The SU-85 (''
Samokhodnaya ustanovka'' 85) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
self-propelled gun used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, based on the chassis of the
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
medium tank. Earlier Soviet self-propelled guns were meant to serve as either
assault gun
Assault gun (from german: Sturmgeschütz - "storm gun", as in "storming/assaulting") is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed ...
s, such as the
SU-122, or as
tank destroyer
A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...
s; the SU-85 fell into the latter category. The designation "85" means the bore of the vehicle's armament, the 85 mm
D-5S gun.
Development history
Early in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Soviet tanks such as the
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
and
KV-1
The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...
had adequate firepower to defeat any of the
German tanks then available. By the fall of 1942, Soviet forces began to encounter the new German
Tiger tank Tiger tank may refer to:
*Tiger I, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. E'', a German heavy tank produced from 1942 to 1944
*Tiger II, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. B'', a German heavy tank produced from 1943 to 1945, also known as ''Kön ...
, with armor too thick to be penetrated by the 76.2 mm guns used in the T-34 and KV tanks at a safe range.
The Soviet command also had reports of the
Panther tank
The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to ...
, that was in development then and possessed thicker armor than the Tiger; both represented an advance in German tank design. Although the Panther was not seen in combat until July 1943, the new generation of German vehicles meant the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
would need a new, more powerful main gun for their armoured formations.
In May 1943, work was begun on a new
anti-tank gun
An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...
. Military planners directed the design bureaus of both Gen.
Vasiliy Grabin
Vasiliy Gavrilovich Grabin (russian: Василий Гаврилович Грабин; – 18 April 1980) was a Soviet artillery designer. He led a design bureau (TsAKB) at Joseph Stalin Factory No. 92 in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod).
Grabin was ch ...
and Gen.
Fyodor Petrov
Fyodor Fyodorovich Petrov (russian: Фёдор Фёдорович Петров) (16 March 1902, Doktorovo, Tula Governorate – 19 August 1978) was a Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR) ...
to modify the 85 mm
anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
for use as an anti-tank weapon. Petrov's bureau developed the D-5 85 mm gun. Though much too large for the T-34 or KV-1 turret, it was thought the gun could be mounted upon the chassis of the
SU-122 self-propelled gun to give the weapon mobility. The version of this gun intended to be mounted upon the SU-85 was called the D-5S, with the "S" standing for self-propelled. Initially the production factory at
Uralmash
Uralmash is a heavy machine production business of the Russian engineering corporation OMZ. Its facility is located in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and it is reported to employ around 16,500 people. The surrounding residential area where workers live ...
rejected the proposed design. Nevertheless, the administrators at Uralmash were persuaded to proceed, and the new design was put into production. The weapon was later modified to include a
telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate po ...
and a new
ball gun mantlet. This vehicle was retitled the SU-85-II.
Description
The SU-85 was a modification of the earlier
SU-122 self-propelled howitzer, essentially replacing the 122 mm M-30S howitzer of the SU-122 with a
D-5T
The 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) (russian: 85-мм зенитная пушка обр. 1939 г. (52-К)) was an Soviet anti-aircraft gun, developed under guidance of leading Soviet designers M. N. Loginov and G. D. Dorokhin. This gu ...
high-velocity 85 mm antitank gun. The D-5T was capable of penetrating the
Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
from 1000 m.
The vehicle had a low profile and excellent mobility. Initially given an armored commander's cap on the first batch, the SU-85's observational optics were improved by the introduction of a standard commander's cupola - the same as on the T-34/76 model 1942 - in addition to the already existing prismatic observation sights installed in left side and rear. On later vehicles, the same optics were added, allowing all-around observation.
Production history
![Su-85 TBiU 8 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Su-85_TBiU_8_2.jpg)
SU-85 production started in mid-1943, with the first vehicles reaching their units by August. When the up-gunned T-34-85 medium tank entered mass production in the spring of 1944, there was no point in continuing production of a tank destroyer without superior firepower. In light of this, SU-85 production was stopped in late 1944 after 2,650 vehicles had been produced. It was replaced on the production lines by the
SU-100
The SU-100 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years af ...
tank destroyer, armed with the more powerful 100 mm
D-10S
The D-10 is a Soviet 100 mm tank gun developed in late World War II. It originally equipped the SU-100 tank destroyers and was later selected for the T-55 tank, equipping these as late as 1979. On the T-55 the D-10 continues to be in active ...
gun, but due to delays with 100 mm ammo, a stopgap version called SU-85M appeared in September 1944, which was SU-100 fitted with 85 mm gun, already with thicker frontal armor and commander's cupola.
Service history
The SU-85 entered combat in August 1943. It saw active service across the
Eastern Front until the end of the war. Though a capable weapon, it was found that its 85 mm weapon was not adequate to penetrate the armour of the larger German armoured fighting vehicles. It was replaced by the SU-100.
The SU-85 was withdrawn from Soviet service soon after the war, and was exported to many Soviet client states in Europe and elsewhere. Some SU-85s were converted to use as command and recovery vehicles. Countries such as
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
kept it in service for many years.
Variants
Former Soviet Union
* SU-85 Basic version with four periscopes and no commander's cupola.
* SU-85M SU-100-like cupola and thicker frontal armor. 315 built.
Poland
* WPT-34 (1960s) - Polish repair and maintenance vehicle with a superstructure replacing the casemate, a crane, a large-diameter telescoping snorkel for deep fording operations as well as a large-spade type
earth anchor
An earth anchor is a device designed to support structures, most commonly used in Geotechnical engineering, geotechnical and construction applications. Also known as a ground anchor, percussion driven earth anchor or mechanical anchor, it may be ...
in the rear. It was converted from SU-85 tank destroyers as well as T-34 medium tanks and SU-100 tank destroyers.
Operators
*
*
*
*
*
* – 26
armored recovery vehicle
An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured fi ...
s based on the SU-85 were received by 1 January 1956
*
*
*
* from 1952/56 until 1962
[ :de:Liste der Technik und Bewaffnung der NVA#Panzer]
See also
*
List of Soviet tanks
Below is a list of tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles of the Russian empire, Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine.
Imperial Russia, World War I
Armored tractors
*Gulkevich's armored tractor
*F. Blinov armored tractor
*Wa ...
- covers all periods
*
ASU-85
The ASU-85 (russian: Авиадесантная самоходная установка, АСУ-85, Aviadesantnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka, ASU-85 – airborne self-propelled mount) is a Soviet-designed airborne self-propelled gun of the Cold War ...
*
SU-100
The SU-100 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years af ...
Tanks of comparable role, performance and era
* Germany –
StuG III,
StuG IV and
Jagdpanzer IV
The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was develope ...
* Italy –
Semovente da 75/34
The Semovente da 75/34 was an Italian self-propelled gun developed and used during World War II. It was a 75 mm L/34 gun mounted on a M15/42 tank chassis. It saw action during the defence of Rome in 1943 and later served with the Germans i ...
* Romania –
Mareșal
* United Kingdom –
SP 17pdr, A30 (Avenger)
* United States –
M10 GMC
The M10 tank destroyer was an American tank destroyer of World War II. After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed to equip the new battalions. By November 1941, the Army request ...
References
Sources
* Perrett, Bryan (1987). ''Soviet Armour Since 1945,'' London: Blandford. .
* Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). ''Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two,'' London: Arms and Armour Press. .
External links
SU-85at Battlefield.ru
SU-85at WWIIvehicles.com
{{WWIISovietAFVs
World War II tank destroyers
World War II self-propelled artillery
Self-propelled artillery of the Soviet Union
85 mm artillery
Uralmash products
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944