Difference between revisions of "ASU-85"

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== Description ==
 
== Description ==
''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''
+
<!--''In the description, the first part should be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.''-->
 +
[[File:GarageImage_ASU-85.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
 +
{{break}}
 +
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{specs|rank}} Russian tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed to provide the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces, with an air-portable self-propelled gun for independent fire support and anti-tank capability in support of paratroopers during airborne operations.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== 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 helpfull for survival in combat?''
+
<!--''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.''
+
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''-->
 +
The front upper glacis plate, while only 45 mm thick, is quite heavily sloped and can occasionally ricochet rounds. The mantlet is also quite thick and rounded, and it can also bounce the occasional lucky shot.
 +
 
 +
However, the rest of the ASU-85 is very thinly armoured and vulnerable to even heavy machine guns. It is especially vulnerable to aircraft strafing.
 +
 
 +
'''Armour type:'''
 +
 
 +
* Rolled homogeneous armour
 +
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Hull || 45 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 45 mm (37°) ''Lower glacis'' <br> 50 mm ''Driver port''|| 6 mm || 6 mm (40°) ''Upper'' <br> 6 mm (18°) ''Lower'' || 6 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Superstructure || 45 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 100 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 13 mm (37-38°) || 6 mm || 13 mm ''Front'' <br> 6 mm ''Rear''
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
'''Notes:'''
 +
 
 +
* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===
''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''
+
<!-- ''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.'' -->
 +
 
 +
{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 298|rbMinHp= 186|<!--AoAweight=(optional) -->}}The ASU-85 is based on the [[PT-76B]] and uses the same engine. It is somewhat heavier, however, and the mobility thus suffers comparatively. With a top speed of under 50 km/h, the ASU-85 is relatively slow for such a lightly armoured vehicle, but it is adequate enough for repositioning when needed. The ASU-85 also has a fairly slow reverse speed and only one reverse gear, inherited from the PT-76B.
 +
 
 +
It should also be noted that the ASU-85 is ''not'' amphibious, unlike the PT-76B it is based on.
  
 
== Armaments ==
 
== Armaments ==
 
=== Main armament ===
 
=== 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 flexibilty 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: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. 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.''
+
<!--''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: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. 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.''-->
 +
{{main|D-70 (85 mm)}}The ASU-85 is armed with the '''85 mm D-70''', a significantly more powerful gun compared to the wartime Soviet 85 mm ZiS S-53 and D-5T guns and comparable in capability to the German 8,8 cm L/71 guns. The mounting has only 4° of gun depression due to the restricted size of the vehicle, but has a fairly generous amount of traverse for a casemate tank destroyer. It has a relatively low rate-of-fire for its calibre, reflecting the rather cramped crew compartment of the ASU-85.
  
=== Additional armament ===
+
The standard shell is the '''BR-372''' APBC shell with a lethal explosive filler. It has an excellent muzzle velocity and is accurate at long ranges. It will also easily penetrate most things that the ASU-85 may encounter. Anything that cannot be penetrated by the APBC shell will almost certainly be penetrable by the '''3BK7''' HEAT-FS round. Boasting 300 mm of penetration, it is capable of punching straight through a [[Tiger II (P)|Tiger II]]'s upper glacis and does not lose penetration over distance. However, it suffers the usual drawbacks of HEAT rounds (cannot go through obstacles like trees or fences) and is significantly less lethal than the APBC shell. The muzzle velocity is also lower, which can complicate aiming at long ranges.
''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.''
 
  
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | [[D-70 (85 mm)|85 mm D-70]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="3" | 39 || -4°/+15° || ±15° || N/A
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
 +
|-
 +
! style="width:4em" |Mode
 +
! style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| ''Arcade'' || 4.2 ||8.5||10.4||11.5||12.2
 +
|-
 +
| ''Realistic'' || 4.2 ||4.9||6.0||6.6||7.0
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| 11.2 ||9.9||9.1||8.6
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
===== Ammunition =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
 +
|-
 +
! 10m
 +
! 100m
 +
! 500m
 +
! 1000m
 +
! 1500m
 +
! 2000m
 +
|-
 +
| BR-372 || APBC || 230 || 227 || 214 || 199 || 186 || 172
 +
|-
 +
| OF-372 || HE || 11 || 11 || 11 || 11 || 11 || 11
 +
|-
 +
| 3BK7 || HEATFS || 300 || 300 || 300 || 300 || 300 || 300
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="11" | Shell details
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! rowspan="2" |Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! rowspan="2" |Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
 +
''in m:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
 +
''in mm:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° <br> from horizontal:''
 +
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
 +
|-
 +
! 0%
 +
! 50%
 +
! 100%
 +
|-
 +
| BR-372 || APBC || 1040 || 9.3 || 1.2 || 15 || 85 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
 +
|-
 +
| OF-372 || HE || 1010 || 9.7 || 0.1 || 0.3 || 740 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
 +
|-
 +
| 3BK7 || HEATFS || 925 || 7.2 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,590 || +0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
 +
[[File:Ammoracks_ASU-85.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] on the ASU-85.]]
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full<br /> ammo
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual<br /> discrepancy
 +
|-
 +
|| '''39''' || 33&nbsp;''(+6)'' || 26&nbsp;''(+13)'' || 19&nbsp;''(+20)'' || 13&nbsp;''(+26)'' || 7&nbsp;''(+32)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+38)'' || style="text-align:left" | No
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
Front empty: 26&nbsp;''(+13)''<br />Sides only: 33&nbsp;''(+6)''
 +
 
=== Machine guns ===
 
=== 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.''
+
<!--''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.''-->
 +
{{main|SGMT (7.62 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | [[SGMT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm SGMT]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate <br> (shots/minute)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (250) || 600 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
== Usage in the battles ==
+
== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''
+
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
 +
The ASU-85 is a veritable glass cannon that relies on stealth and/or distance in order to survive on the battlefield. It is very vulnerable if caught in the open, especially to planes due to the very weak roof armour. The 85 mm gun is capable of handling almost any tank likely to be encountered by the ASU-85. Unfortunately, the ASU-85 lacks the mobility of its predecessor, the [[ASU-57]], and thus has to adopt a more passive playstyle. The stock APBC round is excellent for ambushes, which tend to involve a lot of side shots where the lethality of the explosive filler is valuable, especially with the long reload time of the gun. The HEAT-FS round is better suited for medium/long-range fighting, since it does not lose penetration over distance.
 +
 
 +
The ASU-85 has a rather unorthodox method of using its smoke screen. Unlike most vehicles, which use smoke shells, singular canisters, or canister clusters, the ASU-85 uses two large drum like structures at the rear. When deployed, these will drop away, so it is relatively easy to tell from close range whether or not an ASU-85 has smoke or not, and how many it has. Due to the orientation of the drums, the smoke screen will actually form ''behind'' the tank and take about 2-3 seconds to fully envelope the assault gun.
 +
 
 +
Common opponent weakspots:
 +
 
 +
* Tiger II [[Tiger II (P)|(P)]], [[Tiger II (H)|(H)]], [[Tiger II (10.5 cm Kw.K)|105 mm]]: Turret cheeks. HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front.
 +
* [[Panther II]]: APBC can penetrate the turret face. HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front.
 +
* [[T29|T29]]: Lower glacis. There are also weakspots in the gun mantlet, but they may be hard to hit at anything but close range.
 +
* [[Caernarvon|Caernavron]]: Turret ring and lower glacis.
 +
* [[Tortoise|A39 Tortoise]]: Area surrounding the hull machine gun port.
 +
* [[T95|T95]]: Cupolas may be penetrated but do not trigger the explosive filler of AP rounds.
 +
* [[Jagdtiger|Jagdtiger]]: HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front and superstructure.
 +
 
 +
=== Modules ===
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
!Tier
 +
! colspan="2" |Mobility
 +
!Protection
 +
! colspan="3" |Firepower
 +
|-
 +
|I
 +
|Tracks
 +
|
 +
|Parts
 +
|Horizontal Drive
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|II
 +
|Suspension
 +
|Brake System
 +
|FPE
 +
|Adjustment of Fire
 +
|Airstrike
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|III
 +
|Filters
 +
|
 +
|Crew Replenishment
 +
|Elevation Mechanism
 +
|Smoke Grenade
 +
|NVD
 +
|-
 +
|IV
 +
|Transmission
 +
|Engine
 +
|
 +
|Rangefinder
 +
|Improved Optics
 +
|3BK7
 +
|}
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''
+
<!--''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".''-->
 +
'''Pros:'''
  
'''Pros:'''
+
* Excellent 85 mm gun
*
+
* Competitive stock APBC round with explosive filler
 +
* Access to HEAT-FS with 300 mm of penetration
 +
* Tiny profile
 +
* Access to a coaxial machine gun
 +
* Access to night vision devices
  
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
*
 
  
== Historical part ==
+
* Slow gun elevation and traverse
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''
+
* Slow reload for an 85 mm gun
 +
* Lightly armoured everywhere besides the front, especially vulnerable to aircraft strafing
 +
* Poor reverse speed
 +
* Mediocre mobility, considering the light armour
 +
* Poor gun depression
 +
* Angling even just slightly will expose the extremely weak side armor to vehicles with APCBC shells
 +
 
 +
== History ==
 +
<!--''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''-->
 +
===Development===
 +
A new assault gun was requested by the Armed Forces sometime before 1953. Due to the success of the [[ASU-57]], they tasked the OKB-40 design bureau headed by Nikolaj Astrov to design the vehicle. The design, designated ''Object 573'', was ready for tests in the latter half of 1953. Constant changes and improvement was made from the span of 1956 to 1957. The design used the chassis of the [[PT-76B|PT-76]] amphibious light tank design, though it did not have the same amphibious feature and had a new engine propelling it. The armament was an 85 mm D-70 gun derived from the 85 mm D-48 anti-tank gun. The design could carry 45 rounds inside and could fire a variety of rounds up to 1 km away. Secondary armament for the vehicle was a GMT or PKT coaxial machine gun. The improved design was going to accepted and enter production in 1958 as the ''SU-85'' (despite the existence of [[SU-85|a vehicle of the same name]]), but this was again delayed when the Ministry of Defense ordered an armoured roof to be installed. The design was to enter production in 1961, but by then the design was rather outdated for army forces usage. Thus, when the vehicle entered production, it was taken up by the VDV, the Soviet Airborne Forces, and renamed the '''ASU-85'''. The ASU-85 was produced from 1959 to 1966, while staying in service from 1959 all the way to 1993.
 +
 
 +
===Usage===
 +
The Soviet airborne forces primarily used the ASU-85 as a light infantry support/assault gun. Advancements in air-drop techniques and the advent of helicopters made its air deployment a more viable option in the early 1960s. The Soviet Union deployed 31 ASU-85s to each of its airborne divisions in and assault gun battalion. The Soviet Union used the ASU-85 during the Soviet-Afghan War with the airborne troops stationed there.
 +
 
 +
The ASU-85 was only given out to Poland and Vietnam. Poland used the ASU-85s in the same manner as the Soviet Union, with 31 vehicles in each airborne divisions. The ASU-85 are still in service in the Vietnamese military, with interests on improving their technical performances in early 2016.<ref name="JaneASU-85">Fisher, Richard D., Jr. "DSA 2016: Vietnam May Update Soviet Era ASU-85s." IHS Jane's 360, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.</ref>
 +
 
 +
The ASU-85 also serves as the genesis of other support vehicles using the derived PT-76 chassis. The most notable vehicle using a similar chassis was the [[ZSU-23-4|ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"]] anti-aircraft system.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
+
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
 +
 
 +
;Skins
 +
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_asu_85 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
 +
 
 +
;Videos
 +
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:00 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|y2G4K-5ZvDw|'''ASU-85 self-propelled gun (Soviet Airborne Forces)''' - ''yolkhere''}}
 +
 
 +
== See also ==
 +
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
  
== 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;''
 
* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
''ETC.''
 
  
== Sources ==
+
== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
+
<!--''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''page on the Wikipedia;''
+
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''
+
* ''other literature.''-->
 +
 
 +
* [http://warthunder.com/en/news/3733-development-asu-85-death-from-the-skies-en/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> ASU-85: Death from the Skies]
 +
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-85|[Wikipedia<nowiki>]</nowiki> ASU-85]]
 +
 
 +
===References===
 +
'''Citations'''
 +
<references />
 +
 
 +
'''Bibliography'''
 +
 
 +
* [Http://www.janes.com/article/59688/dsa-2016-vietnam-may-update-soviet-era-asu-85s [World News<nowiki>]</nowiki> Vietnam may update Soviet-era ASU-85s]
 +
 
 +
{{USSR tank destroyers}}

Revision as of 21:34, 21 August 2020

Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
ASU-85
ussr_asu_85.png
ASU-85
AB RB SB
6.3 6.3 6.3
Research:63 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:200 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage ASU-85.jpg


The ASU-85 is a Rank IV Russian tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows". It was designed to provide the VDV (Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska), the Soviet airborne forces, with an air-portable self-propelled gun for independent fire support and anti-tank capability in support of paratroopers during airborne operations.

General info

Survivability and armour

The front upper glacis plate, while only 45 mm thick, is quite heavily sloped and can occasionally ricochet rounds. The mantlet is also quite thick and rounded, and it can also bounce the occasional lucky shot.

However, the rest of the ASU-85 is very thinly armoured and vulnerable to even heavy machine guns. It is especially vulnerable to aircraft strafing.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Hull 45 mm (60°) Front glacis
45 mm (37°) Lower glacis
50 mm Driver port
6 mm 6 mm (40°) Upper
6 mm (18°) Lower
6 mm
Superstructure 45 mm (60°) Front glacis
100 mm Gun mantlet
13 mm (37-38°) 6 mm 13 mm Front
6 mm Rear

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick.

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 49 6 15.9 298 401 18.74 25.22
Realistic 45 6 186 210 11.7 13.21
The ASU-85 is based on the PT-76B and uses the same engine. It is somewhat heavier, however, and the mobility thus suffers comparatively. With a top speed of under 50 km/h, the ASU-85 is relatively slow for such a lightly armoured vehicle, but it is adequate enough for repositioning when needed. The ASU-85 also has a fairly slow reverse speed and only one reverse gear, inherited from the PT-76B.

It should also be noted that the ASU-85 is not amphibious, unlike the PT-76B it is based on.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: D-70 (85 mm)
The ASU-85 is armed with the 85 mm D-70, a significantly more powerful gun compared to the wartime Soviet 85 mm ZiS S-53 and D-5T guns and comparable in capability to the German 8,8 cm L/71 guns. The mounting has only 4° of gun depression due to the restricted size of the vehicle, but has a fairly generous amount of traverse for a casemate tank destroyer. It has a relatively low rate-of-fire for its calibre, reflecting the rather cramped crew compartment of the ASU-85.

The standard shell is the BR-372 APBC shell with a lethal explosive filler. It has an excellent muzzle velocity and is accurate at long ranges. It will also easily penetrate most things that the ASU-85 may encounter. Anything that cannot be penetrated by the APBC shell will almost certainly be penetrable by the 3BK7 HEAT-FS round. Boasting 300 mm of penetration, it is capable of punching straight through a Tiger II's upper glacis and does not lose penetration over distance. However, it suffers the usual drawbacks of HEAT rounds (cannot go through obstacles like trees or fences) and is significantly less lethal than the APBC shell. The muzzle velocity is also lower, which can complicate aiming at long ranges.

85 mm D-70
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
39 -4°/+15° ±15° N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 4.2 8.5 10.4 11.5 12.2
Realistic 4.2 4.9 6.0 6.6 7.0
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
11.2 9.9 9.1 8.6
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
BR-372 APBC 230 227 214 199 186 172
OF-372 HE 11 11 11 11 11 11
3BK7 HEATFS 300 300 300 300 300 300
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-372 APBC 1040 9.3 1.2 15 85 +4° 48° 63° 71°
OF-372 HE 1010 9.7 0.1 0.3 740 +0° 79° 80° 81°
3BK7 HEATFS 925 7.2 0.1 0.1 1,590 +0° 65° 72° 75°
Ammo racks
Ammo racks on the ASU-85.
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
39 33 (+6) 26 (+13) 19 (+20) 13 (+26) (+32) (+38) No

Front empty: 26 (+13)
Sides only: 33 (+6)

Machine guns

Main article: SGMT (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm SGMT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
2,000 (250) 600 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

The ASU-85 is a veritable glass cannon that relies on stealth and/or distance in order to survive on the battlefield. It is very vulnerable if caught in the open, especially to planes due to the very weak roof armour. The 85 mm gun is capable of handling almost any tank likely to be encountered by the ASU-85. Unfortunately, the ASU-85 lacks the mobility of its predecessor, the ASU-57, and thus has to adopt a more passive playstyle. The stock APBC round is excellent for ambushes, which tend to involve a lot of side shots where the lethality of the explosive filler is valuable, especially with the long reload time of the gun. The HEAT-FS round is better suited for medium/long-range fighting, since it does not lose penetration over distance.

The ASU-85 has a rather unorthodox method of using its smoke screen. Unlike most vehicles, which use smoke shells, singular canisters, or canister clusters, the ASU-85 uses two large drum like structures at the rear. When deployed, these will drop away, so it is relatively easy to tell from close range whether or not an ASU-85 has smoke or not, and how many it has. Due to the orientation of the drums, the smoke screen will actually form behind the tank and take about 2-3 seconds to fully envelope the assault gun.

Common opponent weakspots:

  • Tiger II (P), (H), 105 mm: Turret cheeks. HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front.
  • Panther II: APBC can penetrate the turret face. HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front.
  • T29: Lower glacis. There are also weakspots in the gun mantlet, but they may be hard to hit at anything but close range.
  • Caernavron: Turret ring and lower glacis.
  • A39 Tortoise: Area surrounding the hull machine gun port.
  • T95: Cupolas may be penetrated but do not trigger the explosive filler of AP rounds.
  • Jagdtiger: HEAT-FS can penetrate the hull front and superstructure.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire Airstrike
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism Smoke Grenade NVD
IV Transmission Engine Rangefinder Improved Optics 3BK7

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Excellent 85 mm gun
  • Competitive stock APBC round with explosive filler
  • Access to HEAT-FS with 300 mm of penetration
  • Tiny profile
  • Access to a coaxial machine gun
  • Access to night vision devices

Cons:

  • Slow gun elevation and traverse
  • Slow reload for an 85 mm gun
  • Lightly armoured everywhere besides the front, especially vulnerable to aircraft strafing
  • Poor reverse speed
  • Mediocre mobility, considering the light armour
  • Poor gun depression
  • Angling even just slightly will expose the extremely weak side armor to vehicles with APCBC shells

History

Development

A new assault gun was requested by the Armed Forces sometime before 1953. Due to the success of the ASU-57, they tasked the OKB-40 design bureau headed by Nikolaj Astrov to design the vehicle. The design, designated Object 573, was ready for tests in the latter half of 1953. Constant changes and improvement was made from the span of 1956 to 1957. The design used the chassis of the PT-76 amphibious light tank design, though it did not have the same amphibious feature and had a new engine propelling it. The armament was an 85 mm D-70 gun derived from the 85 mm D-48 anti-tank gun. The design could carry 45 rounds inside and could fire a variety of rounds up to 1 km away. Secondary armament for the vehicle was a GMT or PKT coaxial machine gun. The improved design was going to accepted and enter production in 1958 as the SU-85 (despite the existence of a vehicle of the same name), but this was again delayed when the Ministry of Defense ordered an armoured roof to be installed. The design was to enter production in 1961, but by then the design was rather outdated for army forces usage. Thus, when the vehicle entered production, it was taken up by the VDV, the Soviet Airborne Forces, and renamed the ASU-85. The ASU-85 was produced from 1959 to 1966, while staying in service from 1959 all the way to 1993.

Usage

The Soviet airborne forces primarily used the ASU-85 as a light infantry support/assault gun. Advancements in air-drop techniques and the advent of helicopters made its air deployment a more viable option in the early 1960s. The Soviet Union deployed 31 ASU-85s to each of its airborne divisions in and assault gun battalion. The Soviet Union used the ASU-85 during the Soviet-Afghan War with the airborne troops stationed there.

The ASU-85 was only given out to Poland and Vietnam. Poland used the ASU-85s in the same manner as the Soviet Union, with 31 vehicles in each airborne divisions. The ASU-85 are still in service in the Vietnamese military, with interests on improving their technical performances in early 2016.[1]

The ASU-85 also serves as the genesis of other support vehicles using the derived PT-76 chassis. The most notable vehicle using a similar chassis was the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" anti-aircraft system.

Media

Skins
Videos

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

References

Citations

  1. Fisher, Richard D., Jr. "DSA 2016: Vietnam May Update Soviet Era ASU-85s." IHS Jane's 360, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

Bibliography


USSR tank destroyers
SU-76M  SU-76M · SU-76M (5th Gv.Kav.Corps) · SU-85A
SU-57B  SU-57B · SU-76D
T-34 Derivatives  SU-122 · SU-85 · SU-85M · SU-100 · SU-122P
Heavy Tank Derivatives  SU-100Y · ISU-122 · ISU-122S · SU-152 · ISU-152 · Object 268
SU-100P and Derivatives  SU-100P · Object 120
Wheeled  YaG-10 (29-K)
Airborne  ASU-57 · ASU-85
Rocket  BM-8-24 · BM-13N · BM-31-12
ATGM  IT-1 · Shturm-S · Khrizantema-S
Artillery  2S1 · 2S3M
Other  SU-5-1 · ZiS-30 · SU-122-54 · Object 775
USA  SU-57