Not all historians are convinced that the P.1000 even got as far as an outline design. The general idea for such a big tank was summed up by Heinz Guderian, saying that: "Hitler's fantasies sometimes shift into the gigantic". 1500 Monster self-propelled siege gun, which would have been heavier than the Ratte. Albert Speer saw no reasonable use of the tank and canceled the project in 1943 before any prototype could be manufactured, although this did lead to the concept of the Landkreuzer P. As of Decema few preliminary drawings had been completed, by which time the concept had been named " Ratte" These submitted designs went under the titles OKH Auftrag Nr. Hitler became enamoured with Grotte's concept and ordered Krupp to begin development of it in 1942.
To protect this immense economic investment, the hull of the vehicle was to carry armour up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) thick, and several anti-aircraft guns were to be installed on the vehicle's engine deck to fend off Allied ground-attack aircraft. It consisted of a fully tracked chassis carrying one of the surplus main gun turrets left over from the planned refitting of the Scharnhorst-class battleships. The study led to a suggestion from Krupp's director (Grotte), a special officer for submarine construction, who, on 23 June 1942, proposed to Adolf Hitler a 1,000-tonne self-propelled gun which he named " Landkreuzer" ("Land Cruiser"). The development history of the Ratte originated with a 1941 strategic study of Soviet heavy tanks conducted by Krupp, the study also giving birth to the Panzer VIII Maus super-heavy tank. The project gained the approval of Adolf Hitler, who had expressed interest in the development of the tank, but was cancelled by Minister of Armaments Albert Speer in early 1943. The tank was planned to be 1000 tonnes, being far heavier than the Panzer VIII "Maus", the heaviest tank ever built (weighing 188 tonnes). Submitted designs and drawings of the vehicle went under the names OKH Auftrag Nr. 1000 "Rat") was a design for a 1000-ton tank to be used by Germany during World War II which may have been proposed by Krupp director Edward Grotte in June 1942, who had already named it " Landkreuzer".
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