Any information on when the ISU-122 and 152 soldiered on until (as guns, not ARV adaptations)? With what part of the army and in what kind of numbers? Also the usage of SU-100 is of interest. Some sources state that it was used until even the late 70's, whereas a book I have states that it was replaced with ISU-122 as the standard support gun for soviet armoured and mech. inf. divisions in 1957, and subsequently adapted to ARVs (perhaps it was these that survived into the '70s?). Pretty much anything is useful. Cheers.
I'm afriad I'm familiar with Battlefied.ru and although it has been very usefull, it's not really in depth enough about the post-war usage. Well, at least not in when they were actually used until! Also, that is the source which claims SU-100s survived into the late '70s.
Just a quick reply. The Egyptians did use SU-100s in the 1967 Six Day War, and it soldiered on for a few more years. No recollection of it's use in the 1973 Atonement Day War, but then they already had ATGWs then.
An impressive monster, the ISU-152 was one of the first Soviet heavy self- propelled artillery carriages. Initially, it was based on the KV-1 chassis. When production of KV-1 ceased, the IS Series chassis was used. Entered service in 1943 in time for the battle of Kursk. Served both as an anti-tank gun and a heavy assault gun. Fired a 2-piece cartridge at a rate of only 2 shots/min. Ammunition storage was sparse, requiring supplies by ammunition carriers. Called "Zveroby" (animal killer) by Soviet tank crews because of the devastating effect of its 95 Ib. projectile on Panthers, Tigers and Elephants. Very effective in the Battle of Berlin. Served after the war as late as 1956 where it was used in crushing the Hungarian uprising. Over 700 were produced. Developed into the ISU-130 post war with a 130mm gun -------------------------------------------------- The SU-152 was a dual purpose gun, mounting a 152mm L/32 howitzer on a KV-I chassis. Its tank killing role was outstanding, and it would later be known as Zvierboy (Animal Killer) as it could knock out Tigers, Panthers, but also the giant Elefants. Prototypes of the KW-14 (later SU-152) on modified KW-1s chassis were completed in a record 25 days, and on February 7th of 1943 barely a month after the Russians captured their first PzKpfw. VI Tiger I, and the first twelve of the SU-152s were rushed to Kursk in July 1943, and an additional nine would arrive as reinforcements. SU-152's (as Jagdtigers) carried an explosive charge to destroy the cannon and the engine in case of capture danger. When production of the KV-I ceased in 1943, it was decided to use IS-I chassis as the basis for the new heavy assault gun mounting the 152mm ML-20 howitzer. This gun had the advantage of using the same carriage and recuperator system as the 122mm A-19 gun, so it was possible to produce both an ISU-122 and an ISU-152, simply by changing barrels and reorganizing internal ammo. ISU-152 tanks with the 152.4mm BL-8 howitzer were officially named ISU-152-1, and later ISU-152 tanks with a 152.4mm BL-10 howitzer were named ISU-152-2. For both models, the crew compartments were enlarged, being higher and less sloped sides, while the hatches of the ISU-122 mounted the M1944 L/43 A-19 gun with a wedge breech block and fired a 55lb shell to a range of 13km. A total of almost 2.500 had been produced, the next series of were fitted with the 122mm D-25S L/43 tank gun, with a large muzzle break which had better armour penetration. The 152mm howitzer fired an HE shell weighing 96lbs to a range of 8,9km and, despite its slow rate of fire, its 107lb AP round could start to kill enemy tanks at astounding ranges. ISU-152s played an important part in The Battle for Berlin since its powerful armament enabled it to destroy German strongholds holding up the Russian advance. Additional armament consisted of a 12.7mm DShK machine gun fitted over a roof hatch, and the vehicle often had to be supported by infantry so that the enemy troops not were able to take them out with anti-tank weapons. The main drawback of the vehicle was the limited ammo carriage of just 20 shells, so extra shells were often stowed on the rear deck, as were extra fuel tanks to increase the operational range. The ISU-152 remained in production until well after the war, and the last version of the vehicle was the post-war ISU-130 mounting a 130mm gun.
ISU-130 never entered service, it was purely experimental in reponse to super-heavy german tanks. if it is 1956 then the Russians had no SP gun artillery whatsoever for 14+ years. (barring Oka and Kondensator with only 4 of each made!)
Maybe this explains something on the Red Army self-propelled guns: http://www.battlefront.co.nz/Article.asp?ArticleID=294 The Red Army was always very clear about how its self-propelled artillery was to be used, and it was distinct from how the Germans used their Sturmgeschutzen. The Soviet vehicles were always self-propelled artillery – not assault guns like the Germans had. The Soviet guns were intended to be the used in the same manner as any other direct fire artillery – they move into position and shell the enemy positions just like the crew of a towed 76.2mm ZIS-3 might. They were not intended to move up and participate in close-assaults like tanks or the German StuG III would. A sign of this intended mode of tactical operation is the lack of a machinegun on Soviet SP guns. ---------- But it wasn’t till very late in the war that the ISU series began to receive a 12.7mm AA machinegun. -------- The ISU series remained in production until 1955.
It would appear that Soviet heavy tanks and heavy assault guns remained in the inventory and in service through at least 1970. The last Soviet heavy tank division (using IS III / T-10s) wasn't disbanded until 1969. Giving an exact date would be difficult. Also, the Soviets definitely did continue to produce assault guns on newer chassis at least through the 70's as well (things like an SU-130 on a T-55 and T-62 chassis). As Kai points out, these self-propelled guns are seen more as direct fire artillery than as tank destroyers or assault guns. Their primary role is to 'shoot' the tanks and mechanized infantry onto their objectives. As a secondary role they provide some degree of anti-tank support.
I've never heard of SU-130 on T-55 chassis, only Su-122-54 (aka IT-122, IT standing for Tank Destroyer, like the IT-1 rocket tank)? The only SU-130 on T-62 chassis that i have heard of is the IT-130 on which information is exceedingly sparse and i read that it had simply been an intelligence mistake. Any info you have on such vehicles would be very interesting. Anyway, 1970 is the magic number, I was just checking they were in use prior to this. Thanks for the help.
