Object 268

Object 268

SU-122-54

IT-1

Object 268

SU-122-54

IT-1

USSR

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.3	7.0	7.0

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:95 000

Purchase:270 000

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Description

The Object 268 is a rank V Soviet tank destroyer with a battle rating of 7.3 (AB) and 7.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica". The Object 268 is a self-propelled gun based on the T-10M heavy tank featuring a 152 mm M-64 cannon.

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	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	120 mm (57°) Front glacis 120 mm (49°) Lower glacis 40/60 mm (78-79°) Driver's port	80 mm (0-42°)	60 mm (52-56°)	30 mm (84-90°) Engine Deck 5 mm (13-14°) Vents
Superstructure	187 mm (0-27°) Turret front 157 mm (50-61°) Gun mantlet	100 mm (20°)	50 mm (13-14°)	30 mm (81-89°)
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	40 mm	40 mm

Mobility

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

Game Mode	Mobility characteristics			Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Max Speed	Weight	AoA Weight	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	55	50.0	N/A	1,065	1,192	21.30	23.84
Realistic	50			663	750	13.26	15.00

Armaments

Main armament

The Object 268 is fitted with the 152 mm M-64 cannon, a very fearsome weapon at this BR with three potent rounds that are capable of destroying virtually any vehicle in the game, as long as the operator is skilled in its use. The ammunition loadout consists of HE, APHEBC and HEAT, all three of which are excellent solutions to various situations in a battle.

This 152 mm cannon has an excellent reload speed at 22.2s stock and 17.1s with an Ace crew, which means it has massively increased firepower compared to the similarly-tiered IS-3, which has a reload rate of 27.7s stock and 24.0s Aced.

152 mm M-64					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	35	-5°/+15°	±6°	N/A	7.0	__._	__._	__._	__._	22.3	19.7	18.2	17.1
Realistic					4.8	__._	__._	__._	8.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BP-540	HEAT	250	250	250	250	250	250
BR-540B	APHEBC	228	226	216	204	193	182
OF-540	HE	49	49	49	49	49	49

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
BP-540	HEAT	770	27.67	N/A	0.1	5,912	+0.0°	62°	69°	73°
BR-540B	APHEBC	750	48.96	1.2	19.0	1,016	+4.0°	48°	63°	71°
OF-540	HE	750	43.56	0.1	0.5	5,900	+0.0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
35	30 (+5)	18 (+17)	11 (+24)	9 (+26)	No

Optics

Object 268 Optics
	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	X3.1	X8.0
Comparable optics	___

Machine guns

The Object 268 is armed with a single 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun manned by the commander. It is highly effective in dispatching lightly armoured vehicles and defending from air attacks. It can even potentially damage or destroy enemy gun barrels. However, this machine gun is loaded with 50 round belts, which only allows for a few short bursts punctuated with a lengthy reload.

14.5 mm KPVT
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Pintle	500 (50)	600	-5°/+85°	±180°

Usage in battles

The Object 268 is an excellent single-direction brawler, as its frontal armour can withstand most kinetic shells at its BR. It is capable of locking down an entire street, which dissuades any enemy advances in the area. Although it is best used in urban maps as a brawler, it can also function as a mobile pillbox in rural maps, drawing enemy fire and covering a wide area of the map to deny enemy movements.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	BP-540	Smoke grenade
IV	Transmission	Engine		Rangefinder

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent frontal protection, the armour is more than 250 mm thick in most places and can deflect virtually any kinetic energy projectile at its BR with ease.
• Single frontal weakspot is relatively small and easy to conceal with bushes.
• Excellent firepower, with a fast-firing 152 mm and a 14.5 mm machine gun, which is perfect for dealing with light tanks and dissuading enemy air support.
• Impressive mobility in a straight line.
• All ammunition types remain effective at long ranges, solving an issue that persists with many Russian tanks at this BR.
• Side armour of the casemate is an excellent 100 mm, which can afford you to engage targets from multiple directions without having to worry about exposing weaker side armour.
• The original reload speed is retained with the loss of one loader.
• Has access to a unlockable Rangefinder modification, increasing its already impressive performance at longer ranges.

Cons:

• Large and boxy profile makes the Object 268 relatively easy to spot.
• Unimpressive turning ability makes it difficult to deal with flanking enemies at closer ranges, and nearly impossible to counter targets directly behind the vehicle.
• Large ammo racks on the sides and rear of the vehicle's casemate make flanking shots extremely lethal and usually unforgiving.
• Firing the cannon kicks up a massive dust cloud, making the vehicle easy to spot when its firing from a concealed position.
• The 14.5 mm KPV machine gun cannot point directly to the vehicle's left side, as its traverse is blocked by the rangefinder and cupola.
• Small weakspot next to the gun is a flat 187 mm area, and is usually lethal if penetrated.

History

Development

The Object 268 self-propelled gun was one of the many derivative designs of the T-10 heavy tank. The concept began on 2 July 1952 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant on the order of the Council of Ministers USSR. The Object 268 would follow in the same line of doctrine as had the earlier Soviet self-propelled guns of World War II, the SU-100, -122, and -152. This contrasted with the Western concept of a self-propelled gun being used as an artillery piece rather than the Soviet usage as a tank destroyer. There had been earlier attempts at converting a heavy tank to a self-propelled gun, using the chassis of the IS-4 and IS-7, but those had not been fully developed and were cancelled. The IS-4 production was running too slowly and the IS-7 had been too complex to manufacture in large numbers. The Leningrad Kirov Plant worked to produce an SPG on the T-10 chassis by combining it with the 152 mm M-48 cannon, which had high velocity and was much more powerful than earlier 152 mm cannons. Drawing work led to the Object 730 SPG which would be paired with the M-53 cannon, a parallel development to the M-48.

The Object 730 SPG had five different variants drawn up with each one being unique. Version No.1 was a front mounted casemate design which would be developed into the Object 268. Version No.2 had a rear casemate with the main armament using a drum magazine at the rear of the fighting compartment and the engine at the front of the vehicle. Version No.3 abandoned the casemate design and used a conventional turret with all ammunition being stored in the rear of the turret. Version No.4 was a slightly modified No.2 with a lengthened hull, addition of a second loader (bringing the crew to five) and a new cupola with a rangefinder and machine gun. Version No.5, likewise, was a reworked No.3 to also bring the crew to five and the addition of a 14.5 mm KPV machine gun, along with it using the same engine as would be used in the T-10M. Versions No.4 and 5 were rejected due to being too drastic of changes to the base design, and it was decided to go with a slightly modified Version No.1 with the same engine as the T-10M.

Final Design and Prototype

The final design for the Object 268 was presented to the committee in June 1953 using technical drawings and a scale model, which was approved on 25 August by A.I. Radzievsky. This would be armed with the 152 mm M-64 cannon along with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun on the roof of the casemate, along with a stereoscopic rangefinder. While the crew was kept at five (having two loaders), it was intended to have a crew of four as soon as an automated loading mechanism could be made for the M-64 cannon. The main armament was being slowly developed due to being lower priority than 122 mm development, but the M-64 was created by taking the M-53 cannon and slightly shortening it while still maintaining a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s. The final drawings for the Object 268 were finalized in June 1954, reviewed in August and construction on prototypes had begun in March 1955.

Work continued on the M-64 cannon, with the prototype being completed in December 1955 and one being sent to Leningrad for installation into the Object 268 in February 1956. The prototype Object 268 was finally completed in March 1956 and was also still modified from the final drawings, as it was decided to use flat steel plates for the roof and rear of the casemate rather than the originally planned rounded plates as well modifications to allow the main armament to be installed and removed.

Completed Vehicle and Cancellation

The completed Object 268 prototype was armed with the 152.4 mm M-64 cannon, built at the Leningrad plant, using the TSh-2A "Sharik" sight for direct fire and the ZiS-3 panoramic sight. A TKD-09 stereoscopic rangefinder was mounted on the roof of the casemate along with a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun in a rotating ring above the gunner's hatch. Full ammunition load was 35 rounds, with AP and HE-FRAG being available. The range at which a target could be engaged in direct fire was 900 meters with a maximum indirect fire range of 13,000 meters. The hull of the Object 268 was 120 mm thick of RHA and the casemate was 187 mm. The engine used was the V-12-6 generating 750 HP, as well as using the same transmission as the T-10. Weight of the tank was 50 tonnes with a maximum speed of 48 km/h.

The Object 268 was ultimately cancelled, largely due to internal problems associated with the development of Soviet tanks. By the time the prototype was completed and trials had finished it was approaching the end of 1957 and even further development had been done. These designs had specifications and characteristics that were more advanced that the Object 268 and would have been so well protected that the M-64 cannon would have difficulty in taking them out. It was expected that the Western tank development would also be able to defend against the Object 268, and the T-10 heavy tank had already begun production which could have caused issues if tank plants were made to manufacture a different version at the same time. In addition, a major shift in Soviet doctrine to incorporate more usage of anti-tank guided missiles, which had just been created in the Soviet Union in 1956. The Object 268 was not accepted for mass production and further development of the Object 268 was halted, with only the single prototype having been made. It remains in the Kubinka tank polygon and museum.

Media

Video of Object 268 running at Kubinka (Russian)
Vehicle starts at (10:11)

See also

• T-10M - Object 268 was developed on the hull of the T-10
• ISU-152 - Object 268 was intended as the successor to the ISU-152

External links

• Kinnear, James and Stephen L. Sewell. Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017.