The Shagohod (Russian Шагоход, "step-walker") is a fictional weapon featured in the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It is a crawling rocket-boosted tank with nuclear weapon launch capability (a single SS-20 "Sabre" IRBM). Unlike the Metal Gear mechas (walking tanks) made in the near future like REX and RAY, the Shagohod is mainly a hovercraft with the rear section forming the bulk of the vehicle and carrying the ballistic missile acting as a hovercraft without a skirt. The forward section which is attached and articulated uses Archimedes screws on hydraulic legs to move (the legs set to a horizontal position so the screws can be uses for propulsion when the rocket engines are engaged). The machine weighs 152.5 tonnes, is 22.8 m long by 8.2 m high and 6.4 m wide, has a road speed (without full rocket thrust) of 80 km/h and a range of 650 km. A crew complement of 2 is usual, though one can pilot it.

The Shagohod is armed with two 12.7 mm DShKM heavy machineguns (300 rounds) and two additional turret mounts for anti-aircraft work with 360 rounds each, six 9K112 Kobra Surface-to-Air-guided Missiles (this is according to the many FAQs on the armament of the Shagohod, but really the Kobra is an anti-tank guided missile or ATGM known by the NATO reporting name "Songster"), and a 100 barrel volley gun. Combined with heavy armor, the Shagohod is basically a mobile fortress.

Though the Shagohod may appear to be a precursor to the Metal Gear line, the development of Shagohod is in fact distinctly separate from the development of the initial Metal Gear design - both were developed independently of one another at appoximately the same time, with the simpler Shagohod design reaching fruition before the more complex and technologically advanced Metal Gear.

Interrogate a guard in the Shagohod hangar and he tells you it translates into "The Treading Behemoth". Sokolov also tells you this when you first get to see the Shagohod.

Though originally meant to be a theater-to-intermediate range nuclear weapons platform operable from any type of terrain, the final "Phase 2" design of the Shagohod uses rocket boosters to propel the behemoth to a speed of over 500 km/h (300 mi/h) before firing off its nuclear warhead, essentially acting as an additional stage, doubling the range to ICBM levels. The tradeoff from the original design is that Shagohod requires 5 km (3 mi) of flat, even land (preferably runway) to make effective use of the rocket boost.

The perceived advantage of Shagohod over traditional silos is its mobility and thus relative stealth. As a mobile weapon, it is also suited to more aggressive posturing, leading to the threat of a nuclear first strike with the new system. In reality, the use of rail and multiple axle off-road carriers (see the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car and SS-25 launcher respectively) is the closest to the Shagohod we have gotten.

The Shagohod does have weaknesses; Its treads are susceptible to damage by explosives, immobilizing it, and its rear armor, once its back-section is disconnected, is thin enough to be penetrated by rocket propelled grenades.

The first and only Shagohod model was destroyed by Naked Snake during Operation Snake Eater.