These celestial giants lived a short but vibrant life. These colossus were the pride of the USSR, the hallmark of the young Soviet civilization. In the 1930s, many countries tried to build huge aircraft, but domestic aircraft designers achieved the greatest success. Giants such as the six-engine TB-4 and K-7, the eight-engine Maxim Gorky and the twelve-engine G-1 are still amazing. However, the military wanted even more - bristling with guns and machine guns of super-bomb carriers capable of "reaching" Malta and the Suez Canal.