SU-100

SU-100

ISU-122S

2S1

SU-100

ISU-122S

2S1

USSR

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:27 000

Purchase:185 000

Show in game

Description

The SU-100 is a Rank IV Soviet tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was one of the first vehicles introduced in the opening of "Ground Forces" in Update 1.41. Featuring the 100 mm gun with a strengthened design from the SU-85, the SU-100 can prove a menace to anyone on the other end of its gun.

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.

The SU-100 does not look very different from the Rank III SU-85M tank destroyer, the only big external difference is the large 100 mm D-10S gun extending from the body, significantly bigger than the 85 mm D-5S gun. Though external difference is minimal, the performance in-game is big enough for a whole rank. The 100 mm gun boasts penetration levels along the line of the 122 mm, but with much faster muzzle velocity and reload speed. Aside from that, everything else is the same as the SU-85M. Gun elevation and depression is the same as +20°/-3°. The armour on the SU-100 is 75 mm sloped frontal armour. The engine and weight are also the same.

With all these similarities, those familiar with the SU-85 series will feel at home with the SU-100, with the exception that a majority of the enemies in the BR bracket can effortlessly knock out the SU-100 with even a glancing shot.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• 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

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

Armaments

100 mm D-10S
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
33			-3°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	4.20	5.80	_.__	__._	__._
Realistic	4.20	4.90	_.__	__._	__._
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
13.70	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
BR-412	APHE	210	208	188	164	144	126
BR-412B	APHEBC	215	212	197	167	146	128
BR-412D	APCBC	240	235	211	185	161	141
OF-412	HE	19	19	19	19	19	19

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
BR-412	APHE	895	16	1.2	15	110.5	-1°	47°	60°	65°
BR-412B	APHEBC	895	16	1.2	15	110.5	+4°	48°	63°	71°
BR-412D	APCBC	887	16	1.2	15	103.7	+4°	48°	63°	71°
OF-412	HE	880	15	0.1	0.5	1,460	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
3D3	880	16	20	5	25	272

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the SU-100

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 the 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.

• 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.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The 100 mm D-10 gun from the T-54 series at 6.3
• Stock shells have high penetration and explosive filler
• Can easily one-shot many tanks
• Great top speed and manoeuvrability (56 km/h)
• Decent ammo count

Cons:

• Although the front armour is sloped, it's thin and easily penetrated
• Bad gun depression of 3 degrees
• Can be easily taken out in one shot due to the cramped internals
• Weak armour in overall
• 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.

In-game description

"In connection with the increased armour of new enemy heavy tanks, it became necessary to create a self-propelled gun more powerful than the SU-85. Mass production of a new SPG under the designation SU-100 began at UZTM in August 1944. The engine, transmission, undercarriage and many other key parts from the T-34-85 tank were used in its design. It was armed with a 100 mm D-10S cannon with a 56 calibre barrel length. This weapon perfectly combined a high rate of fire with good ballistic characteristics. Its armour-piercing shell could penetrate 160 mm thick armour from a distance of 1000 metres. The vehicle had a standard design, with the driving compartment in the front, the fighting compartment in the middle and the engine compartment in the rear. Above the commander's place, the cabin's roof contained a fixed command cupola with five observation slots for all-round visibility. The command cupola's hatch housed an MK-4 observation instrument and rotated on a bearing.

The SPG was manufactured between 1944 and 1947, and 2,495 SPGs of this type were produced during the Great Patriotic War. The SU-100 was first deployed in battle in January 1945. The SPGs showed their worth and earned a reputation as a reliable and powerful combat vehicle. The vehicle also inherited negative aspects from its base tank, such as its outdated suspension construction, its fuel tank positioning in the fighting compartment, and its unfavourable layout for an SPG. The SU-100's barrel length was even greater than that of the SU-85, making manoeuvring difficult on rough terrain and in urban areas. After the war, the vehicle was modernised numerous times and remained in service in the Soviet Army for several decades. These SPGs were supplied to the USSR's allies and took part in a range of local post-war conflicts."

Media

Camouflage, skins and paint patterns for the SU-100 from live.warthunder.com

Read 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.

ETC.

Sources

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