ISU-122

ISU-122
Polish ISU-122
Type	Self-propelled gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
No. built	1,150 (all types)
Specifications
Weight	45.5 tonnes (50.2 short tons; 44.8 long tons)
Length	9.85 m (32 ft 4 in)
Width	3.07 m (10 ft 1 in)
Height	2.48 m (8 ft 2 in)
Crew	4 or 5
Armor	front 90 mm (3.5 in) gun shield 120 mm (4.7 in) side 90 mm (3.5 in)
Main armament	A-19S 122 mm gun, with 30 rounds
Secondary armament	12.7 mm DShK AA machine gun, with 250 rounds
Engine	12-cyl. 4-stroke diesel model V-2IS 520 hp (382 kW)
Power/weight	11 hp/tonne
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	220 km (140 mi)
Speed	37 km/h (23 mph)

The ISU-122 (acronym of Istrebitelnaja - or Iosif Stalin-based - Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 122) was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II, mostly in the anti-tank role.

A prototype of the ISU-122 (in Russian ИСУ-122) heavy self-propelled gun was built at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (Chelyabinskiy Kirovskiy Zavod (ChKZ), Chelyabinsk, Russia), in December 1943. The design shared the chassis of the ISU-152 self-propelled gun and differed only in armament, having an A-19S 122-mm gun as its main weapon instead of the ISU-152's ML-20S gun-howitzer. Towed versions of these guns used the same carriage: 52-L-504A (Russian designation 52-Л-504А), so installation of an A-19 instead of an ML-20 gun was not a difficult task. After completing development of the ISU-152, ChKZ engineers mounted the A-19 gun on the ISU-152 chassis to create "Object 242" — the first ISU-122 prototype. It was successfully tested but not immediately launched into mass production.

At that time all ISU hulls were being equipped with the ML-20S gun-howitzer, but the production of hulls increased quickly and there was a lack of ML-20S tubes in the beginning of 1944. State authorities ordered these uncompleted hulls armed with an A-19 gun (specifically with the A-19S variant, slightly modified for the self-propelled gun mount). A further advantage of rearming the ISU was increased direct fire range against heavy German tanks. For these reasons the State Defense Committee adopted Object 242 for Red Army service as the ISU-122 on 12 March 1944. In April 1944 the first series ISU-122 left the ChKZ production lines.

The A-19S gun had a manual-piston breech, which reduced the rate of fire from 2.5 to 1.5 shots per minute. Soviet designers developed the D-25 by modernizing the A-19S's breech, creating a semi-automatic variant of the 122-mm gun. The D-25 gun was installed in IS-2 tanks as a priority, but in September 1944 became available for self-propelled guns. The prototype ISU vehicle, armed with a D-25S was designated "Object 249" and successfully passed plant and state testing. The fire rate was improved to 2 to 3 shots per minute and with two strong experienced loaders the rate of fire reached 4 shots per minute. Due to the muzzle brake reducing recoil forces the D-25 had a smaller recoil buffer than the A-19. This improved the crew's work conditions and allowed for a smaller, lighter gun shield with the same armour thickness.