SU-100

SU-100
SU-100 at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Kiev, Ukraine
Type	Tank destroyer
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
No. built	2335+
Specifications
Weight	31.6 tonnes (69,665 lbs)
Length	9.45 m (30 ft)
Width	3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Height	2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
Crew	4
Armor	front 75 mm (3 in) side 45 mm (1.77 in) rear 45 mm (1.77 in) roof 20 mm (.78 in)
Main armament	100 mm gun D-10S
Engine	V-2 12-cylinder diesel 500 hp (370 kW)
Power/weight	16 hp/tonne
Suspension	Christie
Operational range	320 km (199 mi)
Speed	48 km/h (30 mph)

The SU-100 (Samokhodnaya ustanovka 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with a powerful 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 afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world.

The SU-85 was developed from the chassis of the T-34 tank replacing the turret with a larger, fixed superstructure that allowed a larger gun to be fitted: the 85 mm D-5 gun, providing dramatically upgraded firepower compared to the T-34's 76.2 mm models. Introduced to service in 1943, the SU-85 was quickly rendered obsolete as a new design featured the same gun on the T-34-85.

This prompted the design of a more advanced turretless tank destroyer with an even more powerful cannon. Development was conducted under supervision of L. I. Gorlitskiy, chief designer of all medium Soviet self-propelled guns. The work started in February 1944 and the first prototype of the SU-100, "Object 138", was delivered in March. After intensive testing with different models of 100 mm gun Soviet engineers approved the D-10S gun for mass production. This gun was developed in Constructors Bureau of Artillery Factory No. 9 under guidance of F. F. Petrov. After the Second World War this gun was installed on T-54 and T-55 tanks and its derivatives were in service forty years after initial development.

It was built at the UZTM (Russian abbreviature УЗТМ for Уральский Завод Тяжелого Машиностроения – Ural Heavy Machinery Factory, also called Uralmash) in Yekaterinburg. The SU-100 quickly proved itself to be able to penetrate around 125 mm (4.9 in) of vertical armor from a range of 2,000 m (1.2 mi) and the sloped 80 mm (3.1 in) front armor of the German Panther from 1,500 m (0.93 mi).