48109 SU-122-54 EARLY

The SU-122-54 is a Soviet self-propelled gun (tank destroyer is better classified) from the post-war period. The first prototypes of these cars appeared at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, and the production of serine continued in 1955-1956. Probably about 95-100 cars of this type were created in its course. The weight of the vehicle was 36 tons. The drive was provided by a single 520 HP W-54 engine. It was armed with a 122 mm D-49 anti-tank gun and two 14.5 mm KPWT machine guns. The SU-122-54 tank destroyer was developed on the T-54 MBT chassis for the Soviet Army, and work began in 1949. The new vehicle received more powerful armament than the T-54 in the form of a larger caliber cannon, which in turn was a development of the D-25T cannon known from the IS-2 or IS-3 tanks. Finally, a quite successful tank destroyer with strong armament, good maneuverability and decent armor was created. At the time of its entry into the line (mid 1950s), the vehicle met the requirements of the battlefield of the time, but the rapid development of anti-tank weapons, especially guided missiles, made the SU-122-54 a rapidly obsolete weapon. In the second half of the 1960s, vehicles of this type began to be withdrawn into the reserve or they were converted into MTP-3 technical support vehicles.