By mid-1942, the Soviet Army - now on the offensive against German/Axis invaders - desperately needed a self-propelled counter-siege weapon system to expand the network of fixed fortifications along the Eastern Front. Up until this point in the war, the Army still relied on wagons and vehicle-mounted howitzers for this role, but this exposed the crew (and transport vehicles) to all kinds of dangers on the battlefield.
It also became increasingly difficult to transport such weapons over soft terrain during the Soviet winter/spring, and furthermore, these existing guns were non-line-of-sight (NLoS) howitzers - they did not effectively double as armor-piercing weapons.
The Soviet Defense Committee began to look for a solution, which ultimately required a heavy self-propelled gun that could be mass-produced in a short period of time. The project began on December 31, 1942, and after only 25 days, the results were already visible. Soviet engineer Joseph Curtin combined the heavy 155mm howitzer ML-20 (model 1937) with the chassis of the existing KV-1 heavy tank, which was approaching the end of its life and production cycle on the battlefield.
This resulted in the identifier "Object 236" of the Chelyabinsk Plant No. 100. The pilot vehicle was evaluated in early 1943 and entered mass production shortly after as "KV-14". In April 1943, the car was renamed "SU-152".
The SU-152 retains the vehicle propulsion components of the original KV-1, including its track and wheel arrangement. However, instead of a rotatable turret that could not accommodate the 155mm gun, the SU-152 had a thick, solid, boxy superstructure above the hull. The massive gun protrudes a little from the front plate, which is 75mm thick for maximum protection. The sides are 60mm thick, and the roof has only 20mm of armor protection.
Since the SU-152 was designed to attack hardened enemy positions and well-armored tanks, frontal protection was a clear design requirement.
With four or five operators inside, point defense against aircraft, light armoured vehicles and infantry is provided by an optional 12.7mm DShK heavy machine gun (mounted on the front right side of the fuselage superstructure). The car was powered by a 600-horsepower V-2K model engine mounted in the rear of the fuselage.
The suspension provides some off-road support via a torsion bar arrangement, and the vehicle is expected to reach speeds of 27 mph on the road.
Due to the size of the main gun (and associated breech) it had to be offset slightly to the right of the centerline, with the driver's position to its left. The gunner and ammunition loader are located behind the driver on the left side of the hull superstructure and have quick access to the ready-to-fire 155mm shells. The vehicle commander and breech operator are located on the right side of the fuselage superstructure.
All in all, the fighting compartment is a cramped, rudimentary workplace with little comfort for the crew.
By this time, the Germans had begun to deploy their mighty "Tiger" heavy tanks on the Eastern Front, this terrifying vehicle was well protected and equipped, the latter being the classic "German 88". - A proven 88mm armor-piercing weapon that started its career as an anti-aircraft (AA) weapon. The armor protection of these machines reached 100 mm, but the series proved to be mechanically unreliable and could not deliver the quantities needed to finally change the fate of Germany.
With the arrival of the SU-152, the Soviet Army finally had a weapon system that could balance the battlefield, as its 155mm gun could also fire effective armor-piercing (AP) rounds against powerful "Tiger" armor from a distance. In some cases, the Tiger's turret was completely blown up by the massive 107-pound cartridge.
SU-152 crews may wish to achieve a rate of fire of around 1.5 rounds per minute, such as large projectiles, in addition to its armor-piercing value, the weapon can still be used as a howitzer, aiming at lightly armored vehicles and fortress positions even when attacked by high-explosive (HE) also becomes useless in case of shell hits.
Despite its success on the battlefield, the SU-152 clearly has room for improvement. The chassis of the KV-1 was being phased out and a more modern solution was needed, so it came in the form of a modified version of the cannon howitzer ("Joseph Stalin") mounted on the new "IS" chassis to start the heavy tank. The SU-152 had been considered as a replacement as early as mid-1943, when the development of this new form began, and after its problems were resolved during testing in September-November 1943, the pilot vehicle was designated " ISU-152". Production starts before the end of the year.
The vehicle is described elsewhere on this website.
- anti-tank/anti-tank
- fire support/attack/damage
8.95m
10.66 ft (3.25 m)
2.45m
50 tons (45,500 kg; 100,310 lbs)
43 km/h
205 miles (330 km)
for everyone else in our database)
1 x 155mm ML-20 howitzer.
1 x 12.7mm DShK anti-aircraft (AA) heavy machine gun (later production).
20 x 155mm shells
SU-152 - name of the basic series; used the chassis of the KV-1 heavy tank.
ISU-152 - An improved form based on the IS heavy tank series frame.