SU-152 "Taran"

SU-152 "Taran"
Type	Tank destroyer
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
Produced	1965
Number built	1
Specifications
Weight	27 metric tons
Length	6870 mm (hull)
Width	3120 mm
Height	2820 mm
Crew	4
Armour	30 mm (hull front, turret front)
Main armament	152.4 mm M-69 "Taran" rifled gun (9045 mm long barrel)
Engine	V-54-105 diesel engine 353 kW
Transmission	mechanical
Operational range	280 km
Speed	63.4 km/h

SU-152 "Taran" (СУ-152 "Таран") was a Soviet experimental fully enclosed and armored tank destroyer built in 1965.

History

In the early 1960s the Soviet military revealed that the armor-piercing ammunition, used by the T-54 and T-55 medium tanks, and the T-10 and T-10M heavy tanks, were unable to penetrate the hull front nor the turret front of the American M-60 second generation main battle tank or the British Chieftain main battle tank. To fight successfully with these tanks, the Soviets began a parallel work in different directions : development of new APDS and shaped charge ammunition for the contemporary tank guns, new rifled and smoothbore tank guns with a caliber of 115-130 mm, anti-tank missiles etc. One of these projects became the SU-152 "Taran". The factory designation was Object 120 (Объект 120). In terms of firepower and mobility it was surpassing all foreign tank destroyers. Something similar was the British FV 4005 Stage 2, armed with a large 183 mm gun, developed in July 1955. The main reason SU-152 "Taran" wasn't adopted was the development of effective 125 mm smoothbore tank gun and anti-tank missiles.

Armament

The SU-152 "Taran" was armed with the 152.4 mm M-69 "Taran" rifled gun, with a barrel length of 9045 mm, fitted with a powerful muzzle brake. With an overall length of about 10 meters this is probably the longest gun of any type ever built installed on a fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle. The gun had a maximum direct fire range of 2050 meters. The SU-152 "Taran" carried 22 rounds of APDS and high-explosive ammunition. The gun had a semi-automatic breech block, with a rate of fire of 3-5 rounds/min. The high-explosive ammunition had a 43.5 kg shell and a maximum charge of 10.7 kg. Firing the 12.5 kg APDS shell with a maximum charge (10.7 kg), which gave it a muzzle velocity of 1720 m/s, the M-69 "Taran" had an armor penetration of 290 mm of RHA at 90° at a range of 2000 meters.^[1]

The FV 4005 Stage 2 had a similar armor penetration, about 300 mm of RHA at 90° at a range of about 2000 meters, using a HESH ammunition.

References

1. ^ Опытная самоходная установка "Объект 120"