SU-100 (China)

This page is about the tank destroyer SU-100 (China). For the Soviet version, see SU-100.

␗SU-100

␗ISU-122

PLZ83

␗SU-100

␗ISU-122

PLZ83

China

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

Show in game

Description

The ␗SU-100 is a rank IV Chinese tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull75 / 45 / 45

Turret75 / 45 / 45

Crew4 people

Visibility77 %

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Casemate hull)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Driver's hatch)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	75 mm (50°) Front glacis 45 mm (59°) Lower glacis 70 mm (50°) Driver's hatch 75 mm (3-55°) Gun mantlet	45 mm (19°) Front 45 mm (41°) Rear 45 mm Bottom	45 mm (48°) Top 45 mm (47-48°) Bottom	20 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	45 mm	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• The commader's cupola extends out of the right side of the casemate, presenting a protrusion that could be penetrated from the front
• Driver's hatch maximum effective armour is 120 mm.

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

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 459 → 4 278

RB4 021 → 4 973

SB5 268 → 6 516

Total cost of modifications52 700

91 000

Talisman cost1 700

Crew training57 000

Experts200 000

Aces800

Research Aces520 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

120 / 190 / 250 %

172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 135 Suspension Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 200 160 Brake System Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 200 160 Filters Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 175 Transmission Research: 5 700 Cost: 9 800 300 Engine Research: 5 700 Cost: 9 800 300	Improved Parts Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 135 Improved FPE Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 200 160 Crew Replenishment Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 175	Horizontal Drive Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 135 100mm_APHE_ammo_pack Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 135 Adjustment of Fire Research: 3 000 Cost: 5 200 160 Elevation Mechanism Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 175 100mm_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 175 100mm_ussr_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 5 700 Cost: 9 800 300

Armaments

Main armament

100 mm D-10S cannon

Ammunition33 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

13.7 → 10.5 s

Vertical guidance-3° / 20°

Horizontal guidance-8° / 8°

100 mm D-10S					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	33	-3°/+20°	±8°	N/A	6.2	8.5	10.4	11.5	12.2	13.7	12.1	11.2	10.5
Realistic					4.2	4.9	6.0	6.6	7.0

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
BR-412	APHE	218	213	192	169	148	130
BR-412B	APHEBC	218	214	195	173	154	137
BR-412D	APCBC	239	236	223	207	192	178
OF-412	HE	19	19	19	19	19	19

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-412	APHE	895	15.9	1.2	19	100.1	47°	60°	65°
BR-412B	APHEBC	895	15.9	1.2	19	100.1	47°	60°	65°
BR-412D	APCBC	887	15.9	1.2	19	93.94	48°	63°	71°
OF-412	HE	900	15.6	0.1	0.5	1,460	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
3D3	880	15.6	20	5	25	272

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the SU-100 (China)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
33	25 (+8)	17 (+16)	9 (+24)	1 (+32)	No

Usage in battles

The SU-100, as a Rank IV vehicle with a battle rating of 6.3, can be effortlessly defeated by a majority of the enemies faced at the BR bracket. As such, it is most important that the SU-100 makes the first, damaging shot before the enemy could get a shot first. The SU-100 is a classical casemate tank destroyer and as such has a fixed forward gun for its main armament, not too unlike the SU-85(M) tank destroyers. This gives the SU-100 a preference towards a defensive playstyle than an offensive one. As such, it is best to play the SU-100 in a supporting role, firing at distant enemies and ambushing them rather than facing them head-on. The SU-100 boasts high firepower and long effective range due to its 100 mm armament. The gun is able to penetrate armour similar to the 122 mm on the IS-2, but also a faster reload rate while retaining suitable post-penetration damage to devastating enemy tanks. As such, the SU-100 can lay in wait hidden in an open field and confidently attack enemies up to 1,000 meters away.

• Panther A,G,F: Though the Panther's 75 mm gun can penetrate the SU-100's front armour with little difficulty, the 100 mm gun can penetrate the Panther's front glacis plate at quite a distance (>500m). Thus, getting the first shot off will turn the battle situation towards the SU-100's advantage.
• Tiger (P) and (H): The front glacis of the Tiger II is impervious to the 100 mm, but the turret cheeks are still a major weak point that the gun can easily penetrate. At closer range, the lower glacis is also a weak point on the front area. If the Tiger II decides to traverse its turret slightly away from towards the SU-100, the 100 mm also has enough power to penetrate through the Tiger II turret side rather easily.
• IS-2 (1944): The IS-2 is easily disposable by a good firing on the front glacis, though the 1944 version requires careful aiming on the front glacis, thus it is better to aim at the lower glacis for an easier time at penetrating. The turret cheeks are also easy to penetrate like other heavy tanks.
• M4A3E2: when the Jumbo isn't angling, the SU-100 can penetrate its frontal hull and turret with ease. However when it's angling the hull, it is best to shoot the rather vertical turret for better chances of penetration. The explosives can knock out almost all its crew even when exploding inside the turret.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful 100 mm gun to familiarize with before T-54 series of tanks
• Stock shells have high penetration and explosive filler
• Can easily penetrate and one-shot common heavily armored tanks like the Panther, Jagdpanther and M4A3E2. Can penetrate the Tiger IIs' turret frontally.
• Great top speed and manoeuvrability (56 km/h)
• Decent ammo count

Cons:

• Although the front armour is sloped, it's thin and easily penetrated by the long 88mm.
• Bad gun depression of 3 degrees
• Can be easily taken out in one shot due to the cramped internals
• Large profile and long cannon make the tank hard to conceal

History

Development

This tank destroyer takes its lineage from its predecessor SU-85. The SU-85's introduction with its 85 mm D-5 cannon made it a lethal weapon against German tanks, giving it much better firepower than the current T-34 with the 76.2 mm F-34 guns. However, the SU-85 became redundant when the T-34 began to upgrade into the T-34-85, which contains the same 85 mm gun as the SU-85. No longer having the advantage in firepower, the SU-85 was discontinued, but the role of a self-propelled gun was still required to support the armoured forces.

It was decided to up-gun the SU-85 model with a much bigger cannon. Lev I. Gorlitsky, the chief designer of Soviet medium self-propelled guns, began the development of improving the SU-85. It was decided that the new cannon will be of 100 mm in calibre, and work started on developing the prototype in February 1944. In March, the prototype named "Object 138" was made for testing, mainly by trying many different 100 mm guns to see which would prove most effective. It was decided that the 100 mm D-10 gun produced by Fyodor F. Petrov's design bureau, which was an adapted S-34 naval gun, was to be used as the main armament of the self-propelled gun, now named the SU-100.

While the vehicle is essentially a SU-85 reworked to mount the larger 100 mm cannon, the SU-100 body has some major improvements compared to its predecessor. Armour on the front is increased from the regular 45 mm to 75 mm, the commander's workplace was enlarged into a small sponson on the right side of the hull with a commander's cupola, which increased his combat effectiveness. Two new ventilator units were also installed for increased ventilation of the gun's propellant gases. Production started in September 1944 and continued until some time in 1947 with a total of 2,335 units produced.

Combat usage

In its introduction in the last few months of World War II, the SU-100 proved to be a very successful tank destroyer. The 100 mm D-10 gun could penetrate 125 mm of armour at 2,000 meters away, against the Panther, it could take it out from 1,500 meters away easily. Most of the SU-100 in service saw action in Hungary in March 1945, most notably in the German offensive Operation Frühlingserwachen (Spring Awakening). Although never intended for infantry support, the SU-100 even saw action in the Battle of Berlin in the close-quarters combat of urban warfare as its 100 mm gun was very good against heavy fortifications, but the lack of any machine guns has the vehicle work in cohesion with infantry or aircraft.

After World War II, the Red Army retained the SU-100 for a few more years until retiring them to reserves in 1947, still existing to this day. The SU-100 was given out to Warsaw Pact allies such as Egypt, Angola, Cuba, China, and Czechoslovakia. The SU-100 saw service in many Cold-War conflicts such as the Korean War in 1950, Vietnam War in 1955, Suez Crisis in 1956, the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Some were modified to adapt to the sandy environment of the Middle East, these were designated the SU-100M. These exported SU-100s continue to see service up to today in some countries, but most replaced it by 1970s. One of the most recent usages of the SU-100 is in Yemen during the Yemen Civil War of 2015.

PLA Service

The People's Republic of China (PRC) acquired 99 SU-100 self-propelled guns and other armoured vehicles from the Soviet Union in 1954, when the Soviet 39th Army withdrew from Lüda (now Dalian). Much of the armour, previously used by the Soviet 7th Mechanized Division, was used by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s 190th Division. The 190th Division was then renamed to the 1st Mechanized Division (第1机械化师), and among its materiel were 24 of the SU-100 tank destroyers.

Media

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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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China tank destroyers
PLA
Gun vehicles	PLZ83 · PLZ83-130 · PTZ89
Missile vehicles	AFT09
ROC
Missile vehicles	CM25
USA
Gun vehicles	␗M8 HMC · LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2) · ␗M10 GMC · ␗M36 GMC
Missile vehicles	␗M113A1 (TOW)
USSR
Gun vehicles	␗SU-76M · ␗ISU-152 · ␗ISU-122 · ␗SU-100