SU-122P

SU-122P

SU-122P

USSR

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.7	5.7	5.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Tank destroyer

Purchase:4 880

Show in game

Description

The SU-122P is a premium rank IV Soviet tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.41.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull75 / 45 / 45

Turret75 / 45 / 45

Crew4 people

Visibility77 %

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.

The armour and survivability of the SU-122P is poor. At its BR, the 75mm sloped upper front plate is very much useless as most opponents you face have mroe than 150mm of penetration which is more than enough to go through your front. You will also more frequently see tanks firing HEAT shells (eg. ST-A1, T114) who can just ignore your armour. The side armour is non existent. The only vehicles that cannot frontally penetrate you are SPAA (eg. M42, Kugelblitz) and low tier tanks (eg. M24, Pz.III) if the opponent is a new player with only one premium high tier tank. These vehicles are however quite rare, and most of the times the foes will not struggle a bit to penetrate you.

Post-penetration survivability is bad, since the interior of the SU-122P is cramped and the crew members are closely sat. Late-war/cold war heavy tanks/tank destroyers (eg. T30, Maus) usually fire explosive-packed large-caliber APHE which can always one-shot you easily. However enemies with HEAT shells might take a few more shots to finish you as the damage of HEAT are lower.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	75 mm (52°) Front glacis 45 mm (60°) Lower glacis	45 mm (0°) Bottom	45 mm (48°)	20 mm 20 + 10 mm Engine vents
Superstructure	75 mm (52°) Front glacis 70 mm (52°) Driver's hatch 75 + 100 mm (spherical) Gun mantlet	45 mm (18-41°) Top	45 mm (0°)	20 mm
Cupola	45 mm			20 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB55 / 9 km/h

RB and SB50 / 8 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight31.6 t

Engine power

AB992 hp

RB and SB520 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB31.4 hp/t

RB and SB16.5 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	55	9	31.6	710	992	22.47	31.39
Realistic	50	8		442	520	13.99	16.46

The mobility of the SU-122P is on par with average medium tanks/tank destroyers at similar BR (eg. T-44, T25). While the top speed is 50 km/h, the average speed on common terrains (eg. grassland, dirt) is around ~30km/h, which is usually enough to keep up with advancing teammates. The acceleration on soft surface or on a hill might feel sluggish, though. Hull traverse rate is adequate on all types of terrain, but a slight forward jerk might be required if the player wants to turn the hull quicker. The reverse speed is very slow at only -8 km/h while other late-war.cold war vehicles are much faster. All in all, the SU-122P is not the fasterst nor the most agile vehicle, but it will get to the places it needs to go in time.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 213

RB2 458

SB3 397

Crew training10 000

Experts320 000

Aces800

Research Aces1 050 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 120 / 190 / 250 %

2 × 172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire 122mm_APHE_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism 122mm_APCBC_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

122 mm D-25S cannon

Ammunition28 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

21.7 → 16.7 s

Vertical guidance-2° / 20°

Horizontal guidance-7° / 7°

The SU-122P is equipped with a classical 122mm D-25S cannon that is very capble even against cold war vehicles. At this rank, the player should feel comfortable with the long reload of such gun and should master its ballistics and shell velocity. Plus the reload of ~18 seconds is much shorter than earlier tanks with 122mm guns. If every shell counts, the 122mm cannon is a very deadly terminator. The recommended ammo is of course the BR-471B and BR-471D. The former is a perfect option against late-WW2 vehicles such as Panther II, M26, etc, while the latter is more for superheavy /cold war tanks like the Tortoise, Caernarvon, T30, etc. These shells all have great post-penetration damage and thus can always one-shot most of the opponents.

This fantasitc firepower is somewhat limited by the gun's aiming speed and traverse angles. The horizontal aiming speed of around 6 degree/s is somewhat enough for medium range engagements but will feel slow in close range battle against fast tanks like the M41 and AUBL/74. The vertical targeting speed is much slower, and the gun depression of only -2 degrees makes it one of the worst vehicle in game at fighting in sloped terrains. A tiny hill will lift the nozzle up from the target. Finally, the gunsight zoom remains the same 3.5x which is just enought for medium range combat.

Note that since the gun is mounted towards the right side of the SU-122P, so when you aim and shoot to the left the tank will turn slightly to the right due to the huge recoil.

122 mm D-25S					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	28	-2°/+20°	±7°	N/A	6.16	8.53	10.36	11.46	12.19	21.71	19.21	17.70	16.70
Realistic					4.17	4.90	5.95	6.58	7.00

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
BR-471	APHE	205	201	183	162	144	128
BR-471B	APHEBC	205	203	191	178	166	155
BR-471D	APCBC	230	227	215	200	186	173
OF-471	HE	37	37	37	37	37	37

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-471	APHE	795	25	1.2	19	246.4	47°	60°	65°
BR-471B	APHEBC	795	25	1.2	19	246.4	48°	63°	71°
BR-471D	APCBC	800	25	1.2	19	192.5	48°	63°	71°
OF-471	HE	800	25	0.1	0.1	3,600	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the SU-122P

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
28	Projectiles Propellants	22 (+6) 19 (+9)	12 (+16) 14 (+14)	11 (+17) 4 (+24)	1 (+27) 1 (+27)	No

Usage in battles

Differences between non-volumetric shells and volumetric shells hitting a Tiger I

An important note when engaging tanks, especially Tiger I's, is that, with the implementation of volumetric shells, you can no longer expect your shells to pierce through small openings or right past an obstacle. The large 122 mm calibre of your shells will result in it catching on an armour plate's edge very often, losing all of its penetration. For example, a Tiger I has some edges that can absorb your shell unexpectedly, despite having flat armour. Thus you must always make sure that where you are aiming at is absolutely free of obstruction, or it may result in a non-penetration or a ricochet. This can be seen in the diagram to the right.

Specific Enemies Worth Noting

These are common vehicles you will see in this tank:

• ☠ T32 - You have to go for the MG port in the lower left of the UFP, otherwise you can only penetrate the side armour or the rear.
• ☠ T28 - You can only penetrate the cupolas on top of the tank. If they're hidden or you are unsure about the shot, you can try hitting the cannon barrel and running away.
• ☠ Ferdinand - Go for the angled armour at the sides of the lower front plate (below the casemate, but above the lowest plates), this will disable Ferdinand's engine and/or driver, so you can flank and finish it off.
• ☠ Jagdtiger - You cannot reliably penetrate or damage this tank frontally. You can try disabling the cannon barrel, and then flanking is your best option (or running away).
• ☠ Conqueror - Shoot the hull, don't shoot the turret.
• ☠ Ho-Ri Production - You cannot reliably penetrate or damage this tank frontally. You can try disabling the cannon barrel and then flanking is your best option (or running).
• ☠ AMX-50 Foch - You cannot reliably penetrate or damage this tank frontally. You can try disabling the cannon barrel and then flanking is your best option (or running).
• T34 / T29 - Turret cheeks can work, although it's best to go for the LFP because the ammo storage is very low in the tank. If you don't see the LFP, try going just below the turret ring, where the driver sits.
• Tiger II (H) / Panther II - You can easily penetrate the turret cheeks with BR-471B.
• Panther D, A, G, F - You can penetrate the UFP
• Tortoise - Shoot to the right of the gun of the Tortoise, when you see it head-on if shoot on the left plate there is a chance of a one-shot
• AMX-50 Surbaissé - Go for the LFP.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• One of the fastest reloading Russian 122 mm cannon
• The D-25S cannon is more than enough to completely destroy almost anything its shells connect with
• Quicker and more agile than the ISU-122
• Smaller target than the ISU-122

Cons:

• Very poor gun depression of -2°
• Obsolete armor thickness, can easily be penetrated
• Costly to acquire (6,090 GE)
• Reload time is still more than twice as long as its usual opposition

History

There had been delays in the production of the SU-100 in autumn 1944, and so a new design was offered in the meantime. Uralmash's Design Bureau offered a tank destroyer on the same SU-100 hull, but with a 122 mm D-25S anti-tank gun. The 122 mm gun could be fitted without modification due to the commonality of the gun mounts.

Trials of the new tank destroyer, called the SU-122P, began in October 1944. Afterwards, it was sent to Government trials, passing all of them. It was recommended for service, but it never entered production, partially because of the long reload time of the 122 mm gun.

In-game description

A new SPG, designated SU-122P, was designed in the spring of 1944. Its designers attempted to fit the previously developed SU-100 SPG with a powerful 122 mm D-25S cannon with the aim of increasing the SPG's firepower. Outwardly, this SPG differed from the SU-100 in that its barrel was longer and had a muzzle brake.

In September 1944, the SU-122P SPG underwent factory testing, which it passed successfully. In spite of this, the order to put it into mass production did not follow. There were several reasons for this decision. First of all, the 122 mm D-25S cannon's penetration was lower than that of the D-10S by 4-5 mm, and its ammunition capacity was reduced to 26.

Due to its separate loading, its rate of fire was reduced to 3-4 shots per minute, and the weapon's recoil was higher than that of the SU-100's, which negatively affected the undercarriage's durability. The previous issues of inadequate space in the fighting compartment had remained unsolved. In addition, SPGs with a similar cannon had already been designed based on the IS-2, which had a more suitable chassis, hull and cabin for heavy artillery weapons.

Only 1 experimental SU-122P SPG was produced.

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;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
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