How much is is 2 in wot. "Berlin Troika": packages and combat missions

IS-2 what is it - a Soviet heavy tank of the period of the Great Patriotic War. The abbreviation IS means "Joseph Stalin" - the official name of the serial Soviet heavy tanks produced in 1943-1953. Index 2 corresponds to the second serial model of the tank of this family.

Tank Is-2 - video

During the Great Patriotic War, along with the designation IS-2, the name IS-122 was used on an equal footing, in this case, the index 122 means the caliber of the main armament of the vehicle.

The IS-2 was the most powerful and most heavily armored of the Soviet and allied mass-produced tanks of the war period, and one of the strongest tanks in the world at that time. Tanks of this type played a big role in the battles of 1944-1945, especially distinguishing themselves during the storming of cities. After the end of the war, the IS-2s were modernized and were in service with the Soviet and Russian armies until 1995. Also, IS-2 tanks were supplied to a number of countries and participated in some post-war armed conflicts.

History of creation

Heavy tanks IS-2, IS-85 (IS-1) and KV-85 are descended from the heavy tank KV-1/KV-1c.

The IS-85 (IS-1) and KV-85 were put into service in September 1943, but by the end of 1943 it became clear that they had insufficient armament for a heavy tank. The experience of combat use of the 85-mm D-5 gun on the SU-85 self-propelled artillery mount and experienced shooting at captured heavy German tanks showed that the D-5 gun does not allow achieving decisive superiority over the armament of German tanks, moreover, in terms of its armor penetration it inferior to the German 88 mm tank guns and the 75 mm KwK 42 L70 gun mounted on the Panther tank. It should also be noted that the 85-mm D-5T cannon at a distance of 500-1000 m with a caliber armor-piercing projectile could pierce the forehead of the German Tiger I heavy tank only when it hit close to normal; the upper frontal part of the "Panther" did not break through at all. This put the new Soviet heavy tank at a disadvantage against the ever-increasing numbers of Panthers on the Eastern Front.

Since the main use of heavy tanks was to break through heavily fortified enemy defense lines saturated with long-term and field fortifications, the high-explosive fragmentation action of shells played just as (if not more) important role as armor-piercing. 85-mm shells, borrowed from the 52-K anti-aircraft gun, did not have a high-explosive variant at all (they were fragmentation); although with some types of fuses they could be used as high-explosive ones, their action was only slightly better than that of 76 mm ammunition. This fact was also verified by self-propelled artillery - to combat bunkers and strong bunkers, Soviet commanders preferred the SU-122 rather than the SU-85. However, the turret and gun mounting structure of the IS tank had a significant reserve for installing more powerful artillery systems.

The choice of weapons

In September 1943, the famous Soviet artillery designer F.F. Petrov sent a letter to the chief designer of ChKZ and Pilot Plant No. 100 Zh.Ya. Zh. Ya. Kotin chose the 122-mm A-19 gun to reinforce the armament of the IS tank. After agreeing on the technical details, he received personal consent from I.V. Stalin to install the A-19 gun in the IS tank. In the design bureau of plant No. 9, under the leadership of F.F. Petrov, the A-19 was finalized for installation in a tank - it was equipped with a muzzle brake to mitigate significant recoil, more compact recoil devices, and the controls were moved to one side for the convenience of the gunner in a cramped fighting compartment tank. This modified version of the A-19 was named D-25T, and its mass production was launched at the plant number 9 immediately. At first, there were difficulties in mastering it, so the question of installing the A-19 gun directly in the IS was worked out. However, they were overcome, and further installation of the A-19 in the tank was not required.

Tests

At Pilot Plant No. 100, a prototype of the D-25 gun was installed on the former "Object 237" No. 2 - an experimental version of the IS-1 with a D-5T gun. This experimental machine received the designation "Object 240". In October - November, it was tested by mileage and shooting at the Chebarkulsky training ground. Initially, the D-25 was equipped with a T-shaped muzzle brake, which exploded during test firing. Some sources claim that Marshal Voroshilov, who was present at the tests, was almost killed at the same time. Subsequently, a German-type two-chamber muzzle brake was installed on the IS, and then plant No. 9 developed its own design of a two-chamber muzzle brake, which began to be installed on serial machines.

The IS-2 was adopted by the armored forces of the USSR in accordance with GKO Decree No. 4479 of October 31, 1943. After successful testing of the "Object 240", an order was received to immediately put it into mass production at ChKZ. In November 1943, the assembly of the first mass-produced vehicles began. The new modification of the tank received the index IS-2 (during the war years, the designation IS-122 was used on an equal footing with it, the first samples were sometimes also referred to in units as KV-122). Production continued from December 1943 to June 1945, several machines of this brand were also produced by the Leningrad Kirov Plant.

The baptism of fire of the IS-2 was accepted at the beginning of 1944, and it was forced, breaking off the planned thorough training of the crews for new car. The high fighting qualities demonstrated in battle immediately led to an order to maximize the production of the IS-2. At the same time, test work was interrupted, as a result of which a lot of unfinished vehicles went to the front, and their failures caused a large number of complaints from the troops. To ensure the quality of serial IS-2s and their improvement, at the beginning of 1944, Zh. Ya. Kotin and a number of his employees were removed from design work on new machines in order to eliminate defects in the IS-2 design. The refinement of the machine was difficult: for example, in April 1944, military acceptance reported that there was no significant improvement in the quality of the IS-2 tanks and self-propelled guns produced at ChKZ. However, in the summer of 1944, the ongoing work to improve the quality bore its first fruits - about a third of the produced tanks were able to be accepted the first time, and from November 1944 the quality of the received tanks was officially recognized as satisfactory - Zh. Ya. Kotin was returned to the post of head of the ChKZ Design Bureau and pilot plant number 100. In the winter of 1944/1945. reports from the troops testified that the IS-2 covered the guaranteed mileage of 1000 km with trouble-free operation. The well-established production mechanism for the production of the IS-2 led to the fact that the machines of 1945 were considered quite reliable and undemanding in operation.

Strengthening tank protection

In parallel with work to increase reliability, research was carried out to strengthen the armor protection of the IS-2. The first version, although it was the best in terms of armor protection among all Soviet tanks, was relatively easily hit by 88-mm tank and anti-tank guns of the Wehrmacht. 75-mm long-barreled guns also posed a significant threat to him. After analyzing the damage, the ChKZ designers came to the conclusion that strengthening the armor protection of the turret was no longer possible without a radical redesign of the entire structure, which was impossible in the harsh conditions of mass production. The installation of the 122 mm gun made the turret heavier and disturbed its balance - the center of mass did not lie on the axis of rotation of the turret, which was designed and balanced for the 85 mm D-5 gun. Additional booking, in addition to the general weighting of the machine, would lead to the impossibility of manually turning the tower with any significant roll of the machine and required a much more powerful electric motor to drive the turn. Therefore, the tower was left unchanged. The protection of the armored hull was significantly improved by replacing the "stepped" upper frontal part with a straightened one. There were cases when the upper frontal part did not break through even from the most powerful 88 mm Pak 43 anti-tank gun. However, the lower frontal part still remained vulnerable. The thickness of the frontal armor reached 120 mm, the side armor - 90 mm, but the frontal armored part of some of the tanks was cast, not rolled (the latter, with equal thickness, provides better protection against penetration).

Further work

Further work on strengthening the security of heavy tanks was carried out in parallel by two teams - engineers from ChKZ and Pilot Plant No. 100. Interestingly, the head of both design bureaus was Zh. Ya. Kotin. Each of the teams promoted their projects, but in 1945, under the IS-3 index, the combined version of the Object 703 went into production, which, in fact, was the IS-2 with radically redesigned armor protection, taking into account the experience of the Great Patriotic War.

Design

Layout

The IS-2, in its essence, was a further improvement of the IS-1 tank, which, in turn, was a deep modernization of the previous model of the KV-1 heavy tank. Compared to the IS-1, the armament was more than significantly strengthened, and on modifications mod. 1944 with straightened frontal armor, the protection against enemy fire in the frontal sector was also increased. Like all other Soviet serial heavy and medium tanks of that time, the IS-2 had a classic layout. The armored hull from bow to stern was successively divided into the control compartment, the fighting compartment and the engine-transmission compartment. The driver was located in the control compartment, three other crew members had jobs in the fighting compartment, which combined the middle part of the armored hull and the turret. The gun, ammunition for it and part of the fuel tanks were also located there. The engine and transmission were installed in the stern of the car.

The desire of ChKZ designers to obtain maximum armor with a relatively moderate weight and dimensions of the entire tank led to both positive and negative consequences. The positive side was the efficiency and relatively low material consumption of the IS-2 as a whole - with the same mass of 46 tons, the Soviet tank was much more protected than the Panther, surpassed the 55-ton Tiger I in this parameter and was slightly inferior to the 68-ton "Tiger II". The cons were a logical continuation of this approach - due to the dense layout, the driver's hatch had to be abandoned and part of the fuel tanks should be placed in the fighting compartment. As a result, when the IS-2 was hit, there was a significant chance of igniting diesel fuel and getting it on tankers. In German tanks, gas tanks were located outside the habitable places of the car (although they also had a number of units with flammable liquids). The lack of a driver's hatch more than once led to the fact that a wounded tanker could not quickly leave a burning car (it was necessary to get out through the tower after other crew members) and died from flame or suffocation. Not so significant disadvantages include the placement of the tower in the bow of the hull due to the layout. Together with a long cannon, this made it difficult to overcome obstacles such as ditches and counterscarps. Some of them could be forced only by turning the turret back with a cannon, that is, in combat conditions with the presence of such obstacles, the IS-2 lost firepower. All German heavy tanks had a turret in the center of the armored hull, and the long reach of the gun barrels made it less difficult to overcome obstacles.

Armored corps and turret

IS-2 has a differentiated anti-ballistic armor protection. The armored hull of the tank (except for the front part of some vehicles) was welded from rolled armor plates 90, 60, 30 and 20 mm thick. The design of the frontal part varied depending on the modification of the machine:

IS-2 arr. 1943 had a cast frontal part of a streamlined "stepped" shape, in various parts its thickness varied from 60 to 120 mm.
- IS-2 arr. 1944 was equipped with an improved "straight" design of this part to increase the projectile resistance of the frontal armor. Instead of a streamlined stepped end of a complex geometric shape forehead IS-2 arr. 1944 was formed by two flat armor plates, the upper of which had the shape of a trapezoid tapering towards the top of the tank and an inclination of 60 ° to the normal. Part of the released IS-2 arr. 1944 were equipped with a cast frontal part, the armor thickness of which reached 120 mm; starting from the second half of 1944, as rolled armor of high hardness became available, the frontal part was made welded from 90 mm armor plates.

The frontal part was connected with the rest of the parts by welding. The streamlined turret was an armor casting of a complex geometric shape, its 90 mm thick sides were located at an angle to the vertical to increase projectile resistance. The frontal part of the turret with an embrasure for the gun, formed by the intersection of four spheres, was cast separately and welded with the rest of the turret armor. The gun mask was a cylindrical segment of bent rolled armor plates and had three holes - for a cannon, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. The tower was mounted on a shoulder strap with a diameter of 1800 mm in the armored roof of the fighting compartment and was fixed with grips to avoid stalling in case of a strong roll or overturning of the tank. The surface of the "contact" of the lower shoulder strap of the tower and the upper shoulder strap of the armored hull was somewhat recessed into the roof of the fighting compartment, which excluded the jamming of the tower during shelling. The shoulder strap of the tower was marked in thousandths for firing from closed positions. For convenience in the repair and maintenance of units of the engine-transmission group, the roof of the engine-transmission compartment was made removable, and the upper aft armor plate could be hinged.

The driver was located in the center in front of the armored hull of the tank. Compared to the KV-1s tank, the dense layout of the habitable space of the IS tank did not allow it to accommodate the fifth crew member - the gunner-radio operator. Its functions were distributed between the commander and the driver: the first worked with the radio station, and the second fired unaimed fire from the course machine gun by pressing the trigger of the electric trigger on one of the control levers. The course machine gun itself was located to the right of the driver and was rigidly fastened in a special armored pipe, which was welded to the front armor of the tank. Subsequently, due to the low effectiveness of indirect fire and the weakening of frontal armor, the course machine gun was completely abandoned. Three crew members were located in the tower: to the left of the gun were the jobs of the gunner and tank commander, and to the right - the loader. The vehicle commander had a cast observation turret with vertical armor up to 82 mm thick. The landing and exit of the crew was carried out through the hatches in the tower: a round double hatch of the commander's cupola and a round single hatch of the loader. The hull also had a bottom hatch for emergency escape by the crew of the tank and a number of hatches, hatches and technological openings for loading ammunition, access to fuel tank fillers, other units and assemblies of the vehicle.

A number of parts were welded to the armored hull - balancers and torsion bar suspension brackets, bolts for support rollers and dirt cleaners, a stopper for mounting the track tensioning mechanism.

Security

As an assessment of the security of the IS-2, one can cite a somewhat emotional judgment from the monograph "Tanks of the IS" that the IS-2 tank was the only large-scale tank of the anti-Hitler coalition, whose armor provided some protection from the famous 88-mm cannons and long-barreled 75-mm guns, then like everyone else (with the exception of late modifications of the British Churchills) "provided their crew with no more protection than a cardboard box."

In terms of armor protection, 53% of the total mass of the IS-2 accounted for the armor of the hull and turret, while for the PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger I" this figure was 46.3%, and for the PzKpfw V "Panther" - 38, 5 %. From German tanks best indicator(54.7%) had only the PzKpfw VI Ausf B "Tiger II", but this was achieved at the cost of a significant increase in the mass of the entire vehicle as a whole, with all the ensuing consequences. The frontal armor of the IS-2 resisted German shells quite well: the upper part of the "stepped nose" was penetrated by 88-mm KwK 36 guns from 1000-1200 m, 75-mm KwK 42 guns - from 800-900 m, 75-mm Pak guns 40 - from 400 m. But for 1944, this was already considered clearly insufficient, therefore, as a result of intensive work, the forehead protection of the IS-2 hull was greatly improved. The “straightened” upper frontal part of 75-mm armor-piercing and sub-caliber shells was pierced at close range; 88-mm (KwK 36 L / 56) armor-piercing for a cast nose with a thickness of 120 mm - did not pierce point-blank, for a rolled nose 90 mm thick - pierced from 450 m. Achieve protection from the Pak 43 gun at medium and long distances the battle did not succeed. However, it should be borne in mind that in order to achieve such a result, the cast nose must be of good quality, without looseness and voids, which was far from always the case. The lower frontal part was penetrated by a 75 mm projectile from a distance of 785 m, the 100 mm thick cannon mantlet was also penetrated by German 88 mm KwK 36 cannon shells from a distance of about 1000 m.

In 1945, at the Kubinka training ground, special tests were carried out by shelling the IS-2 with a straightened upper frontal part from the captured German early modification of the Hornisse self-propelled guns, armed with a powerful 88-mm Panzerjägerkanone 8.8 cm Pak 43/1 L / 71 artillery system with a length barrel 71 gauge. As in the case of the 88-mm KwK 36 cannon, the upper frontal part of the IS-2 was never penetrated by a caliber armor-piercing projectile, but, as expected, the range of actual destruction of the less protected areas of the tank increased significantly compared to the KwK 36.

Sleeves and shells of the D-25T tank gun. From left to right: an armor-piercing shot shell, a high-explosive fragmentation shell, the OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade, the BR-471 sharp-headed armor-piercing tracer, and the BR-471B blunt-headed armor-piercing projectile with a ballistic tip. All shells are shown from two sides

Armament

The main armament of the IS-2 was the D-25T 122 mm cannon. The gun was mounted on trunnions in the turret and was fully balanced. However, in general, the tower with the D-25T gun was not balanced: its center of mass was not located on the geometric axis of rotation, which made it difficult to turn it when the vehicle rolled. This negative circumstance was a consequence of the fact that the turret was designed and balanced for the 85 mm D-5T gun, which was the original armament for the IS tanks. The installation of the D-25T gun with a much longer and more massive barrel violated the calculated distribution of masses around the axis of rotation of the turret. The D-25T gun had vertical angles aiming from -3 to + 20 °, with a fixed position of the tower, it could be induced in a small sector of horizontal aiming (the so-called "jewelry" aiming). The shot was fired by means of an electric or manual mechanical trigger.

The ammunition load of the gun was 28 rounds of separate loading. Shells and propellant charges for them were placed in the tower and along both sides of the fighting compartment. Compared to a wide range of ammunition for the 122 mm A-19 gun, the ancestor of the D-25T gun, the IS-2's ammunition load was significantly less diverse. It included:

Sharp-headed armor-piercing tracer BR-471 weighing 25 kg (mass explosive(TNT) - 156 g).
- blunt-headed armor-piercing projectile with a ballistic tip BR-471B weighing 25 kg (mass of explosive (A-IX-2) -? g); It was developed in 1944, but appeared in mass quantities in the troops in the very final phase of the war - in the spring of 1945.
- high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade OF-471 weighing 25 kg (explosive mass - TNT or ammotol - 3 kg).

All types of projectiles were fired at the full charge of Zh-471, which gave them an initial speed of 792-800 m/s.

Three 7.62-mm DT machine guns were installed on the IS-2 tank: a fixed course gun, coaxial with a gun, and a stern machine gun in a ball mount at high tide on the back of the turret. Ammunition for all diesel engines was 2520 rounds in discs. These machine guns were mounted in such a way that, if necessary, they could be removed from the mounts and used outside the tank. Starting in January 1945, a large-caliber 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun with a K-8T collimator sight was installed on the IS-2. Ammunition for the DShK was 250 rounds in tapes in a box attached to the machine gun. Also, for self-defense, the crew had several F-1 hand grenades and was sometimes equipped with a pistol for firing flares.

Firepower

The 122-mm tank gun was a modification of the 1931/1937 A-19 corps gun, received the D-25T index, was the largest-caliber mass-produced tank gun of the Second World War - its muzzle energy was 820 t m, while the 88-mm gun KwK 43 of the German heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf B "Tiger II" it was 520 t m. The KwK 36 and KwK 42 cannons of the heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger I" and the medium tank PzKpfw V "Panther" had an energy of 368 t m and 205 t m, respectively. At the same time, it should be noted that the quality of manufacturing armor-piercing shells among the Germans was significantly better, and their range included sub-caliber and cumulative options, while until 1945 the only armor-piercing sharp-headed projectile BR-471 was produced for the D-25T. Whenever possible, it was inferior to German tank guns to fight heavy armored vehicles and was mainly used as an assault gun.

The practical results of firing from the D-25T and A-19 cannons at the firing range at German captured tanks with the blunt-headed BR-471B projectile from a range of 1400 m showed the following results (there are doubts about some of them - due to confusion in the ChKZ documents - which tank and on which distances fired):

- Tank PzKpfw IV Ausf H was pierced right through the frontal and stern armor plates.

-Tank PzKpfw V "Panther" when it hit the upper frontal part of the armored hull, it received a hole 150 × 230 mm with a crack along the weld; when it hit the side of the tower, a hole of 130 × 130 mm was formed, the opposite side of the tower was also pierced and it was torn off along the weld. When hit in the forehead of the tower, a hole of 180 × 240 mm was formed, the tower was torn off the shoulder strap and displaced by 500 mm from the axis of rotation.

- Tank PzKpfw VI Ausf H "Tiger I" when a 122-mm projectile hit an already existing hole from an 85-mm projectile in the frontal armor plate, it was left without an 82-mm aft armor plate torn out along the welds, the projectile passed through all the internal equipment of the tank. When it hit the roof of the tower (thickness 40 mm, angle of inclination 80 ° to the normal), a dent with a crack from a ricocheted projectile remained; when hit in the forehead of the tower, a hole of 580 × 130 mm was formed, the tower itself was torn off the shoulder strap and displaced by 540 mm from the axis of rotation.

- SAU JagdPz "Ferdinand" did not penetrate the forehead - a 122-mm projectile pierced the first frontal 100-mm armor plate with the formation of a hole 120 × 150 mm, but reflected from the second, when it hit the wheelhouse, a dent 100 mm deep remained in the armor plate.

Satisfactory results in armor penetration were achieved only due to the large mass of the projectile, which ultimately greatly reduced the rate of fire of the gun and reduced the tank's ammunition load in comparison with the armed 85-mm IS-2 gun by more than two times, to 28 shells. In early November 1944, a captured heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf B Tiger II was fired at at the Kubinka training ground. A 122-mm sharp-headed projectile pierced the upper frontal part (along the joints of armor plates) from 600 m, the own 88-mm cannon of the Tiger II KwK 43 coped with this armored barrier from 400 m, and the 75-mm gun of the Panther pierced the forehead of the Tiger II » from 100 m.

The high power of the high-explosive 122 mm made it possible to achieve positive results when firing at enemy armor targets. It is worth noting that the destructive effect of a high-explosive projectile is enhanced when it hits at an angle compared to a normal hit. So, the OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation grenade, when installed on a high-explosive action when firing at Kubinka at the Tiger II, when hit, disabled the transmission elements of the latter and tore the welds of the frontal part. In terms of purely high-explosive action, the 122-mm 25-kg projectile with 3 kg of ammothol was 3 times superior to the German 88-mm of the same type high-explosive projectile weighing 9.5 kg with 1 kg of ammothol (the dependence of the mass of the projectile on the caliber is cubic, because the projectile has three dimensions, that is, the quotient of the calibers must be raised to the third power: 122 mm / 88 mm = 1.386; 1.386³ = 2.66 times more ).

The biggest and most insurmountable drawback of the D-25T gun was its low rate of fire compared to the 75mm and 88mm cannons of German tanks, which could withstand the IS-2. Such a rate of fire was due to the large mass of the projectile and the difficult working conditions of a single loader. In this case, the sequence of operations with a piston shutter was as follows: opening the shutter, lowering the tray, laying a 25-kg projectile in the tray, sending it “with a ringing” into the chamber with a rammer, preparing the sleeve, inserting it into the chamber, closing the shutter. In this case, one should take into account the fact that the loader performed most of these operations with his left hand. The wedge gate only facilitated the work of the loader and slightly increased the rate of fire, which in the most best conditions did not exceed 3 shots per minute. In reality, this figure was much lower (which is true not only for the IS-2, but for all tanks in general), during tests in Kubinka, when moving at a speed of 12 km / h, the combat rate of fire was 1.35 rounds per minute. There is an opinion that the low rate of fire was associated with the separate loading of the D-25T gun, however, the results of testing the 122-mm D-25-44 gun using a unitary projectile at the test site do not confirm this.

The accuracy of the battle of the 122-mm D-25T cannon was at least as good as foreign guns - the average deviation of a 122-mm armor-piercing projectile from the aiming point when firing from a standstill at a distance of 1 km was 170 mm vertically and 270 mm horizontally. Soviet tests of the 88 mm KwK 43 cannon under the same conditions gave a deviation of 200 mm vertically and 180 mm horizontally. The IS-2 showed good results when firing on the move. During tests in Kubinka at a distance of 700 m, the IS-2 hit the Panther tank four times out of five and two out of three tank PzKpfw III.

The speed of rotation of the IS-2 turret was 13-16 ° per second, that is, it took 22-28 s for a full turn of the turret. The electric drive made it possible to turn the turret with the engine turned off and the machine rolled up to 15 °. The manual drive made it possible to turn the tower with a roll of 8.3 ° with a force of 16 kgf. For comparison: German heavy tanks had a hydraulic or manual turret drive. The speed of rotation of the tower hydraulically depended on the number of revolutions of the engine (that is, when the engine was idle, the hydraulic drive was useless), being in the range from 5 to 19 ° per second. Reports on studies of German heavy tanks in Kubinka state that the hydraulic drive is complex and cumbersome, and its control is inconvenient.

It can also be said that the powerful weapons of the IS-2 indirectly increased its security, forcing enemy tanks and self-propelled guns to open fire on the IS-2 from longer distances compared to a battle with any other Soviet tank.

Excerpt from the "Report of the Directorate of self-propelled artillery of the spacecraft about the work during the Great Patriotic War" testifies:

... the installation of 122-mm cannons on IS tanks returned to our tanks the superiority over the enemy in the artillery armament of heavy tanks that had been lost for a while. In terms of the power of its shot, the 122-mm D-25 gun left far behind the 88-mm guns of German tanks.

The combat operations of the IS tanks showed that 122-mm guns are the most effective means of fighting against enemy heavy and medium tanks, ensuring penetration of their armor from a distance of 2500 m ...

Excerpt from the "Report on the combat operations of the 71st OGvTTP from 14.07.44 to 31.08.44":

... The fire armament of the IS-122 tanks is the most powerful of all existing types of tanks. The 122-mm projectile has a high penetrating power, which determines the quality of these tanks as the best remedy in the fight against heavy enemy tanks ...

Engine

The IS-2 was equipped with a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder V-2-IS diesel engine with an HP 520 power. With. The engine start was provided by an inertial starter with manual and electric drives or compressed air from two tanks in the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The electric drive of the inertial starter was an auxiliary electric motor with a power of 0.88 kW. The V-2-IS diesel engine was equipped with an NK-1 high-pressure fuel pump with an RNA-1 all-mode regulator and a fuel supply corrector. To clean the air entering the engine, a Multicyclone type filter was used. Also, heating devices were installed in the engine compartment to facilitate starting the engine in the cold season. They could also be used to heat the fighting compartment of the vehicle. The IS-2 had three fuel tanks, two of which were located in the fighting compartment, and one in the engine compartment. The tank was also equipped with four external auxiliary fuel tanks with a capacity of 360 l, not connected to the engine fuel system.

Transmission

The IS-2 tank was equipped with a mechanical transmission, which included:

Multi-disc main friction clutch of dry friction "steel according to Ferodo";
- a four-speed gearbox with a demultiplier (8 gears forward and 2 reverse; the second reverse gear can only be obtained theoretically, it is absent in a real car);
- two on-board two-stage planetary turning mechanisms with a multi-plate dry friction locking friction "steel on steel" and band brakes;
- two double-row combined final drives.

All transmission control drives are mechanical. Compared to the previous model of the KV-85 heavy tank, planetary slewing mechanisms were a new transmission element. The use of this unit made it possible to increase the overall reliability of the transmission as a whole, which was just the most significant drawback of the undercarriage of the KV series tanks and vehicles based on it.

Chassis

The IS-2 has an individual torsion bar suspension for each of the 6 solid-cast gable road wheels of small diameter (550 mm) on each side. Opposite each track roller, suspension balancers were welded to the armored hull. The drive wheels with removable lantern gears were located at the rear, and the sloths were identical to the road wheels. The upper branch of the caterpillar was supported by three small cast support rollers on each side; these rollers were borrowed from the design of the KV-85 tank. Caterpillar tension mechanism - screw; each caterpillar consisted of 86 single-ridge tracks 650 mm wide.

Mobility

The IS-2 heavy tank was regarded by representatives of the Red Army as quite satisfactory in terms of its mobility, although with a 520-horsepower diesel engine and a mass of 46 tons, its specific power-to-weight ratio was the lowest among Soviet large-scale medium and heavy tanks. The specific pressure on the ground was about 0.8 kg / cm², which was much higher than that of German heavy and medium tanks. The maximum speed did not exceed 35 km / h, but for a heavy breakthrough tank this characteristic was not decisive, since the main tactical use was combat in the same formation with infantry, and more mobile T-34s were intended to develop a breakthrough. In the event of weak or no enemy resistance, the IS-2 could be used to a limited extent to deepen the breakthrough, but its mobility characteristics did not favor such use.

Compared to German heavy tanks (according to the Soviet classification), the IS-2 occupies an intermediate position between the Panther and Tigers of both modifications. The Panther, with its 700-horsepower Maybach HL 230 engine, has the best power-to-weight ratio, maximum and average speeds. However, it should be borne in mind that the Panther was not a breakthrough tank and was intended to solve other combat missions, where speed and operational-tactical mobility were among the determining parameters. The 55-ton "Tiger I" had a specific power comparable to the IS-2, and the 68-ton "Tiger II" lost to the IS-2 in this parameter. It should also be noted that all three types of German tanks differed from the IS-2 in a higher specific pressure on the ground, which left a certain imprint on their tactical use. In particular, in order to save the expensive and difficult-to-repair equipment of the German heavy tank battalions, they were rarely used off-road (the engine and transmission were overloaded, the chance of the tank getting stuck increased), while the IS-2 was more adapted to off-road. It should also be noted that in Germany and Western Europe with a developed road network, this lack of German cars was practically insignificant. On the other hand, "ironing" the trenches of the "lunar surface" of the leading edge for the "Tigers" was fraught with transmission failure, while the IS-2 was quite suitable for this purpose.

Front-line cameraman Roman Lazarevich Karmen (1906-1978) is filming next to the IS-2 tank of the 7th Guards Heavy tank brigade at the Brandenburg Gate. The tactical number of the vehicle "414" is printed on the frontal hull plate.

electrical equipment

The electrical wiring in the IS-2 tank was single-wire, the armored hull of the vehicle served as the second wire. The sources of electricity (operating voltages 12 and 24 V) were a GT-4563A generator with a RRA-24F relay-regulator with a power of 1 kW and two 6-STE-128 batteries connected in series with a total capacity of 128 Ah. Electricity consumers included:

Turret slewing electric motor;
- external and internal lighting of the machine, illumination devices for sights and scales of measuring instruments;
- an external sound signal and an alarm circuit from the landing force to the crew of the vehicle;
- instrumentation (ammeter and voltmeter);
- electric trigger guns and machine guns;
- means of communication - a radio station and a tank intercom;
- electrics of the motor group - an electric motor of an inertial starter, spools of candles for winter starting the engine, etc.

Means of observation and sights

Commander's hatch and workplace loaders were equipped with Mk IV periscopes to monitor the environment from inside the vehicle. The commander's turret had six viewing slots with protective glasses. Driver IS-2 arr. 1943 in battle conducted observation through a viewing device with a triplex, which was protected by an armored shutter. This viewing device was installed in an armored plug hatch on the frontal armor plate along the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle. In a calm environment, this plug hatch could be pushed forward, providing the driver with a more convenient direct view from his workplace. In the later modification with straightened armor, the manhole plug was eliminated, and the driver watched the situation through a gap in the frontal armor plate using a viewing device with a glass block. The viewing slot and the device were protected from the outside by a flat armored cap welded to the tank hull.

For firing, the IS-2 was equipped with a telescopic breaking gun sight TSh-17 for direct fire. Early series vehicles were also equipped with a PT4-17 periscope sight, but this was later removed and another Mk IV device was installed in its place. This improved visibility for the gunner, but the lack of a periscope sight made it difficult for possible self-firing from covered positions. To ensure the possibility of fire in the dark, the scales of the sights had a backlight device. The aft machine gun DT could be equipped with a PU sight from sniper rifle with a threefold increase. Anti-aircraft machine gun The DShK was equipped with a K-8T collimator sight.

Destroyed Soviet heavy tank IS-2 on Beuthstraße in Berlin after the end of the war. In the background, a war invalid is walking along the road.

Means of communication

The means of communication included a radio station 10R (or 10RK-26) and an intercom TPU-4-Bis for 4 subscribers. Radio stations 10R or 10RK were a set of transmitter, receiver and umformers (single-arm motor-generators) for their power supply, connected to the 24 V on-board electrical network.

10P was a simplex tube shortwave radio station operating in the frequency range from 3.75 to 6 MHz (respectively, wavelengths from 50 to 80 m). In the parking lot, the communication range in the telephone (voice) mode reached 20-25 km, while on the move it somewhat decreased. A longer communication range could be obtained in telegraph mode, when information was transmitted by telegraph key in Morse code or another discrete coding system. Frequency stabilization was carried out by a removable quartz resonator, there was no smooth frequency adjustment. 10P allowed communication on two fixed frequencies; to change them, another quartz resonator of 15 pairs was used in the radio set.

The 10RK radio station was a technological improvement of the previous 10R model, it became easier and cheaper to manufacture. This model has the ability to smoothly select the operating frequency, the number of quartz resonators has been reduced to 16. The characteristics of the communication range have not undergone significant changes. The TPU-4-Bis tank intercom made it possible to negotiate between tank crew members even in a very noisy environment and connect a headset (headphones and throat phones) to a radio station for external communication.

Modifications

In popular wartime literature, the IS-2 is usually divided into two modifications - arr. 1943 (with a stepped upper frontal detail) and arr. 1944 (with a straightened upper frontal detail); however, the well-known military historian Colonel I. G. Zheltov in his monograph "Tanks of the IS" distinguishes six variants of the serial IS-2.

In the post-war period, the IS-2s were modernized with the replacement of the engine, the installation of night vision devices, and overwings of the caterpillar mover. This variant was designated IS-2M.

Machines based on the IS-2

On the basis of the IS-2 since April 1944 was produced heavy fighter ISU-122 tanks, armed with a 122-mm A-19S gun (which is identical in ballistics to the D-25T, but has larger recoil devices and is not equipped with a muzzle brake). Since September of the same year, on the basis of the IS-2, in parallel with the ISU-122, a new version of the self-propelled gun with a long-barreled 122-mm gun, the ISU-122S, was launched into mass production. Its armament was a self-propelled version of the D-25S gun, which had noticeable design differences from the tank version of the D-25T.

It would be somewhat illegal to consider the earlier ISU-152 self-propelled gun as a vehicle based on the IS-2, although their chassis were almost identical. The prototype ISU-152 "Object 241" was built in October 1943, when the IS-2 itself existed only at the prototype stage, and the chassis for both experimental vehicles (almost completely from the IS-2, to a lesser extent from the ISU-152) was borrowed from the previous model of the heavy tank IS-1 (IS-85).

Organizational structure

The IS-2, like the KV-85 or IS-1, entered service with individual guards heavy breakthrough tank regiments (OGvTTP). Each OGvTTP had 21 tanks, consisting of 4 companies of 5 vehicles each, plus the regiment commander's tank. The regiment commander usually had the rank of colonel or lieutenant colonel, company commanders - the rank of captain or senior lieutenant. Tank commanders, as a rule, were lieutenants, and driver-mechanics were sergeants (often technicians - junior lieutenants). The rest of the crew members were regulars according to the staffing table. The OGvTTP usually had several unarmored support and support vehicles - trucks, jeeps or motorcycles, the number personnel The regiment in the state was 214 people.

Also, in addition to individual tank regiments, heavy tank brigades of three regiments with a staff strength of 65 vehicles each were armed with IS-2 heavy tanks.

Combat use

The first battle of the IS-2 with the "Tigers" took place in April 1944 near the city of Ternopil. The vehicles of the 11th Separate Guards Heavy Tank Regiment participated in this battle. Separate guards heavy tank regiments (OGvTTP), armed with IS-2 tanks, took an active part in the hostilities of 1944-1945. Generally new tank fully justified the expectations of the command as a means of qualitatively strengthening units and subunits designed to break through well-fortified enemy lines in advance, as well as storming cities.

The following combat episodes with their participation can be cited as examples of completely different results of the combat use of IS-2 tanks:

During the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, an episode is known when two IS-2 tanks of the 57th Guards Separate Tank Regiment, hiding in an ambush, stopped the tank forces of a significantly superior enemy force. In two days, the crews of two Soviet heavy tanks destroyed a total of 17 German tanks and self-propelled guns, eliminating the threat of liquidating the bridgehead on the Vistula. Of these, 9 on the account of Lyakhov and 8 on the account of Lukanin.

In August 1944, the 71st OGvTTP participated in the defeat of the Royal Tigers battalion at the Sandomierz bridgehead. During this battle, IS-2 tanks knocked out six "Royal Tigers". For a month and a half of fighting, this regiment knocked out and destroyed 17 German tanks, 2 self-propelled guns and 3 armored personnel carriers. Losses amounted to 3 tanks burned out and 7 wrecked.

In October 1944, the 79th OGvTTP held the Serotsky bridgehead on the Narew River north of the city of Serotsk. The enemy, having a total of over 200 tanks, tried to eliminate the bridgehead. On October 4, 1944, by 19:00, the position of the Soviet troops became threatening. At 21:00 tankers, together with the 44th Guards Rifle Division of the 105th rifle corps went on the attack. Advancing under heavy fire, they collided with heavy enemy tanks. Six German soldiers were hit and destroyed. T-V tanks and T-VI. Losses in this case amounted to one IS-2 tank burned out and one lined. By October 6, 4 more Soviet, 3 German tanks and 2 German armored personnel carriers were lost. From October 6 to 9, the regiment, having skillfully created a defense, did not lose a single tank, while burning 11 heavy enemy vehicles. During these battles, the crew of the IS-2 tank under the command of Lieutenant Ivan Khitsenko of the 30th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade also distinguished themselves. His tank platoon was given the task of holding the defense on the right flank. The platoon attacked the column of the Nazis. Khitsenko's tank in this battle knocked out seven enemy Tiger tanks with cannon fire and rammed one before it burned down. The Germans were unable to break through on the right flank.

The 78th OGvTTP, advancing on Debrecen in Hungary, from October 6 to October 31 destroyed 46 tanks (including 6 Tigers), 25 self-propelled guns, 109 guns, 38 armored personnel carriers, 60 machine-gun points, 2 ammunition depots and 12 aircraft on airfield. The losses of the regiment amounted to two IS-2 burnt out from the faustpatrons, another 16 tanks received varying degrees of damage.

On the territory of the Reich, the fighting was especially stubborn. The 70th OGvTTP, having crossed the Vistula River on the move and covered over 300 km, reached the city of Schneidemühl at the end of January. Its siege took two weeks and cost the regiment nine damaged vehicles. The 82nd OGvTTP on February 8 at 11.00 angled forward with the 1st and 4th tank companies launched an attack in the area of ​​​​the city of Kreuzburg. At 13:00, up to 11 enemy tanks, accompanied by "artillery assaults", counterattacked the units of the regiment, but, having suffered losses, retreated. By 20:00 Kreuzburg was taken. During the day of hostilities, the regiment destroyed 4 tanks, 4 self-propelled guns, 6 guns and 10 machine gun points. The losses of the regiment during the day of the battle also turned out to be considerable: 11 tanks were knocked out, one got stuck.

In the Vistula-Oder operation, the 80th OGvTTP from January 14 to January 31, 1945 destroyed 19 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns, 41 artillery pieces, 15 machine-gun nests, 10 mortars and 12 dugouts. Of the 23 vehicles involved in the battles, not one was irretrievably lost.

The 81st OGvTTP attacked Kukenen at 3.30 on February 16, 1945, consisting of 16 tanks. The commander of the 144th Rifle Division, to which the regiment was attached, considered that the IS-2s were capable of doing everything themselves. The IS-2s that went on the attack were met with flank fire from the Germans, who burned two IS-2s and knocked out two more. The 4th tank company covered the exit of three IS-2s of the second tank company to the outskirts locality Nemretten, but without the cut off infantry it was not possible to develop success. Two IS-2s were shot down in this phase of the battle. For three hours, the tankers fought with enemy infantry, tanks and anti-tank guns, losing nine more IS-2s knocked out. Attempts to captivate their infantry were not successful. As a result, on February 16, Kukenen was never taken, and the regiment was withdrawn from the battle to restore and maintain materiel. Of the 15 IS-2s listed as of February 17, 1945, seven were combat-ready, two needed medium repairs, three were not evacuated from the battlefield, and three were to be written off (that is, they can be included in irretrievable losses). Apparently, the German side did not suffer serious damage in this battle, since the regiment's successes for February 15–27, 1945 included 4 tanks, 4 armored personnel carriers, 17 guns and one captured assault gun destroyed. According to the documents, these successes were achieved during the battle on February 15 and February 19-27, when the regiment recovered from losses inflicted on February 16 near Kukenen.

In the battles in March 1945 on the territory of Poland, the commander of the IS-2 tank, Mikhail Alekseevich Fedotov, especially distinguished himself. Only in the first two and a half months of 1945, his tank destroyed 6 German tanks and self-propelled guns, 11 artillery pieces, 2 mortar batteries, 3 armored personnel carriers and several vehicles.

A huge role in the rapid restoration of the combat capability of Soviet tank units was played by the high survivability and maintainability of ISs and self-propelled guns created on their basis. It was not uncommon for a regiment, which had lost most of its vehicles the day before, to be ready for battle again in a day or two. So, in the 88th OGvTTP by January 25 there were only two serviceable tanks, others were either knocked out or out of order for technical and other reasons (including two drowned in the river). However, by February 1, 15 restored and combat-ready vehicles returned to service.

The 88th and 89th OGvTTP regiments were the first to storm the German positions from the Kustrinsky bridgehead in the light of searchlights on the first day of the Berlin operation.

Storms of cities

Together with self-propelled guns based on it, the IS-2 was actively used for assault operations on fortified cities such as Budapest, Breslau, and Berlin. The tactics of operations in such conditions included the actions of the OGvTTP by assault groups of 1-2 tanks, accompanied by an infantry squad of several submachine gunners, a sniper or a well-aimed marksman, and sometimes a knapsack flamethrower. In the event of weak resistance, tanks with assault groups on armor at full speed broke through the streets to squares, squares, parks, where it was possible to take up all-round defense. In the presence of heavy fire, the fighters of the assault groups dismounted, and the tanks fired longitudinally and crosswise along the streets, covering the advance of the infantry. The main task of the fighters of the assault groups was the destruction of enemy grenade launchers (“faustnikov”) and the calculations of towed anti-tank guns, while the IS-2 destroyed machine-gun nests with powerful fire, fired at identified sniper positions, destroyed armored caps and pillboxes. In the event of counterattacks, tanks or assault guns, the IS-2s transferred the weight of their fire to them, protecting their infantry. When detecting barricades, ditches, blockages, the IS-2 destroyed them with their own fire, or provided fire cover for sappers who eliminated the obstacle. Instructions for tankers and self-propelled gunners paid special attention to maneuver even in cramped conditions of urban combat, actions on the principle of "left cover, fired, went into cover."

In these battles, the IS-2s suffered significant losses, with popular opinion attributing them to the exceptional effectiveness of the German Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck anti-tank grenade launchers. However, the statistics of lost Soviet tanks in the Berlin operation does not support this version. More than 85% of the disabled tanks accounted for barreled tank and anti-tank German artillery, and the cases of massive destruction of the IS-2 by cumulative grenades are mainly due to gross violations of the tactics of urban combat by the commanders of the Red Army, when the tanks rushed forward without proper infantry cover. Unfortunately for the Soviet side, in many cases, attempts to take the city from a raid without using the tactics of assault groups led to more than serious losses.

The intensity of the fighting is evidenced by the fact that the crews of the IS-2 in urban battles (for example, the storming of Berlin) spent two to three ammunition per day, sometimes somehow finding a place in the tank for additional shells (up to 42) instead of 28 standard ones. As an illustration, we can cite an episode involving the IS-2 of the 34th OGvTTP on April 27, 1945. An assault group consisting of IS-2 and eight riflemen broke through to the church on Kurfürstenstrasse, but ran into a strong stronghold held by over a hundred SS soldiers. The tank was blown up by a mine, the loader and gunner died in it, then the Germans cut off the infantrymen from the IS-2 with their fire, creating favorable conditions for the Faustniks. The commander was killed by a cumulative grenade, only the driver, Sergeant German Shashkov, survived. The second hit of the IS-2 faustpatron set fire to the engine compartment, but the sergeant managed to turn the tank around in such a way as to bring down the nearby wall and knock down the flames with its debris. Then, among the bodies of his dead comrades, he stood behind the gun and machine guns and fired until the ammunition was completely depleted, after which, having opened the hatch, he continued to fight back with grenades. According to the monograph "IS Tanks in Battles", after the tank was approached soviet soldiers, bloody Shashkov was found lying on the bottom with a knife in his hands. In his memoirs, V. I. Chuikov adds that the brave tanker rejected the enemy’s proposals to surrender and died shortly after his approach, and more than three dozen dead SS men lay around the damaged IS-2. Refinement: Gv. Sergeant German Shashkov died three months earlier, during the assault on the city of Poznan in January 1945, by the Decree of the PVS on March 23, 1945, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

IS-2 tanks provided fire support storming the Reichstag:

On April 30, the fighting came close to the walls of the Reichstag. In the morning, the 88th heavy tank regiment, having crossed the Spree along the Moltke bridge, took up firing positions on the Kronprinzenufer embankment. At 11.30, units of the 79th Rifle Corps went on the offensive and crossed the ditch at Königsplatz in front of the Reichstag. At 13.00, the tanks of the regiment, participating in the general artillery preparation preceding the assault, opened fire at direct fire on the Reichstag. At 18.30, the regiment supported the second assault on the Reichstag with its fire, and only with the start of the battle inside the building did the tanks stop shelling it.

Collisions with the "Tigers"

The issue of combat episodes involving the IS-2 and the German heavy tanks "Tiger I" or "Tiger II" is one of the most hotly discussed on military or computer-game forums. The intensity of the arguing is constantly supported by references to documents of various units of the Red Army or the Wehrmacht, as well as memoirs of prominent military leaders and tankers of that era. As a rule, they include dozens and hundreds of destroyed or knocked out IS-2s and Tigers. However, one should take into account the fact that on both sides there were numerous additions and errors in determining the type of enemy equipment; moreover, the place, time and units that participated in the battle often do not converge. Therefore, the most reliable sources are not reports on the number of enemy equipment knocked out and destroyed, but reports on the available materiel and reports from captured teams. It should also be noted that often the decommissioning of destroyed vehicles officially occurs later than the battle in which it was lost, and damaged tanks sent for repair may not be considered as irretrievable losses, and this introduces additional difficulties in accurately recording the outcome of a particular battle. Based on the results of their analysis of documents, well-known historians M. Baryatinsky and M. Svirin argue about quite a few episodes of confrontation between the Tigers and the IS-2. This is not surprising, since heavy breakthrough tanks are not generally designed to fight heavy tanks. The most famous episodes with the proven participation of these tanks are the battles of the 71st OGvTTP with the "Tigers II" of the 501st heavy tank battalion near Oglenduv and the clash near Lisow. In both cases, both sides suffered heavy losses, for example, the commander of the 71st OGvTTP Guards, Lieutenant Colonel Yudin, died near Oglenduv, and his regiment lost 3 IS-2s burned out and another 7 knocked out (of which 4 were repaired on your own shelf). In the battle near Lisuv, the commander of the 424th heavy tank battalion, Major Samish, was killed, and the battalion itself lost almost all materiel, on the Soviet side, the commander of the 61st tank brigade, N. G. Zhukov, also died. It is also worth noting that the well-known shortcoming of the IS-2 - low rate of fire - in the real situation of the battle turned out to be not so influencing its outcome: lieutenants Klimenkov, Belyakov and Udalov knocked out and destroyed several Tigers II, and to disable the latter it took multiple hits.

From the memoirs of Fadin Alexander Mikhailovich (Artyom Drabkin - “I fought on the T-34”):

We stood in caponiers dug on the slope of the vineyard. A kilometer ahead of us was a monastery. Suddenly, a "Tiger" crawls out from behind the stone wall of the fence. Has stopped. Behind him, another, then another. Ten of them came out. Well, we think - Khan, they will get us. Fear always has big eyes. Out of nowhere, two of our IS-2s are coming. I saw them for the first time. Lined up with us, stood up. Two "Tigers" separate and go a little forward, sort of like a duel. Ours preempted them with a shot and demolished both towers. And the rest - once, once and beyond the wall.

Causes of losses

The report on the combat operations of the 72nd OGvTTP from April 20 to May 10, 1944 is quite informative, which details the reasons for the irretrievable losses of the IS-2 in battles:

Tank No. 40247 on April 20 in the Gerasimów area came under artillery fire from the Ferdinand self-propelled guns from a distance of 1500-1200 m. The crew was able to respond with one shot, as the gun trigger mechanism failed. Leaving from under the fire of the self-propelled guns, the IS-2 received 5 hits in the frontal part of the hull, which did not harm it. At this time, another self-propelled gun "Ferdinand" imperceptibly approached from the flank at a distance of 600-700 m and pierced the starboard side of the tank near the engine with an armor-piercing projectile. The crew left the stopped car, which soon caught fire.

Tank No. 40255 from a distance of 1000-1100 m received a direct hit by an 88-mm projectile from the Tiger tank on the lower front inclined armor plate, as a result of which the left fuel tank was pierced, the driver was injured by armor fragments, and the rest of the crew received minor burns . The tank burned out.

Tank No. 4032, after withstanding three hits from the Tiger tank into the hull from the front from a distance of 1500–1000 m, was destroyed by fire from another Tiger from a distance of 500–400 m. An 88-mm armor-piercing projectile pierced the lower frontal sheet, the gunpowder of the sleeve ignited, and then the fuel. The tankers, having left the car, carried the wounded driver to the rear.

Tank No. 40260 burned down when an 88-mm projectile from the Tiger tank hit the left side of the flank from a distance of 500 m. The projectile destroyed the engine, the tank caught fire, the tank commander and gunner were injured.

Tank No. 40244 received a direct hit by an armor-piercing projectile from the Tiger tank from a distance of 800-1000 m on the starboard side of the hull. The driver was killed, and diesel fuel caught fire in the tank, pouring out of the destroyed right fuel tank. The tank was evacuated and then blown up by sappers.

Tank No. 40263 burned down from two shells hitting the side.

Tank No. 40273... received two direct hits: the first hit the turret, and immediately after it the second hit the side plate in the engine compartment area. The combat crew in the tower died, and the driver was wounded. The tank was left on enemy territory.

Tank number 40254 was hit by fire from the Ferdinand self-propelled guns, which was in ambush. The first shell of the turret box did not penetrate, but the second shell pierced the side of the hull and disabled the engine. The crew was evacuated, and the car burned down.

Thus, this document confirms that the fire safety of the IS-2 was worsened by the above-mentioned placement of fuel tanks in the inhabited areas of the vehicle, which was partly offset by the worse flammability of diesel fuel compared to gasoline. Also, reports from the front-line units indicate that the IS-2s set on fire were successfully extinguished by their own crews using a regular tetrachlorine fire extinguisher. At the same time, it should be noted that the extinguishing had to be carried out in gas masks - getting on hot surfaces, carbon tetrachloride was partially oxidized to phosgene, which is a potent toxic suffocating substance. Already at that time, safer carbon dioxide fire extinguishers began to be used on tanks of other countries. Like other tanks of that time (with rare exceptions), the IS-2 was not explosion-proof due to the location of the ammunition in the fighting compartment: the explosion of the ammunition rack was guaranteed to destroy the tank with the entire crew.

IS-2 in Polish and Czechoslovak units

The Army of the Polish Army received 71 IS-2s to form the 4th and 5th regiments of heavy tanks. During the fighting in Pomerania, the 4th regiment destroyed 31 enemy tanks, while losing 14 of its own. Both regiments took part in the Berlin operation. After the war, the Poles had 26 tanks left (with 21 vehicles returned to the Red Army).

Czechoslovak units received several IS-2s in the spring of 1945.

Project evaluation

The IS-2 was the most powerful Soviet tank that took part in the Great Patriotic War, and one of the strongest vehicles in the world of its time, both in the 40-50 t weight category and in the class of heavy breakthrough tanks. However, the assessment of this machine is greatly complicated by the propaganda of both sides participating in the war and a large number of post-war myths, one way or another connected with the ideological struggle of the Soviet Union or against it.

In terms of the total power of weapons and armor protection, the IS-2 surpassed all tanks of the Second World War (NTV TV channel "Voyennoye delo"), yielding to many different others in various individual indicators (for example, it was inferior to the T-6 in terms of rate of fire, in terms of frontal armor Tiger-2). Cast hull parts on all vehicles - turret and turret box. With a shortage of rolled armor, both frontal parts and a number of others were made of cast armor in simple technical conditions by low-skilled workers simple means which certainly increased real opportunities for the production of cars in war conditions. Such armor often had defects and often a rough surface, which additionally led to deviations from the calculated armor thickness in both directions. IS-2s covered 1000 km without breakdowns, while, for example, the Panthers suffered huge non-combat losses (tens of%) for technical reasons (at much higher production and repair costs), and not only during the Battle of Kursk.

With all the wide popularity of the IS-2, its place among Soviet vehicles is often questioned with different parties. From the very beginning, the IS-2 was to some extent considered by the ChKZ leadership as a machine imposed from above, especially since the turret with a 122-mm gun was completely placed on the basis of the KV-85 debugged in production (an experimental version of the KV-122). Despite the fact that Zh. Ya. Kotin was one of the leaders of ChKZ, the IS tank, developed under his leadership at Pilot Plant No. 100, was perceived at ChKZ as a foreign machine. As a result, at ChKZ, in secrecy, parallel work was carried out to create “their own” heavy tank, which, on the whole, were promising and not unsuccessful; but this resulted in two big problems: every now and then, projects and prototypes of heavy tanks more advanced on paper than the IS-2 appeared, and the refinement of the latter went “with a creak”. To remedy the situation, the People's Commissar of Tank Building V. A. Malyshev had to use all his administrative power to bring the production and quality of the IS-2 supplied to the troops to a decent level.

Soviet tankers of the 62nd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment in a street fight in Danzig. The DShK heavy machine gun mounted on the IS-2 tank is used to destroy enemy soldiers armed with anti-tank grenade launchers.

The second aspect of the "early" doubts about the correctness of the path chosen for the heavy breakthrough tank is the existence of prototypes of the IS tank with 100-mm guns. Despite the higher theoretical rate of fire, the 100 mm gun in 1944 could not compete with the 122 mm D-25T gun. Military historian M.N. Svirin gives the following reasons for choosing a 122-mm gun:

He calls the decisive factor for choosing the D-25T that by the beginning of the selection of the artillery system for arming the IS-2 in September 1943, there were no 100-mm guns suitable for installation in it, and the other options presented were the 107-mm gun and howitzers of various calibers were clearly inferior to the 122-mm gun. The 100-mm S-34 cannon repeatedly failed state tests and by February 1944 was still not ready for adoption. The D-10T, which appeared later, after repeated modifications, was put into service only on July 3, 1944, moreover, the production of armor-piercing shells for it began only in November of the same year.

In a tank of dense layout, which was the IS, separate loading of the gun made it possible to place more ammunition than unitary shells of a smaller caliber, paradoxically. The unitary cartridge was long compared to a separate projectile and cartridge case, the maximum that could be done with it was to place 36 100-mm cartridges, of which 6 could hardly be delivered to the gun (they were stored next to the driver's seat). The ammunition load of the 122-mm gun was 28 shots and in some cases was brought up to 42.

The second seeming paradox of the 100 mm unitary cartridge - almost the same rate of fire as with 122 mm separate loading - is a consequence of the same large length of the cartridge and the tightness of the fighting compartment. In the parking lot in a calm environment, he really won in loading speed, but in the turmoil of battle, loading was carried out in the movement of the tank with significant shaking, and under such conditions, tests showed that the gain in loading speed was insignificant.

Frequent statements that the armor penetration of a 100-mm gun is higher than that of a 122-mm D-25T are based on firing tables of the mid-1950s, and in 1944, according to this parameter, the guns were equivalent when acting on Soviet armor, and when shelling German tanks with armor of increased fragility, the 122-mm projectile, in terms of effective penetration range of 85-mm inclined armor (the upper frontal part of the Panther), was almost twice the 100-mm due to the greater mass and kinetic energy(in passing, it can be noted that German 75-mm and 88-mm shells had an even worse effect on German armor, that is, even in the absence of alloying elements, German metallurgists managed to achieve decent armor resistance against medium-caliber armor-piercing shells). In addition, the high-explosive and fragmentation power of the 122-mm projectile was significantly stronger than that of the 100-mm one.

Based on these premises, it can be argued that the IS-2 was the only Soviet heavy tank that, in the aggregate of its combat and operational properties, could satisfy the requirements of the Red Army in the second half of the war to conduct offensive operations with overcoming a powerful and defense in depth. To adequately counter the IS-2, the enemy needed heavy anti-tank weapons, which, as a rule, were expensive, difficult to replenish and not always available in a particular place at the right time. The same in reverse order happened earlier in 1943 with the massive use of heavy tanks "Tiger" by the Germans, which was taken into account by the Soviet command when developing tactics for the use of heavy tanks.

Soviet officer inspecting a lined in East Prussia German self-propelled guns"Jagdpanther" (Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther). On the right is a staff vehicle near an artillery truck with a 122-mm howitzer model 1910/30, in the background a wrecked Soviet IS-2 tank.

Production

In addition to production at ChKZ, in March 1945, 5 IS-2s were assembled by the LKZ restored in Leningrad, and it delivered the last 5 tanks in June. A total of 3385 IS-2 tanks were produced during the period from December 1943 to June 1945.

Post-war fate of the IS-2

IS-2s participated in the Korean War - there are references to the use of the IS-2 by the People's Liberation Army of China, but without any details. According to Russian researcher Mikhail Baryatinsky, the Chinese handed over a number of IS-2s to the troops of the Vietnam People's Army (VNA), who used them during the Indochina War. However, Western sources note that the VNA did not use armored vehicles during this war. The official history of the VNA does not mention tanks in the list of weapons and equipment available by the end of the war, and there are no armored tanks in the list of military units and subunits that existed in the same period. According to official Vietnamese data, the armored forces of the VNA were created in 1959, and they received their “baptism of fire” in 1968.

IS-2M

In 1957, the Soviet IS-2 underwent a major overhaul and modernization in order to bring its operational characteristics up to a level corresponding to peacetime service. Modernization works included the following:

The V-2-IS engine was replaced by the V-54K-IS;
- installed a new transmission;
- replaced track rollers and guide wheels;
- an additional fuel tank has been introduced;
- Ammunition increased to 35 shells;
- the design of the turret has been changed - in particular, a fan has been installed instead of the rear machine gun;
- replaced the lifting mechanism of the gun;
- installed a new radio station;
- new fire-fighting equipment was installed, wings of a different shape, a number of other minor changes were made.

In the early 1960s, two regiments of IS-2Ms were delivered to Cuba; by the end of the 1990s, they were still used in the coastal defense of this country. At the same time, North Korea received two regiments of IS-2M.

In the USSR, the IS-2M was in service for a long time, since the 1960s, mostly in reserve. A significant number of these tanks were installed on the border with the People's Republic of China as stationary long-term cannon emplacements (a legacy of the German experience of World War II). Some of the tanks were used in the same place as mobile firing points - the vehicles were in the parks, and on alarm they had to advance into specially built tank trenches. Nevertheless, the IS-2 tank officially continued to be among the active models of armored vehicles, from time to time vehicles of this type were involved in exercises (in particular, in 1982 in the Odessa Military District). Official order to withdraw the IS-2M from service Russian army came out only in 1995. By the beginning of the 2000s, the surviving IS-2 tanks were firing points in the fortified areas on Russian-Chinese border- steel was also cut into metal.

Surviving copies

Many IS-2s have become museum exhibits. The IS-2 is an exhibit of the Armored Museum in Kubinka, presented in the expositions of the Museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad" in Volgograd, in the museum-diorama "Fiery Arc" in Belgorod, in the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol on Sapun Mountain in Sevastopol, the Museum of Combat glory of the Omsk city of Omsk, in the Museum of the Patriotic military history Istrinsky district of the Moscow region and a number of other museums.

Soviet tank IS-2 No. 537 Lieutenant B.I. Degtyarev from the 87th Separate Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, shot down at Striegauer Platz in the German city of Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). The tank is known from the photograph of Anatoly Yegorov "Musical moment". From April 1 to April 7, the regiment, consisting of 5 IS-2 tanks, supported the infantry of the 112th and 359th rifle divisions in the southwestern part of the city. For 7 days of fighting, Soviet troops advanced only a few blocks. The tank regiment did not conduct more active operations. The IS-2 in the photo is from the first issues, with a viewing "hatch-plug" of the driver.

The performance characteristics of the IS-2

Crew, people: 4
Years of production: 1943-1945
Years of operation: 1944-1995
Number of issued, pcs.: 3395
Layout scheme: classic

Weight IS-2

IS-2 dimensions

Case length, mm: 6770
- Length with gun forward, mm: 9830
- Hull width, mm: 3070
- Height, mm: 2630
- Clearance, mm: 420

Armor IS-2

Armor type: high hardness rolled, medium hardness cast
- Forehead of the hull (top), mm / city: 120 / 60 °
- Forehead of the hull (bottom), mm / city: 100 / −30 °
- Hull board (top), mm/deg.: 90-120 / 15°
- Hull board (bottom), mm/deg.: 90 / 0°
- Hull feed (top), mm / city: 60 / 49 °
- Hull feed (bottom), mm / city: 60 / −41 °
- Bottom, mm: 20
- Hull roof, mm: 30
- Tower forehead, mm / city: 100
- Gun mask, mm / city: 100
- Tower side, mm/deg.: 100 / 20°
- Feed tower, mm/deg.: 100 / 30°
- Tower roof, mm: 30

Armament IS-2

Gun caliber and brand: 122 mm D-25T
- Type of gun: rifled tank gun
- Barrel length, calibers: 48
- Gun ammunition: 28
- Firing range, km: ~ 4
- Sights: TSh-17
- Machine guns: 3 × 7.62 mm DT, 1 × 12.7 mm DShK (since 1944)

Engine IS-2

Engine type: V-shaped 4-stroke 12-cylinder diesel V-2IS
- Engine power, l. p.: 520

IS-2 speed

Highway speed, km/h: 37
- Cross-country speed, km / h: 10-15

Range on the highway, km: 240
- Power reserve over rough terrain, km: 160
- Specific power, l. s./t: 11.3
- Suspension type: individual torsion bar
- Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²: 0.8
- Climbability, degrees: 36°
- overcome wall, m: 1
- Crossable ditch, m: 2.5
- Crossable ford, m: 1.3

Photo IS-2

Films about tanks where there is still no alternative to this type of weapon ground forces. The tank was and probably will remain for a long time modern weapons due to the ability to combine such seemingly contradictory qualities as high mobility, powerful weapons and reliable crew protection. These unique qualities of tanks continue to be constantly improved, and the experience and technologies accumulated over decades predetermine new frontiers of combat properties and military-technical achievements. In the age-old confrontation "projectile - armor", as practice shows, protection from a projectile is being improved more and more, acquiring new qualities: activity, multi-layeredness, self-defense. At the same time, the projectile becomes more accurate and powerful.

Russian tanks are specific in that they allow you to destroy the enemy from a safe distance, have the ability to perform quick maneuvers on impassable roads, contaminated terrain, can “walk” through the territory occupied by the enemy, seize a decisive bridgehead, induce panic in the rear and suppress the enemy with fire and caterpillars . The war of 1939-1945 was the most ordeal for all mankind, since almost all countries of the world were involved in it. It was the battle of the titans - the most unique period that theorists argued about in the early 1930s and during which tanks were used in large numbers by almost all the warring parties. At this time, a "check for lice" and a deep reform of the first theories of the use of tank troops took place. And it is the Soviet tank troops that are most affected by all this.

Tanks in battle that became a symbol of the past war, the backbone of the Soviet armored forces? Who created them and under what conditions? How did the USSR, having lost most of its European territories and having difficulty recruiting tanks for the defense of Moscow, be able to launch powerful tank formations on the battlefield already in 1943? This book, which tells about the development of Soviet tanks "in the days of testing ", from 1937 to the beginning of 1943. When writing the book, materials from the archives of Russia and private collections of tank builders were used. There was a period in our history that was deposited in my memory with some depressing feeling. It began with the return of our first military advisers from Spain, and stopped only at the beginning of forty-third, - said the former general designer of self-propelled guns L. Gorlitsky, - there was some kind of pre-stormy state.

Tanks of the Second World War, it was M. Koshkin, almost underground (but, of course, with the support of "the wisest of the wise leader of all peoples"), who was able to create the tank that, a few years later, would shock German tank generals. And what’s more, he didn’t just create it, the designer managed to prove to these stupid military men that it was his T-34 that they needed, and not just another wheeled-tracked “highway”. The author is in slightly different positions that he formed after meeting with the pre-war documents of the RGVA and RGAE. Therefore, working on this segment of the history of the Soviet tank, the author will inevitably contradict something "generally accepted". This work describes the history of Soviet tank building in the most difficult years- from the beginning of a radical restructuring of all activities design bureaus and people's commissariats as a whole, during a frantic race to equip new tank formations of the Red Army, transfer industry to wartime rails and evacuation.

Tanks Wikipedia the author wants to express his special gratitude for the help in the selection and processing of materials to M. Kolomiyets, and also to thank A. Solyankin, I. Zheltov and M. Pavlov, the authors of the reference publication "Domestic armored vehicles. XX century. 1905 - 1941 ", since this book helped to understand the fate of some projects, which was unclear before. I would also like to recall with gratitude those conversations with Lev Izraelevich Gorlitsky, the former Chief Designer of UZTM, which helped to take a fresh look at the entire history of the Soviet tank during the Great Patriotic War Soviet Union Today, for some reason, it is customary to talk about 1937-1938 only from the point of view of repressions, but few people remember that it was during this period that those tanks were born that became legends of the wartime ... "From the memoirs of L.I. . Gorlinkogo.

Soviet tanks, a detailed assessment of them at that time sounded from many lips. Many old people recalled that it was from the events in Spain that it became clear to everyone that the war was getting closer to the threshold and it was Hitler who would have to fight. In 1937, mass purges and repressions began in the USSR, and against the backdrop of these difficult events, the Soviet tank began to turn from a "mechanized cavalry" (in which one of its combat qualities protruded by reducing others) into a balanced combat vehicle, which simultaneously had powerful weapons, sufficient to suppress most targets, good cross-country ability and mobility with armor protection, capable of maintaining its combat effectiveness when fired upon by the most massive anti-tank weapons probable adversary.

It was recommended that large tanks be introduced into the composition in addition only special tanks - floating, chemical. The brigade now had 4 separate battalions of 54 tanks each and was reinforced by the transition from three-tank platoons to five-tank ones. In addition, D. Pavlov justified the refusal to form in 1938 to the four existing mechanized corps three more additionally, believing that these formations are immobile and difficult to control, and most importantly, they require a different organization of the rear. The tactical and technical requirements for promising tanks, as expected, have been adjusted. In particular, in a letter dated December 23 to the head of the design bureau of plant No. 185 named after. CM. Kirov, the new chief demanded to strengthen the armor of new tanks so that at a distance of 600-800 meters (effective range).

The latest tanks in the world when designing new tanks, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of increasing the level of armor protection during modernization by at least one step ... "This problem could be solved in two ways. Firstly, by increasing the thickness of the armor plates and, secondly," by using increased armor resistance". It is easy to guess that the second way was considered more promising, since the use of specially hardened armor plates, or even two-layer armor, could, while maintaining the same thickness (and the mass of the tank as a whole), increase its durability by 1.2-1.5 It was this path (the use of specially hardened armor) that was chosen at that moment to create new types of tanks.

Tanks of the USSR at the dawn of tank production, armor was most massively used, the properties of which were identical in all directions. Such armor was called homogeneous (homogeneous), and from the very beginning of the armor business, the craftsmen strove to create just such armor, because uniformity ensured stability of characteristics and simplified processing. However, at the end of the 19th century, it was noticed that when the surface of the armor plate was saturated (to a depth of several tenths to several millimeters) with carbon and silicon, its surface strength increased sharply, while the rest of the plate remained viscous. So heterogeneous (heterogeneous) armor came into use.

In military tanks, the use of heterogeneous armor was very important, since an increase in the hardness of the entire thickness of the armor plate led to a decrease in its elasticity and (as a result) to an increase in brittleness. Thus, the most durable armor, other things being equal, turned out to be very fragile and often pricked even from bursts of high-explosive fragmentation shells. Therefore, at the dawn of armor production in the manufacture of homogeneous sheets, the task of the metallurgist was to achieve the highest possible hardness of the armor, but at the same time not to lose its elasticity. Surface-hardened by saturation with carbon and silicon armor was called cemented (cemented) and was considered at that time a panacea for many ills. But cementation is a complex, harmful process (for example, processing a hot plate with a jet of lighting gas) and relatively expensive, and therefore its development in a series required high costs and an increase in production culture.

Tank of the war years, even in operation, these hulls were less successful than homogeneous ones, since for no apparent reason cracks formed in them (mainly in loaded seams), and it was very difficult to put patches on holes in cemented slabs during repairs. But it was still expected that a tank protected by 15-20 mm cemented armor would be equivalent in terms of protection to the same, but covered with 22-30 mm sheets, without a significant increase in mass.
Also, by the mid-1930s, in tank building, they learned how to harden the surface of relatively thin armor plates by uneven hardening, known since the end of the 19th century in shipbuilding as the "Krupp method". Surface hardening led to a significant increase in the hardness of the front side of the sheet, leaving the main thickness of the armor viscous.

How tanks shoot videos up to half the thickness of the plate, which, of course, was worse than carburizing, since despite the fact that the hardness of the surface layer was higher than during carburizing, the elasticity of the hull sheets was significantly reduced. So the "Krupp method" in tank building made it possible to increase the strength of armor even somewhat more than carburizing. But the hardening technology that was used for sea armor of large thicknesses was no longer suitable for relatively thin tank armor. Before the war, this method was almost never used in our serial tank building due to technological difficulties and relatively high cost.

Combat use of tanks The most developed for tanks was the 45-mm tank gun mod 1932/34. (20K), and before the event in Spain, it was believed that its power was enough to perform most tank tasks. But the battles in Spain showed that the 45-mm gun could only satisfy the task of fighting enemy tanks, since even the shelling of manpower in the mountains and forests turned out to be ineffective, and it was only possible to disable a dug-in enemy firing point in the event of a direct hit . Shooting at shelters and bunkers was ineffective due to the small high-explosive action of a projectile weighing only about two kg.

Types of tanks photo so that even one hit of a projectile reliably disables anti-tank gun or machine gun; and thirdly, to increase the penetrating effect of a tank gun on the armor of a potential enemy, since, using the example of French tanks (already having an armor thickness of the order of 40-42 mm), it became clear that the armor protection of foreign combat vehicles tends to be significantly increased. There was a right way to do this - an increase in the caliber of tank guns and a simultaneous increase in the length of their barrel, since a long gun of a larger caliber fires heavier shells with a larger initial speed over a longer distance without correcting the pickup.

The best tanks in the world had a large caliber gun, also had a large breech, significantly more weight and increased recoil reaction. And this required an increase in the mass of the entire tank as a whole. In addition, the placement of large shots in the closed volume of the tank led to a decrease in the ammunition load.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that at the beginning of 1938 it suddenly turned out that there was simply no one to give an order for the design of a new, more powerful tank gun. P. Syachintov and his entire design team were repressed, as well as the core of the Bolshevik Design Bureau under the leadership of G. Magdesiev. Only the group of S. Makhanov remained at liberty, who from the beginning of 1935 tried to bring his new 76.2-mm semi-automatic single gun L-10, and the team of plant No. 8 slowly brought the "forty-five".

Photos of tanks with names The number of developments is large, but in mass production in the period 1933-1937. not a single one was accepted ... "In fact, none of the five air-cooled tank diesel engines, which were worked on in 1933-1937 in the engine department of plant No. 185, was brought to the series. Moreover, despite the decisions on the highest levels of the transition in tank building exclusively to diesel engines, this process was held back by a number of factors.Of course, diesel had significant efficiency.It consumed less fuel per unit of power per hour.Diesel fuel is less prone to ignition, since the flash point of its vapors was very high.

Even the most finished of them, the MT-5 tank engine, required reorganization of engine production for serial production, which was expressed in the construction of new workshops, the supply of advanced foreign equipment (there were no machine tools of the required accuracy yet), financial investments and strengthening personnel. It was planned that in 1939 this diesel engine with a capacity of 180 hp. will go to mass-produced tanks and artillery tractors, but due to investigative work to find out the causes of tank engine accidents, which lasted from April to November 1938, these plans were not fulfilled. The development of a slightly increased six-cylinder gasoline engine No. 745 with a power of 130-150 hp was also started.

Brands of tanks with specific indicators that suited the tank builders quite well. Tank tests were carried out according to a new methodology, specially developed at the insistence of the new head of the ABTU D. Pavlov in relation to combat service in wartime. The basis of the tests was a run of 3-4 days (at least 10-12 hours of daily non-stop traffic) with a one-day break for technical inspection and restoration work. Moreover, repairs were allowed to be carried out only by field workshops without the involvement of factory specialists. This was followed by a "platform" with obstacles, "bathing" in the water with an additional load, simulating an infantry landing, after which the tank was sent for examination.

Super tanks online after the improvement work seemed to remove all claims from the tanks. And the general course of the tests confirmed the fundamental correctness of the main design changes - an increase in displacement by 450-600 kg, the use of the GAZ-M1 engine, as well as the Komsomolets transmission and suspension. But during the tests, numerous minor defects again appeared in the tanks. Chief designer N. Astrov was suspended from work and was in custody and under investigation for several months. In addition, the tank received a new improved protection turret. The modified layout made it possible to place on the tank a larger ammunition load for a machine gun and two small fire extinguishers (before there were no fire extinguishers on small tanks of the Red Army).

US tanks as part of modernization work, on one serial model of the tank in 1938-1939. the torsion bar suspension developed by the designer of the Design Bureau of Plant No. 185 V. Kulikov was tested. It was distinguished by the design of a composite short coaxial torsion bar (long monotorsion bars could not be used coaxially). However, such a short torsion bar in tests did not show enough nice results, and therefore the torsion bar suspension did not immediately pave its way in the course of further work. Obstacles to be overcome: rises not less than 40 degrees, vertical wall 0.7 m, overlapping ditch 2-2.5 m.

Youtube about tanks work on the production of prototypes of D-180 and D-200 engines for reconnaissance tanks is not being carried out, jeopardizing the production of prototypes. 10-1), as well as the amphibious tank version (factory designation 102 or 10-2), are a compromise solution, since it is not possible to fully meet the requirements of the ABTU.Variant 101 was a tank weighing 7.5 tons with a hull according to the type of hull, but with vertical side sheets of case-hardened armor 10-13 mm thick, because: "Sloped sides, causing serious weighting of the suspension and hull, require a significant (up to 300 mm) broadening of the hull, not to mention the complication of the tank.

Video reviews of tanks in which power unit The tank was planned to be made on the basis of the 250-horsepower MG-31F aircraft engine, which was mastered by the industry for agricultural aircraft and gyroplanes. Gasoline of the 1st grade was placed in a tank under the floor of the fighting compartment and in additional onboard gas tanks. The armament fully met the task and consisted of coaxial machine guns DK caliber 12.7 mm and DT (in the second version of the project even ShKAS appears) caliber 7.62 mm. The combat weight of a tank with a torsion bar suspension was 5.2 tons, with a spring suspension - 5.26 tons. The tests were carried out from July 9 to August 21 according to the methodology approved in 1938, with special attention paid to tanks.

For the first time, the IS-2 "Berlinsky" appeared in the game as part of a promotion dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Victory. Then the vehicle was removed from sale, but the tank still appears in the game store on major holidays. The gift set includes an additional slot and a 100% crew with the “Combat Brotherhood” perk (skill) pumped out. It should be noted that the car does not have a preferential level of battles, so the load often drops to the ninth levels. Consider the features of this technique in a detailed review.

IS-2 performance characteristics

So, the margin of safety of the IS-2 "Berlinsky" is 1,280 units, which is slightly higher than that of the pumped counterpart. The tank's base vision radius is expectedly weak - 350 meters. Considering that we are talking about a heavy tank, this figure does not look critical.
Engine power 600 l. With. This is less than a conventional IC, so the prem accelerates to only 34 km / h. At the same time, the IS-2 "Berlinsky" received good dynamics and maneuverability, the maximum speed is gained confidently, the chassis turning speed is 38 degrees.
In terms of armament, the IS-2 Berlinsky looks pretty good. Installed on the tank 122 mm gun D-25T with an indicator of armor penetration in 175 mm for an armor-piercing projectile. One-time damage varies within 390 units, which looks quite decent for a level 7. Such characteristics indicate that at the top of the list, the tank turns into a formidable vehicle that pierces any target and deals devastating damage.
In high-level battles, everything will look sadder, so you will have to target weak spots or carry a supply of gold. By the way, if we are talking about aiming, the gun has very mediocre accuracy, a large spread, and a long time of aiming 3.4 seconds. Therefore, it is better to forget about skirmishes at long distances. By the way, despite the poor accuracy, the guns of Soviet tanks often hit the target "from the top" - this is the inexplicable will of the random house.

Equipment on the IS-2 "Berlinsky"

The choice of additional modules for any technique is important point, which increases the efficiency and survival of the machine. By the way, it is better to buy equipment during numerous promotions, when prices are reduced by 50%. If we talk about modules for the IS-2 "Berlinsky", then it is better to fill the slots like this:

Rammer.
Pickup drives.
Improved ventilation.
Some players replace ventilation with coated optics. However, this choice is obvious for more open maps, where you need to know where the enemy can fire from. The task of this class of equipment is to push / hold directions, so a ballistic lining or a tool box will be a good alternative to ventilation.

Crew perks on the IS-2

The crew of the tank consists of four tankers, the commander combines his position with the duties of a radio operator. The “Combat Brotherhood” perk is set by default, so first of all we pump out the following individual skills:
1. Light bulb.
2. Smooth turret rotation.
3. King off-road.
4. Contactless BC.
Then, be sure to pump repairs to all tankers, then: personal skills of your choice. If we talk about combat consumables, we load the usual set. Some players replace the fire extinguisher with an additional ration, but doing so is risky: the IS-2 Berlinsky burns well.

Booking IS-2

Booking in the frontal projection of the IS-2 tower is 100 mm, taking into account the ricochet shape and wide gun mantlet, the indicators of the reduced armor will be significantly higher.
The VLD armor plate is also equal to 100 millimeters, the thickness of the hull sides is 90 mm. In principle, these are good parameters, and being at the top of the list, a tank will be able to confidently tank out damage, however, getting into high-level battles, the hull will definitely “absorb” almost any hits, in the case of a turret, the chance of a rebound remains high.

How to play the IS-2

The tactics of playing on the IS-2 "Berlinsky" seem to be standard for heavy tanks. We choose a flank (preferably with city buildings) and confidently squeeze out the enemy in the chosen direction, using the support of teammates. As an alternative, you can confidently defend the selected area by driving out from behind cover with a diamond, substituting the sides and forehead of the tower for hits.
On the open maps everything will be much sadder, so in any case we try to find shelter from the artillery or rush the direction together with the team. If the tank falls into the middle or bottom of the list, you need to be more careful: stay in 2 lines, and try to maximize the potential of the gun by hiding behind the backs of more armored comrades. Here we should not forget about accuracy, so we are not in a hurry and shoot only with full convergence.

4-06-2015, 19:36

Good day and welcome to the site! Today we are focusing on an incredibly strong and comfortable vehicle, a Soviet heavy premium tank of the seventh level, in front of you IS-2 guide.

Just by looking at this vehicle, that is, its unique camouflage, it is clear that this is one of the tanks of the Berlin Four. In addition, it must be said that IS-2 World of Tanks differs from the pumped tank not only in its unique appearance, what exactly is at stake, you will understand further.

By the way, if you want to become the proud owner of this unit, you won’t be able to buy it just like that, because IS-2 buy is possible only on the eve of May 9, however, like other equipment from the Berlin Four.

TTX IS-2

As is usually the case, we will start our acquaintance with this vehicle with the fact that it has a low safety margin for a heavy tank of the seventh level and a terribly small viewing range of 350 meters.

If we talk about what are IS-2 characteristics survival, there really is something to be proud of, but armor should be used correctly. Let's start with the fact that the tower from the forehead is armored strangely. If the enemy shoots at our mask and at its edges, the probability of penetration is very high, since the thickness of the metal in these places is 100-110 millimeters. commander's cupola IS-2 WoT it also breaks through very easily, but if the enemy hits the so-called cheeks, which are located at an excellent angle, the probability of repelling the blow increases greatly, since here the reduction easily reaches 300 millimeters.

The main thing than Soviet heavy tank IS-2 differs from its pumped brother - the structure of the hull, or rather, its frontal part. In general, the armor of our VLD is better, it does not fall below 190 millimeters, and closer to the turret it goes beyond 200. But if you do not turn the hull, the VLD and the 115 mm NLD will break through equally easily, so we better hide the hull.

With the onboard projection, things change somewhat, I think it’s not worth saying that at a right angle IS-2 tank almost anyone can get through. But if you hide the front of the hull and at the same time set the side at an acute angle, the indicators of the reduced armor will quickly exceed 400 millimeters, which will make it possible to contain even 8 levels of shots, and wide tracks often “eat up” enemy shells.

Another nice nuance is that IS-2 World of Tanks is a movable strand, it has a good maximum speed, high dynamics for a heavy tank and decent maneuverability, which makes us a universal fighter.

gun

The armament will be familiar to absolutely every player who played on the Soviet heavys, in particular, we have exactly the same gun installed on board as on the fellow tank - IS, that is, the classic destructor.

Let's start with what IS-2 gun has a very powerful alpha strike for the TT-7, and thanks to this, even a low rate of fire will not prevent you from dealing about 1900 pure damage per minute.

The problem of this gun has always been and to this day is a weak penetration. Being at the top heavy tank IS-2 WoT is the king, because here you will never have problems with breaking through. But in battles against eights and even more so nines, it will not be superfluous to have gold with you, since the situations are different.

The need for gold sub-calibers increases even more due to the frankly poor accuracy of our guns. IS-2 World of Tanks It has a very large spread, long convergence, as well as disgusting stabilization, which makes firing at long distances extremely inefficient, and the aiming process difficult.

As for the vertical aiming angles, they are also very mediocre. Down your cannon IS-2 tank can lower only 6 degrees, which is why you will not always be able to confidently play from the terrain and are somewhat limited in choosing a position.

Advantages and disadvantages

Of course, common performance characteristics we have considered vehicles and weapon parameters, but in order to fully understand this tank, it will not be superfluous to prepare for IS-2 review its strengths and weaknesses, all the more so it will be easier for you to build tactics and be equipped with everything you need.
Pros:
Good ricochet armor;
High mobility for strand;
Powerful alpha strike and damage per minute.
Minuses:
Disgusting review;
Weak armor penetration;
Very poor accuracy;
Full level combat.

Equipment for IS-2

Despite a small number of both weaknesses and strengths, this unit really needs the right choice of additional modules, by installing which you must simultaneously multiply the pros and level the cons. In general, there is only one correct combination for this heavy, so on tank IS-2 equipment the following is set:
1. - will make it possible to implement such powerful one-time damage more often, besides, our DPM will become even higher.
2. - we have huge problems with all the accuracy parameters, so at least the speed of convergence needs to be improved.
3. - with this module we get a complex boost of characteristics, which will increase damage, accuracy and even give a little vision.

Crew training

The second way, which will allow you to play more confidently and efficiently, is to select and upgrade skills for crew members. There are initially more possible variations, but there are few really correct options, in any case, the sequence is important, that is, for IS-2 perks learn in this order:
Commander (radio operator) - , , , .
Gunner - , , , .
Driver mechanic - , , , .
Loader - , , , .

Equipment for IS-2

With consumables, everything is much simpler, here we are guided by the goal in battle and our reserves of silver. If you want to save and farm on this premium, buy , , . But for those who in battle want to give all their best and get the opportunity to get out of difficult situation, it is better to carry on IS-2 equipment from , , . Well, if you are not afraid of fires, which are already rare in the case of this tank, change the last option to .

Tactics of the game on the IS-2

In fact, in our hands is a machine with good mobility, strong armor and very formidable weapons, all this tells us that for IS-2 tactics Breakthrough and punching directions fit perfectly.

At the same time, you must understand that this unit has the greatest power being at the top of the list, because here there is enough mediocre penetration, and armor IS-2 World of Tanks able to hold back a lot of damage, and the gun itself seems incredibly formidable.

This means that being in the top you can perfectly tank by turning the hull a little, thus holding the enemy, or actively help the allies in the attack. But in any situation Soviet heavy tank IS-2 remains a melee fighter, because our slanting gun will not allow you to shoot effectively at long distances, and even more so to target weak spots in the enemy’s armor.

When we are talking about fighting at the bottom of the list or even against eights, we are more like a support tank that can actively attack and must stick to the front line, but tanking IS-2 WoT should leave for sturdier teammates.

But if there is a situation where you yourself have to take a hit on yourself and the enemy surpasses you in level and weapons, try to take an advantageous position. Most effectively take on the enemy IS-2 tank maybe if you hide the frontal projection and expose only the board from behind the shelter at a good angle. In this position, lure the enemy’s shot and while it is reloading, you can retreat to the allies, or carry out an attack, after which you again need to favorably expose the enemy to the armored board.

For the rest, I would like to say that Soviet tank IS-2 really strong and can show himself well in different combat situations. However, you must try to level out the shortcomings of the machine, use the maximum of its advantages, and also play carefully, being afraid of artillery and watching everything that happens around you.

Hello tankers! In the recent update 0.8.3, 2 branches of Chinese tanks appeared. Today I'm starting to consider a branch of Chinese heavy tanks. Meet, in front of you is the first heavy tank of the Chinese nation, a tank that many will consider only a miserable copy of Soviet tank building, a tank that by no means pulls on the role of TT, but this is not true statement. Before you IS-2:

Well, as always, let's take a quick look at it:

This is a level 7 car. Before it, there is not a single heavy tank in the development branch. This machine is very similar to the Soviet IS-2, but with its own characteristics. The price of the unit is 1,450,000 credits. I would not say that the amount is large, playing with a premium account, it is very easy to accumulate such money. However, it is highly desirable to install on the machine additional modules, which is about the same. A very big minus is that, as I wrote above, there are no heavy tanks before the IS-2. And this means that we will have problems with the crew. Here are the specialties of IS-2:

The problem is that when transferring the crew from other types of vehicles (ST, PT, ART-ACS, etc.), the fine increases to 20%, instead of the usual 10%. I don’t think that before level 7 you have already managed to pump out a really good and high-quality crew, although everything is possible =) Therefore, I advise you not to suffer with the previous one from ST and train a new one for silver - 75% or for gold - 100%, depending on your opportunities. We should also not forget that the crew from ST may be useful to us in the future.

Research branch:

To bring the car to the top you need a lot of experience. But I will tell about the expediency of opening this or that module below.

In stock condition, the car behaves quite normally. I also want to note that in the top it is a little better, but no more.

Equipment

Chassis is the module that you just need to explore. Without it, it's simply impossible to install anything. As you wish with other modules, and the chassis must be installed immediately in the first place.

As for the guns, everything is complicated. Difficult for you in the first place. The fact is that the tools are not very different. Stock guns are similar to guns from medium tanks - we shoot quickly, but do little damage. In my opinion, it does not work for TT. The top and pre-top guns deal VERY large one-time damage, 400 HP each. At level 7, this is a significant argument. Alas, we pay for this with accuracy and rate of fire. As for the choice of weapons with which you will play - everything is difficult. Penetration is the same for all guns. On the one hand, the differences are minimal, and the amount of experience to open the top one requires a relatively large amount. On the other hand, the comfort of the game increases. Opening the top weapon or not is up to you. Personally, I would not open the top one.

The top turret is no different from the stock turret. Yes, and it opens only after the top gun. In my opinion, it is not necessary to open and install it.

As for the engines, too, everything is ambiguous. The top engine adds just 50 hp. With. The only big plus is a small percentage of ignition. There are very few such engines in the game. In theory, oil can be used instead of a fire extinguisher with this engine.

That's something, but you need to set up a radio station. Top radio station as much as 9 levels. And these are all said. We open and set for a long time without hesitation.

A small digression, why the radio station is so important:

To play effectively, you need to know what's going on in the other part of the map. If you do not know what is happening on the other flank, for example, you cannot make the right decision and ask yourself questions:

• Where are the main forces of the enemy?
• Will they bypass you from the rear? (especially relevant on open maps)
• Do the allies need support on the other flank while you stand idle?
• Etc.

Therefore, we put a good radio station without fail.

In my opinion, the best option for pumping:

1. We open and install the chassis.
2. We open and put the pre-top gun.
3. We put the top. radio station.
4. We put the pre-top engine.
5. Open and install the top. tool. (it will be useful to us not so much on the IS-2 as on the next car)
6. Next, just open the trace. tank. However, if you want to install other modules. Top. The engine will also be useful to us, but I would not open it on the IS-2. At 110, this is easier to do.

This is how it looks on paper, but the tank has rational armor angles. Therefore, it is harder to break through us.

I also managed to find this:

From vulnerabilities I will note the NLD, the sides and sides of the tower. In general, it is not difficult to break through IS-2 for a TT of your / above level if you have hands =)

In general, I will highlight the following advantages and disadvantages:

Pros:

• Good speed.
• High burst damage.
• Good armor angles.

Minuses:

• Bad accuracy.
• Bad penetration.

Profitability:

A level 7 tank with PA farms well. Without PA, you can either play for zero or bring insignificant amounts. All because of the high price of shells. It is also worth noting the low penetration of any of the guns. Personally, I would prefer the usual premium shells for silver. The game should bring pleasure, and spoil your nerves ... However, in this case, you need PA and prem. tank for farming silver. Playing in this way will terribly empty your wallet.

Balance weight:

As shown in the table, we get to the 7th, 8th and 9th level of battles. Yes, for a gun with a penetration of 175 to be in battle with vehicles of level 9 "happiness". But most often we will fight with 7 and 8 levels. Very often to be in the top. In general, you can live, but you will have to suffer and suffer.

Tactics on IS-2:

The IS-2 can be played in 3 ways.

If you are in the top, and this happens often. Just play the role of TT. Carefully push the direction with the support of allies. Catch ricochets, non-penetrations and take damage (within reason). Our weapon with an average damage of 390 HP. capable of burning everyone in 4 - 75 shots.

If you are in the middle or bottom of the list, you can play the role of CT and support and bombard the enemy from behind the backs of more armored allies. For ST tactics, we have everything. Speed ​​and maneuverability are at a height, penetration of 175 for ST is quite enough, and one-time damage will take down 1/3 of the enemy. Reservation for the battle with CT is also enough, very often it will save you from CT shots. However, it is also necessary to act wisely. Ride with other allied CTs, support them, but in no case do not be heroic. Since you are a TT, it will not be difficult to spin you ...

With the support of TT, I think everything is clear. Hide behind their backs, cover them from others. Properly deal damage at the moment of reloading the enemy, etc.

Optional equipment:

1. The rammer is simply necessary, we have a low reload speed.
2. Reinforced aiming drives - they will increase the speed of information, but it is lame with us.
3. The fan - in general will improve everything little by little.

Instead of the latter, you can use a toolbox or coated optics. The first is to increase the speed of repairing modules, the second is to increase visibility.

Equipment:

Here everything is standard as elsewhere.

1. repair kit
2. first aid kit
3. Fire extinguisher or oil. Top and pre-top engines are very rarely burn, and an increase in speed and dynamics will not hurt.

Crew perks:

First, I advise you to pump over repairs for everyone (at the request of the commander, the sixth sense)

I advise you not to open the second perk. Better then when transferring crew to 110 get 100%, instead of 30 - 50% of the working perk on IS-2.

Tankers!

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