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The SU-122 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II.
History
The SU-122 was an assault gun which used the hull of the T-34 tank and was the result of an April 1942 specification for assault guns aimed with guns of 122 mm calibre or higher. The SU-122 was designed by the
Uralsky Machine Building factory. The first production SU-122s were built at the end of 1942, for a total of 25
vehicles.
The SU-122 did reasonably well in combat against the Wehrmacht and production continued from 1942 until the
summer of 1944, for a total of roughly 1100 SU-122s built.
Variants
The Su-122 had no variants that went into production, but there were several unsuccesful prototypes and minor
variants. Various attempts were made to modernise and improve the Su-122, particularly in the area of simplification, to lower production costs.
The first attempt to modernise the Su-122 resulted in the SU-122M, which was armed with the 122 mm U-11 howitzer instead of the 122 mm M-30 howitzer of the SU-122 itself. To accomadate the new gun, the gun compartment was altered. Though this design showed some promise, trials showed numerous defects: the SU-122M was less reliable than the original SU-122, costed more and was overloaded. It was therefore not taken into production.
The other attempt to create an improved SU-122 replacement was done by taking a SU-85 chassis and coupling it with the 122 mm D-6 howitzer, which was lighter and compacter than the U-11 howitzer. This again was not a success.
Finally, there was a small series of SU-122s built on the chassis of the SU-100.
Combat History
Characteristics
- Role: self propelled assault gun
- Power plant: diesel engine, 375 kW (500 hp)
- Speed: road 55 km/h
- Range:
- Length: 6.95 m
- Width: 3.00 m
- Height: 2.45 m
- Weight: 29.2 tonnes
- Crew: 4
- Armament: 122 mm M-30 howitzer, with 40 rounds
- Armour: front 45 mm, side 45 mm
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