Historically, when the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, the weaker side liked to engage in asymmetrical tactics to make up for the gap in strength, and the development of superweapons was one of the specific manifestations. However, the development of these superweapons often does not play its due role except for wasting manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and there are many such examples in modern military history.
Example 1: During World War II, Japan built super battleships
Battleships of the "Yamato" class
Many military fans know that during World War II, in order to make up for the gap with the United States in terms of tonnage and number of naval battleships, Japan built the "Yamato" class super battleships, with a full load displacement of more than 70,000 tons, equipped with 9 460 mm guns, and strong armor protection. Japan's tactic is to make up for the lack of quantity through the quality of individual ships, because Japan's shipbuilding industry and steel production are far inferior to those of the United States, and the conventional arms competition is simply not comparable to that of the United States. Japan's idea was to engage in a decisive naval battle with the United States through super battleships, in a vain attempt to replicate the glory of the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War!
It is a pity that the naval battles in World War II were already the domain of naval aviation, and under the attack of the American aircraft carrier formation, the "Yamato"-class super battleships had very few chances to fire at the American fleet, and they also opened fire on the American escort formation in the naval battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944. The "Yamato"-class super battleships, which were built at great expense, eventually became a living target for the US naval aviation and were sunk one by one.
Example 2: Germany developed a super tank during World War II
"Tiger" heavy tank
In World War II, in order to make up for the lack of tanks, Germany has developed a series of super tanks, the most typical of which is the "Tiger" heavy tank. The Tiger tank is equipped with an 88 mm tank gun, which is very powerful, can easily destroy all types of tanks equipped by the Allies, and its own protection is also very good. In actual combat, a "Tiger" heavy tank can destroy several or even more than a dozen Allied tanks without being scathed, and the exchange ratio is very large. If you ask the tank commanders of the tank units of various countries during World War II to choose tanks, it can be said that almost 100% of them will choose the "Tiger" heavy tank!
However, the shortcomings of the "Tiger" tank are also obvious, due to the complex technology, long manufacturing cycle, low output, high failure rate on the battlefield, the need for good logistics support, coupled with the high cost, it is not a good tank from a strategic point of view. So there is a saying that when choosing a tank as a senior commander, you must not choose a "Tiger" heavy tank. Historically, although Germany built the "Tiger" heavy tank and the better "King Tiger" heavy tank, not only did not change the tide of the war, but accelerated the German rout, because more resources were consumed, and these resources were used to build the "Panther" tank (a medium tank with excellent comprehensive performance), and the role on the battlefield was greater.
Example three, in the 80s of the last century, Iraq developed a super cannon
A section of the barrel of the "Babylonian cannon".
On the eve of the Gulf War in the last century, in order to wrestle with the United States, Iraq developed a super cannon - the "Babylon Cannon", which theoretically has a maximum ground target range of 5,000 kilometers (although this sounds like an unrealistic figure, but at that time it made many countries fearful), and can be used to launch satellites. The Babylon cannon weighs 2,100 tons, is 150 meters long, and can send 2-ton rockets into space.
The cannon was built with the help of Dr. Boole, a world artillery expert who was later assassinated for helping Iraq develop superweapons. Due to Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, the "Babylon Cannon" project had to be suspended and was not completed. It is worth mentioning that during the development of the Babylonian cannon, Boer also visited China to participate in academic exchanges, and gave specific technical guidance to the cannon developed by China and Spain at that time.
Example four, in the 20s of the 19th century, Turkey built super sail battleships
Sail battleship "Mahmoudiye".
In the Battle of Navarino in the 19th century during the Greek War of Independence, the main fleet of the Turkish Navy was severely damaged by the combined fleets of Britain, France and Russia, and the losses of ships and personnel were extremely heavy, and only some small boats were able to escape. After the war, the Turkish Navy summed up the reasons for the fiasco in the naval battle and came to the conclusion that the numerical superiority of cruisers could not compensate for the shortage of battleships, and a 74-gun three-stage sail battleship could easily suppress a number of 28~36-gun cruisers. In order to be able to confront the Anglo-French fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, the Turkish Navy had to have its own sail battleships.
Due to the large number of sail battleships deployed by the great powers in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Turkish Navy decided to plan the construction of super sail battleships, since theoretically one 100-gun first-class sail battleship could fight two 74-gun battleships in a naval battle. Turkey has designed a super battleship with more than 120 guns, which is the "Mahmoudiye"-class sail battleship, which has a full load displacement of more than 5,800 tons, which is much larger than the sail battleships in service with the powers. The ship is the largest warship of the Turkish Navy and the largest sail battleship in human history. The problem is that only one ship of this class has been built - the "Mahmoudiye", and the Turkish Navy has low military quality, so it will not play a role at all.
There are many similar examples in history, so I won't list them all here.