwater. For short periods, at least. Ironically, this is the early version that runs on jet engines, as they hadn't got the alien fusion reactors working yet. There is an explicit shot of the intakes closing before it hits the surf, and it appears to be coasting.
* The Hammer Head [[Zoids|Zoid]] can do this.
* To quote [[Marine Boy]]'s theme, "Flying sub ahoy!"
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' gave the villainous Night Flight an entire wing of these.
* From [https://web.archive.org/web/20130412235725/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=64 an old comic book].
* Turned [[Up to Eleven]] by the ''[[Star Wars|Clone Wars]]'' comic books, with ''starships'' that operate underwater, crewed by Mon Calamari, appearing during the battle of Kamino. As their commander said while piloting one of the damn things:
{{quote|
* Top Cow's ''Fathom'' comics had one of these in testing, based on a recovered fighter from the race the titular character was from. Semi-F-14ish with variable wings, but mounted with a forward sweep design.
=== [[Film]] ===
* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' (2004) did this with submersible propeller planes.
* Though not explicitly armed, the automated transports used by Syndrome in ''[[The Incredibles]]'' get to Nomanisan Island by air... then go under water to dock.
=== [[Literature]] ===
** The KingFisher in the ''[[
* [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]' ''Beyond Thirty'' (alternate title ''The Lost Continent''): the protagonist is the captain of a Pan-American Navy "aero-sub"
=== [[Live
* The "SkyDiver" from ''[[UFO]]'' was a submarine whose entire front end was a JATO-boosted rocket plane called Sky One. At need, the SkyDiver would flood its rear ballast tanks until its bow pointed upward, and Sky One would launch...from ''under water''. (One wonders how the rocket plane was ''reattached'' to the submarine -- did it have to be refitted in a dry dock?)
* The [[Exactly What It Says
* The Puddle Jumpers from ''[[
** However they required converting the cloaking field to a shield to operate at depth for prolonged periods of time, and the makeshift shields can very quickly drain the battery.
* The "Delta Flyer" from ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', in similar fashion to the above mentioned "Puddle Jumpers", was modified in Season 5 Episode 9 ''Thirty Days'' to operate underwater. Making it a combination spacecraft/submersible. As with all shuttles in the Star Trek universe, it had atmospheric capability and space for multiple crew members, in effect making it a combination spacecraft/submersible/fighter/transport.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* A number of vehicles in the ''[[Rifts]]'' Underseas sourcebook.
* The system defence boats of ''[[Traveller]]'' are capable of flying in space and in atmosphere and can go underwater, at least in the ''[[GURPS]]'' version. It helps that the vehicle rules of ''[[GURPS]]'' practically ''invite'' people to design vehicles that fit this trope.
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** In defence of ''GURPS Vehicles'', it doesn't expect people to be doing this in the middle of a session of regular play. The ongoing design example from the book, incidentally, is more than worthy of inclusion on this page - a [[Flying Car]] (kept aloft by [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]] and propelled by a jet engine, which can also give it a bit of extra speed on land) that's also a submarine, has military-grade electronics and is armed with concealed machine guns. [[James Bond]], eat your heart out.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Almost all scrolling shooters allow the player's air or spacecraft to fly underwater without consequence.
* Although ''[[Star Fox (
* ''[[Command
* ''XCOM: Terror from the Deep'', the second XCOM game, had the player fighting Unidentified Submersible Objects (ie, UFOs that could go underwater) with a small fleet of their own submarine-jets.
* ''[[Elite]]'' had the Moray Star Boat, because aquatic species need to get shot at by [[Space Pirates]] too.
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* Stage 2-1 of ''[[Contra]]: Shattered Soldier'' features a submarine that transforms into a giant VTOL gunship.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' had the S.H.A.R.K. aircraft.
** SHARC was always intended to be strictly a submarine. In playtesting kids started treating the toy as an aircraft.
* ''The New Adventures of He-Man'' had a vehicle capable of submersion, atomspheric flight and space flight called Astrosub.
* The triple-changer Broadside in ''[[Transformers Generation
* Dr. Claw's [[Cool Car]] in ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' can turn into a jet or a submarine.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* The Soviet Union designed a [
* The USA had [https://web.archive.org/web/20130912040955/http://davidszondy.com/future/Flight/flying_sub.htm a similar idea].
== Mobile Factory ==
The is [[Exactly What It Says
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* The ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' was able to build new and replacement mecha (at least it could in ''[[Robotech]]''), not to mention the Zentraedi/Robotech Master factory sattelite. Each of the colony fleets shown in ''Macross7'' and ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' included factory ships as well.
* The [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Chouginga Dai-Gurren]] has the production facilities and raw materials to build several dozen city-sized [[Humongous Mecha|giant robots]] in a matter of days.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* The [[Dark Empire|World Devastators]] from the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] not only did this, but ate the planets they were attacking to get the raw materials. If given enough time, a fleet of World Devastators could consume the entirety of a planet and convert it into new war machines. Including ''more World Devastators''.
** Not just factories then, but also refineries. You also ought to include EVS Construction Droids, which are walking rather than flying factories.
*** EVS droids aren't really military, though. Well, there was that one time [[X Wing Series|Rogue Squadron]] hijacked one and went on a [[Kaiju]]-style rampage to evacuate a section of an enemy city before it could be [[Kill Sat
* The General Systems Vehicles of [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks's]] [[The Culture|Culture]] novels qualify as, among other things, mobile factories. These ships are large enough to be home to billions of people and can crank out other massive ships, as described in '''Excession''.
=== [[Live
* The Cylon Resurrection Ship in ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** More ''Galactica:'' Tyrol actually had his crew build a whole Viper out of spare parts onboard the ''Galactica,'' and a damn good one at that. In fact, due to the availability of pretty much any material ''but'' metal, it was also their only stealth ship.
** The civilian ships also had sewage treatment ships and mining ships.
** Conversely, in the original Galactica series, there seemed to be a shortage of shuttlecraft. Every shuttle in the original series had the same markings (GAL 356) even when the shuttle came from the Pegasus.
* The ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' crew used their [[Matter Replicator]] to replace the shuttles they frequently lost. Eventually they even designed a new shuttle class.
* The seed ships in ''[[
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The restored monolith from ''Dawn of War''. The Necron race is badass enough, but really takes the cake when their headquarters building is brought completely back online. It changes from an ominous black pyramid of doom into an evil floating pyramid of doom and green lightning that can suddenly materialize right in the middle of your base. While it holds the award for the single slowest unit in the entire game, it can teleport, has a gigantic cannon, and regenerates. As if that wasn't enough, it still maintains the ability to produce units. Combine it with the Necron Lord who can buy an ability to stealth units around him and your enemy is clueless what just decimatde his base.
** Although, to be fair, without proper support or preparation, a restored monolith can be ripped to shreds by a properly defended base, leaving you down quite a bit of energy.
* ''[[
** As well as all of its carriers building aircraft, ''[[
* The Protoss Carrier in ''[[
** The Carrier returns in SC2, the Terrans gain the Raven, and the Zerg the Brood Lord. Could also be broadly applied to Terrans as a whole, since their major production buildings can move, although they can't produce units while doing so.
* The GDI and Brotherhood of Nod both possess mobile factory units in the ''Firestorm'' expansion for ''[[Command
** It goes back further than that. Since the earliest C&C games the heart of the base of either side has been the Construction Yard, which deploys from the Mobile Construction Vehicle, an immense truck-like unit that could move to an optimal position and set up. More recent games have given it the ability to pack up again and move somewhere else.
* Aircraft carriers in many [[Real Time Strategy]] games usually operate like this.
* All capital ships (and the carrier-class non-capital ships) are capable of constructing their own fighter escorts in ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]''. This is subverted (or averted?) for the Advent faction, as their fighters are merely psionic constructs.
* The Mothership in the ''[[
** Partially justified in the first game's campaign, as the Mothership was supposed to be mobile, but {{spoiler|the destruction of Kharak}} forced it to begin its journey before the engines were complete (it uses hyperspace jumps to go from one mission to the next). The resulting inability to avoid even slow-moving threats becomes a major plot point.
* The carrier Antaeus in ''[[Hostile Waters]]'' has a large number of nanobots that can create a helicopter, tank, or a few similar things in about a second. You can only have a dozen or so tanks/helicopters/whatever active at a time but when you lose one you can replace it very quickly.
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* The majority of Night Elf buildings in ''[[Warcraft III]]'' are mobile, and while they can't perform their primary function while moving, they ''can'' fight.
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* Some starships in ''[[
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* While not a factory, real naval ships have machine tools on board to fix broken equipment. You can do quite a lot of work on a real aircraft carrier.
== [[The Battlestar]] ==
Starships in most [[Space Opera]] series, including ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]'' takes this to its logical conclusion, by taking the World War II battleship ''Yamato'', fixing it, adding a ([[Trope Namer|the]]) [[Wave Motion Gun]], and putting it in space. It still works on water too.
** And, true to trope, it also has hangars for a squadron of starfighters.
* The ''Nautilus'' in ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' turns out to be a spacecraft that just incidentally happens to make a dandy submarine as well.
* Similarly, many spaceships in anime, especially ones featuring [[Humongous Mecha]], are often capable of operating in the air as well as in space, effectively making them a combination of space ships (see above) plus an Airborne Aircraft Carrier.
** [[Mobile Suit Gundam]], in particular, nearly invents an entire ship class: the Assault Carrier, which is a relatively small ship (usually around 300 meters in length) built to service, launch, and support a single squadron of small craft (usually a mix of mecha and aircrafts) on earth as well as in space. The ''Pegasus''-class ships of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' and their associated decendants (like the ''Argama'' in Zeta) and Alternate Universe cousins (The ''Archangel'' in [[Gundam Seed]]) are all of this type.
** The titular ship from ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' is also an Assault Carrier-type.
** The ''Hagane'' and ''Hiryu Custom'' in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation'', which were also ''submersible''. Also the ''Kurogane'', which was not only submersible, but could also travel ''underground''.
** The titular ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' also fits this trope, plus [[Transforming Mecha|transformations]], and an entire ''city'' within its hull.
** The Chouginga Dai-Gurren from [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]], while having some trouble with atmospheric flight ({{spoiler|you don't want something that used to be THE Moon in your atmosphere}}), fits this trope.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* Averted occasionally in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], though such over-specialized ships usually don't do well - for example, the escort carrier, which can carry as many fighters as a Star Destroyer in a much smaller and less-expensive ship, is pitifully under-gunned. One could send an escort ship with it... or just send a ship that both carries fighters and can adequately defend itself. This has been a design philosophy that has been common throughout the galaxy for thousands of years, from the ships in the Old Republic to the modern Star Destroyers.
** While single-purpose cruisers and carriers are rare, different cultures do make different design emphasis. A Star Destroyer (and most Imperial vessels) is first and foremost a battleship whose fighters are primarily a defensive
** This is largely due to the fact that the Empire favors [[We Have Reserves|easily replaceable]] TIE Fighters that do not have hyperdrive or life support systems. Most Rebel/New Republic ships ''do'' have those things. Rebel tactics are also meant to be small hit and run operations where the presence of a capitol ship is not always necessary, while the Imperials mainly use Star Destroyers for force projection.
* Large capital ships in ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' are usually this, carrying not just fighters, but larger secondary craft (often smaller warships in their own right) as well. A particularly striking and unique example would be the (Terran-built) SOL, which is basically three such ships (two spherical 'ultra-battleships' and a cylindrical central section connecting the two barbell-style) usually linked together but capable of [[Detachment Combat|separating from each other]] if needed. That's
=== [[Live
* As mentioned, ''[[
* There were about three ships in ''[[Star Trek]]'' that fall under this sub-trope that we've
* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' the Go'a'uld standard heavy Ha'tak class exemplifies this. The humans get in on the action with the ''Prometheus'', a small flying space carrier with eight fighters and a notable array of its own weapons, designed to be capable of challenging Goa'uld motherships. The larger ''Daedalus'' class ramps it all up further, particularly when the ''Odyssey'' gets state-of-the-art Asgard beam weapons, fully qualifying it as a battle-carrier.
** The Wraith also get in on the action with their ridiculously-massive Hive ships that spew hundreds of Dart fighters while firing powerful batteries of energy blasts.
** Even the Ancient city-ships like Atlantis could be this way, given that they have dozens of puddle jumpers. However, puddle jumpers are more akin to ''[[Star Trek]]'' shuttles than fighters, although in the right hands they can do plenty of damage. They're also very rarely used in big battles. In fact, the only two times they were used en masse (i.e. more than one) was during the siege of Atlantis (against a single Dart) and to play a game of ''Asteroids''.
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''. Though the ''Galactica'' and other Battlestar-class ships seem to operate primarily as fighter carriers, the ''Galactica'' has demonstrated repeatedly that it is more than capable of taking on a Cylon Basestar in close combat.
** And, of course, there's the ''Pegasus'', shown to be positively ''bristling'' with [[BFG
* The Alliance cruisers in ''[[Firefly]]'' appear to be multipurpose combinations of warships and fighter carriers, equipped with "gunships" that are used to engage targets, as well as some type of large laser/torpedo weapons system.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The [[Cool Spaceship|Panther]] in ''[[X (
** The last part is easily justified: the setting is known to have gravity control, which inertial dampers are generally an outgrowth of.
** More standard M1 carriers are a lesser example. They have lots of guns and fighters, but don't have the stamina or resilience of dedicated M2 destroyers.
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* Many large capital ships in the ''[[Free Space]]'' series (for example the ''GTD Aquitaine'' in Freespace 2) carry dozens, if not hundreds of strikecraft. They're fully fledged warships that make mincemeat out of smaller capitals and have dozens of anti-fighter and anti-warship turrets to boot.
* In ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]'', direct combat capital craft, whilst incapable of supporting strikecraft initially (unlike the specialized carrier capital craft), can gain strikecraft support slots as their combat experience increases.
* The Great Fox in ''[[Star Fox (
* The [http://imgur.com/NGKH6.jpg Titans] of [[
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* Most ships in ''[[Warhammer
* Dropships in ''[[
** Speaking of Warships: Biggest guns in the game, anywhere from 2-10 times as powerful as their Aerospace/Battlemech equivilants. Carries more guns than a battalion of battlemechs. ''Often transports Dropships.'' That's right, it's a carrier that carries other carriers. Mercifully rare, as most were lost or destroyed during the Succession Wars.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* The Soviet-built cruiser-carriers fit here, carrying both anti-ship missiles and aircraft. Rather than a last-ditch self-defence mechanism like most carrier armaments, the design intention was for the ''Kiev''- and the ''Kuznetsov'' class to be capable of both serving in both ship roles in a fleet role.
** These were mostly built because the Soviet Union couldn't afford to field full-fledged aircraft carrier battlegroups required to match the American ones. The missile cruisers were designed to approximate the versatility of an entire battlegroup.
** Also, if it is an aircraft carrier, it is denied passage through the Dardanelles by international treaty. If it is a cruiser that ''just happens'' to carry aircraft, it can pass.
* During [[WWII]], the [[Katanas of the Rising Sun|Imperial Japanese Navy]] experimented with hybrid battleship/carrier designs like the [
* A number of American aircraft carriers in [[World War II]] had batteries of 8 inch guns to defend themselves from enemy warships. They were removed after it became apparent that enemy ships just weren't going to get close enough often enough for it to matter. Ironically, the ended up putting somewhat smaller 5 inch gun batteries on the carriers later to be used as anti-aircraft batteries.
* Indeed, many of the earliest aircraft carriers were less dedicated carriers and more conventional warships with flight decks put on them to see if they could get some effective use out of these newfangled flying contraptions. Several years of development of the idea ensued before they began to resemble the flat-topped ships we are familiar with today.
== Others ==
* At some point, most silly works will include efforts to make a flying tank. Sometimes this will be to just slap wings on that ever-so-aerodynamic thing, the main battle tank.
** That would include the A-Gears in ''[[Air Rivals]]'', which are not so much an aircraft but a ''flying hovercraft tank'' that's capable to not only traverse land and aquatic terrains, but also ''latch itself onto edges of ravines and cliffs''. To hammer the point home, one of the equippable armors had wings on it. Predictably though, its survivability drops down once it actually does take to the air, especially when pitted against other, more fighter-oriented Gears...
** The Landmaster in ''[[Star Fox (
** The Soviets attempted to build a flying tank during [[World War II]] as an attempt to bring a tank very quickly into battle. Basically a tank with wings and tail strapped to it, it's more of a glider - a bomber would tow it into the air, then it would sail into the battle field, land, ditch its wings and tail, and start blasting away at the enemy. It was cancelled because they didn't have a towing plane with enough engine power to haul the hulking thing into the air fast enough.
** Imperial tanks in [[Empire From the Ashes]] use a fully-functional gravitonic drive, and can hit Mach 2 in atmosphere. [[Lightning Bruiser|They are also heavily shielded]], and capable of deploying more conventional tracks for increased stability and decreased power budget.
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* [[Humongous Mecha]] in most Real Robot settings seem to be mashups of your average infantry soldier and an armored tank or jet fighter.
* The Mobile Armours of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' are often even straighter examples: Large non-humanoid units, built with the same technology as Mobile Suits, that acted as more specific machines like submarines, flying tanks, land battleships, and more.
** Zoids are the animal versions of the same principle.
* The Grandia Tank in ''Nadia'' is a triple threat: a tank on land, an airship, and a paddle-wheeled boat. It runs off [[Steampunk|steam with punch card controls!]]
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has airships that are submersible, a [[Humongous Mecha]] that turns into a fighter jet-thingie, and another that turns into a ''submarine''.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* ''[[Blackhawk]]'' comics were in love with this trope. Along with the
* ''[[Airboy]]'' had [https://web.archive.org/web/20190929022712/http://www.superdickery.com/?id=501:the-wheels-of-eboli&option=com_content tank-tracked] giant [[Monowheel Mayhem|monowheels]].
* Marvel has the [http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/images/thumb/3/3c/Helicarrier_Head2.jpg/440px-Helicarrier_Head2.jpg S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier], which is [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin]]. Spoofed by Warren Ellis in Nextwave with the[http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n11/impbianco/09Aeromarine.jpg H.A.T.E. Aeromarine], which is a bunch of submarines welded together and equipped with oversized rocket thrusters.▼
* Marvel has the [http://marvel.com/universe/S.H.I.E.L.D._Helicarrier S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier], which mostly resembles a Zeppelin gondola minus airbag with engine housings beefed up and turned up (to helicopter position).
* ''G.I.Joe'' has the mashup machines; they tended to make a small appereance or two, then explode. ▼
▲*
▲* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' has the mashup machines; they tended to make a small appereance or two, then explode.
=== [[Film]] ===
* This was the central plot point of ''[[The Three Stooges]] In Orbit'': a professor builds a vehicle that's a submarine with tank treads and rotor blades. When it's stolen, the military has problems figuring out who should stop it. It lands: 'Call the Army!' It takes off: 'Call the Air Force!' Eventually, it goes over the ocean, to the relief of the commander: 'Call the Navy!'
=== [[Literature]] ===
* [[Dale Brown]]'s EB-52 Megafortress and other machines that fall into the [[Cool Plane]] category are essentially mash-ups of heavy bombers and fighters. Since in real-life the most difficult changes would involve changing some programming lines in a radar's software and adapting the bomb bay to carry an ''[[Macross Missile Massacre|obscene]]'' [[Macross Missile Massacre|amount air-to-air missiles]], this concept [
* Navy pinnaces in the ''[[
* From the [[
{{quote|
* Similar to the ''Lensman'' example above, the ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' universe gives us the so-called 'Shift' -- an amphibious, flight-capable, yet still tracked tank usually equipped with [[Deflector Shields]] and energy weapons that can operate and fight in pretty much any environment, including some of the more extreme alien ones.
=== [[Live
* Federation ships in ''[[Star Trek]]'' tend to be science-vessel/warship hybrids. There were a few exceptions, like the ''Defiant'' class, the ''Sabre'' class, and possibly the ''Prometheus''- and ''Akira''-class ships, which were dedicated warships.
* The ''[[Andromeda|Andromeda Ascendant]]'' takes large parts of [[The Battlestar]], and adds troop transport, science vessel, mobile factory, diplomatic vessel, planet killer and ''star destroyer'' to boot. All such ''Glorious Heritage''-class heavy cruisers have such capabilities.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Some [[Transformers]] have multiple forms, resulting in things like this. Perhaps most well-known is the Decepticon Triple-Changer Blitzwing, whose alternate modes are a MiG-25 and a Type-74 tank. The most over-the-top, though, would have to be Sixshot, a Decepticon with ''six'' alternate modes who can take on entire teams of enemies single-handedly.
** Anything with [[Transforming Mecha]] really, when you basically have tanks that turn into mechs. Literally when you bring [[Combining Mecha]] into the equation.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* In the ''[[
** The Carrier-class ships from the first game also functioned as factory/carriers, but weren't able to build the larger ships (like Carriers) and were much faster and more maneuverable than the Mothership.
** In the ''Cataclysm'' expansion, it's possible to add "battleship" to the number of roles it fills. While still fairly vulnerable, it was much more capable of fending off fighters and small capital ships on its own. With a particular upgrade, they could even wipe out enemy fleets.
** In ''Homeworld 2'', though, the Mothership went back to being vulnerable to pretty much anything, and ''another'' factory/carrier ship, the Shipyard, was added. It could build the largest ships in the game, which the regular Mothership couldn't, but was even slower and less maneuverable.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' features the main protagonists and antagonists using a mash-up of guns and [[Katanas Are Just Better|swords]]. The user would load a cartridge into the "gun" part and "fire," which would cause the blade to vibrate and [[Rule of Cool|magnify damage]].
** [[Real Life]]: There were real examples of Sword-Guns, though they weren't very popular. Commonly, they involved a knife/revolver combination.
** Of course, the rifle bayonet is a somewhat more successful example of a gun/edged weapon hybrid.
** While not edged, the powerhead (aka "shark stick" or "bang stick") uses a similar principle in a "jab with a stick" fashion.
*** Parisian hoodlums who called themselves the "Apaches" had weapons that could be used as a dagger, a revolver, or a set of brass knuckles.
*** Some [[
** The 'gunblade' of Final Fantasy VIII is actually more akin to the [[Vibroweapon|vibroblade]] concept, which is quite popular.
* ''[[
** Then there's the Viking in ''[[
* ''[[Command
* To a lesser extent, the Sonic the Hedgehog titles. The easiest example being the Egg Carrier, having a runway on the front of it, robot construction rooms in the interior (complete with "training" areas), as well as a couple entire stages within it.
* ''[[Chrome Hounds]]''. Yes, the titular [[A Mech
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'''s ''Shagohod'' was a tank/hovercraft/ICBM launcher hybrid. With legs. They were just forelimbs, meaning it couldn't walk upright like the titular Metal Gear, so it compensated with a pair of Archimedes' screws. Have we mentioned it was rocket-boosted?
* ''[[Strange Journey]]'''s unique model of dimensional-hopping warship model definitely counts. It has fabrication labs for weapons and technology development, outer weapons systems, plasma shields, hospital sectors, an AI navigator, and, oh, yes, ''rocket-boosted VTOL capabilities''.
=== Webcomics ===
* ''[[Spacetrawler]]'' features [http://spacetrawler.com/2011/07/10/spacetrawler-152/ the Purfin M-32], essentially a boat with all-terrain wheels, rockets, and wings.
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' got all sorts of crazy things, thanks to all the [[Mad Scientist]]s. Aside of just about every uncommon sort of land-, water- or air- borne vehicle that already got its page, there were:
** Hammer tank.
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130215 Artillery] motor scooter (scooter-shooters were actually produced, however — see [//military.wikia.org/wiki/Vespa_150_TAP Vespa 150 TAP]).
** British "sea serpent" sub-hunters. It's a submersible vessel that looks like an armoured train… with teeth. And is robust and powerful enough to [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20171227 raise a significant portion of its length out of water], too.
=== Web Original ===
* Courtesy of [[The Onion]]: the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131104112251/http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-axes-pentagon-plan-to-build-billion-dollar-t,14351/ Dragon Tank].
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140501023137/http://
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Arguably, the original aircraft carrier was a working real-life example of this, attempting to combine an airbase with a ship.
** ...and while we're at it: the [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]] in all its many incarnations.
** British carriers of [[World War
*** Also worthy of mention are the M-class submarines, which began as a project to fit a 12in battleship gun on a submarine, and which ended up in one case as a submarine aircraft carrier.
*** Partly to get around the Second London Naval Treaty and partly because they just did things differently, the Soviet Union built four "aviation cruisers", essentially VTOL aircraft carriers with anti-shipping missiles built in. The VTOL aircraft, the Yak-38 "Forger" was spectacularly poor. The current sole Russian carrier, the ''Admiral Kuznetsov'' is also an example, albeit a full-length one with Su-33 fighters on.
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** Many battleships carried seaplanes; today, many destroyers and cruisers carry helicopters, as did the ''Iowa'' class battleships when they were brought back into service in [[The Eighties]].
*** Many battleships were built before radar was around, so the seaplanes served the scouting function. Now that we have radar, the seaplanes have been replaced by helicopters to serve in the ASW role.
*** And then there [http://www.damninteresting.com/submersible-aircraft-carriers were] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120418165535/http://www.regulus-missile.com/SubmarineWings.htm many] [http://www.navalofficer.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=288:carriersub&catid=44:submarines1&Itemid=80 attempts] to carry planes on a submarine, including Japanese "Sen Toku" with 3 torpedo-bombers.
** The unlucky French submarine [
* The Israeli [[Tank Goodness|Merkava]] is arguably a mild example, armed as well as any other main battle tank in the field AND capable of doubling as an APC. Some are even equipped as [[Deadly Doctor|ambulances]]. In practice, though, the Merkava's rear compartment is normally used to carry extra ammo for the main gun. On the other hand, it made adapting the Merkava chassis into a pure APC (something that would be virtually impossible with most modern main battle tanks) not only plausible but easy, resulting in the Namer (contraction of "Nagmash" (Hebrew for APC) and "Merkava"), the most heavily armored APC in current use.
* Successful real life example with the Russian MI-24 Hind helicopter, which was designed to combine the roles of a transport and attack helicopter. However, serving as a transport made it bigger and less maneuverable than a pure attack helicopter. Though in terms of pure straight-line speed it's still the fastest attack helicopter to ever go beyond the prototype stage.
* [http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/strange_vehicles/x-wing.html RSRA X-Wing]. (No, not [[Star Wars|that X-Wing]].) It's a plane! It's a helicopter! It's a plane ''and'' a helicopter!
* See [http://www.amazon.com/My-Tank-Fight-Zack-Parsons/dp/0806527587/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205083504&sr=8-1 My Tank is Fight!] for a look at flying tank ideas, among other
* Several countries [
* Wouldn't be a complete article without mentioning [
* The AC-130 is cool, but similar attempt was done on at least two [https://web.archive.org/web/20131206213200/http://www.stormbirds.net/variants262a1aU4.htm ME262], the Me262 A-1a/U4 variant, with 50mm Anti-tank cannon fitted on its nose. Consider WWII have light tanks with smaller cannons.
* The Boulton Paul Defiant: a WWII RAF fighter/interceptor with a machine gun turret behind the cockpit and no forward armament.<ref>
*
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