SU-122-54

SU-122-54

2S3M

Object 268

SU-122-54

2S3M

Object 268

USSR

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.7	6.7	6.7

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:82 000

Purchase:240 000

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Description

The SU-122-54 is a Rank V Soviet tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.49 (aka 1.70.1945) "Weapons of Victory". Featuring a T-54 chassis in a tank destroyer format and a 122 mm gun, the SU-122-54 presents an interesting vehicle for Rank V battles.

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat?

If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	100 mm (50°) Front glacis 100 mm (54°) Lower glacis	80mm	45 mm (17°) Hull 30mm (21°) Superstructure	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.

Armaments

Main armament

Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.

Additional armament

Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.

Machine guns

Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.

Usage in battles

The SU-122-54 could be described as a post war ISU-122. Most characteristics of the vehicle point towards an effort to improve on both the good and bad features of the ISU. It features thickened and better angled armor, increased firepower with better crew ergonomics and new shells as well as improved mobility thanks to a redesigned chassis. This makes for a dangerous vehicle with more options in how to use than it's predecessors.

However, this all comes at the price of a high battle rating of 7.3. This makes for a quite difficult vehicle to use, as the opposition will be fierce. Be mindful of how you approach a situation. Charging blindly or sitting very far back won't yield great results.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Strong gun that can fire HEAT-FS or APDS shells, unlike most other 122mm gun-equipped tanks.
• Fairly low silhouette.
• Has a 14.5 mm machine gun, good for warding off low-flying aircraft.
• Decently mobile.
• Has access to a rangefinder.
• Good top speed.

Cons:

• Long reload (16seconds), though not as long as an IS-tank.
• The protection is not adequate for a 7.3 vehicle.
• Restricted firing angles for the main guns, horizontally and vertically.
• Lack of a turret means that if you get flanked, the tank is in serious trouble.
• Roof machine gun will struggle to engage ground targets.
• Cupolas hits will injure respective crew members.
• Two loaders means rate of fire suffers strongly in the event of a penetration.
• The armor is thick enough to hamper acceleration.

History

The success of the T-54 tank in the early 1950s had the vehicle chassis used in many different variants for different roles. The roles range out from a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, armoured recovery vehicle, bridge-layers, mine-clearers, flamethrowers, armoured personnel carriers, fire-fighting vehicles, and a self-propelled gun. The self-proplled gun, known as "Object 600", was a vehicle based off the T-54A design and carried the 122 mm gun infamous on the IS heavy tank series. The vehicle was known as the SU-122-54, but it has sometimes also be referred to as the IT-122 as well. The chassis was modified for the vehicle, with the large gap present between the first and second road wheels moved to between the third and fourth. The superstructure, like traditional designs, was built onto the hull and held the 122 mm gun. Secondary armament consisted of two KPVT heavy machine guns on coaxial and pintle-mount for anti-aircraft purposes. The general design was developed and built between 1955 and 1957, with a total of 77 units made with minor differences between each batches.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/780/
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.