| IS Series |
| IS-2 Heavy Tank Crew: 4 Armament: one 122mm gun, 1 12.7mm DShK mg, 1 DT mg Armor: 132mm maximum, 19mm minimum Weight: 46,200 kg Performance: 23mph road speed, 94miles range History: In service with Red Army 1943-1970's In 1943 the Soviets were aware that Germany was developing new and deadly tanks. The Tiger gave them trouble enough, and at the battle of Kursk they would face the deadly Panther tank, and later in the war the massive King Tiger. To counter these a new heavy tank was needed to replace the KV series. The IS-1 was ready for production in October of 1943. Its most striking feature was heavily angled armor that was thicker then that of the KV. This afforded the tank excellent protection. However, the tank was armed with a 85mm gun, then being fitted to the T-34, and having the same cannon on a standard medium and heavy tank was not considered proper. Attempts were made to fit a 100mm gun, and these were successful, but never implemented as a new 122mm gun was fitted soon after. With this and some other minor additions, a new tank, the IS-2 was completed. By the end of the war over 2,000 had been made. A new model, the IS-3, had even thicker and better shaped armor. Surprising no models of this �heavy tank� ever far exceeded the weight of the German Panther medium tank, and thus it retained great mobility. All in all the IS series were some of the best tanks of the war. |
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