Engineering:SU-152 "Taran"

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Object 120 SU-152 "Taran"
Object 120 in Kubinka.jpg
The only prototype of the Object 120 at the Kubinka Tank Museum.
TypeTank destroyer
Place of originSoviet Union
Production history
Produced1965
No. built1
Specifications
Mass27 metric tons
Length6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) (hull)
Width3.12 m (10 ft 3 in)
Height2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
Crew4

Armour30 mm (hull front, turret front)
Main
armament
152.4 mm M-69 "Taran" rifled gun
(9.45m long barrel)
EngineV-54-105 diesel engine
353 kW (473 hp)
TransmissionMechanical
Operational
range
280 km (173 mi)
Speed63 km/h (39 mph)

The Object 120 SU-152 "Taran" (Russian: СУ-152 «Таран») was a fully enclosed Soviet tank destroyer built in 1965, which never progressed past the experimental stage.

History

In the early 1960s, the Soviet military concluded that the armor-piercing ammunition used by the T-55 medium tank, and the T-10 heavy tank was unable to penetrate the frontal armor of the newest American M60 and British Chieftain main battle tanks. The Soviets, therefore, began parallel research on several different anti-tank weapon systems, such as the development of new armour-piercing discarding sabot and shaped charge ammunition for existing tank guns, new rifled and smoothbore tank guns with calibers ranging from 115 mm to 130 mm with anti-tank missiles.

One of these projects became the SU-152 "Taran". The factory designation was Object 120 (Объект 120). In terms of firepower and mobility, it surpassed all foreign tank destroyers. The main reason the SU-152 "Taran" wasn't adopted was due to the development and adoption of more effective 125 mm smoothbore tank gun and anti-tank missiles.

Armament

The SU-152 "Taran" was armed with the 152.4 mm M-69 "Taran" rifled gun, with a barrel length of 9,045 mm, fitted with a powerful muzzle brake. With an overall length of about 10 meters, it is the longest gun of any type ever installed in a fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle. The gun had a maximum direct fire range of 2,050 meters. The SU-152 "Taran" carried 22 rounds of APDS and high-explosive ammunition. The gun had a semi-automatic breech block, with a rate of fire of 3–5 rounds/min. The high-explosive ammunition had a 43.5 kg shell and a maximum charge of 10.7 kg. Firing the 12.5 kg APDS shell with a maximum charge (10.7 kg), which gave it a muzzle velocity of 1,720 m/s, the M-69 "Taran" had an armor penetration of 290 mm of RHA at 90° at a range of 2,000 meters.[1]

See also

  • FV 4005 Stage 2, a similar experimental British design for a tank destroyer, armed with a 183 mm cannon

References

Further reading

  • Г. Л. Холявский Самоходные артиллерийские установки, 1945–2000 // Энциклопедия бронетехники. — ООО "Харвест", 2001. — 656 с. — (Гусеничные боевые машины, 1919–2000 гг). (in Russian)
  • М. В. Павлов, И. В. Павлов. Отечественные бронированные машины 1945—1965 гг. // Техника и вооружение: вчера, сегодня, завтра. — Москва: Техинформ, 2009. — № 8. — С. 56. (in Russian)