Engineering:SU-14

SU-14 heavy self-propelled gun
SU-14 heavy self-propelled gun
	Prototype SU-14 during trials in 1934.
Type	Self-propelled gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
Used by	Soviet Union
Wars	Battle of Moscow
Production history
No. built	2 prototypes
Specifications
Mass	48 tonnes
Crew	7 or 8
Armour	Front: 50 mm ; Side: 30 mm
Main; armament	203mm gun (B-4)
Secondary; armament	2 DT machine guns
Engine	M-17-1T diesel; 680 hp
Suspension	Coil spring
Speed	22 km/h

The SU-14 was a prototype Soviet heavy self-propelled gun built on a T-35 chassis. The original prototype mounted a 152 mm gun M1935 (Br-2); the SU-14-1 variant of 1936 carried a 203 mm gun B-4 which could fire 48.9 kilogram shells at ranges up to 25 km. Its armour was 20 to 50 mm thick. It never entered serial production.

Development

Work on the vehicle began in 1933, with a prototype built a year later. In 1935, several disadvantages were reworked and another prototype was built and designated SU-14-1. In February 1937, the prototypes successfully completed a series of performance tests. It was expected to go into production the following year. However, in 1937, Chief Designer P. N. Siachyntov was removed from the program, thus halting further development of the project.

In 1940, in connection with plans to use them during the war with Finland, armor was added to the two existing prototypes and they were redesignated SU-14-2. They later took part in the defense of Moscow in 1941 alongside the prototype SU-100Y. The first one (the original SU-14 prototype) was scrapped in 1960. The second prototype, as an SU-14-2, is on display at the Tank Museum in Kubinka.