IS-2
In service 1944 - 1990s (reserve)
Based onIS-1 (Object 237) (successor to)
A city-cracking heavy tank whose 122 mm shell could demolish a building or a Tiger with equal finality.
Built byChelyabinsk Kirov Plant
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
The IS-2 traded rate of fire for sheer destructive power, carrying a separate-loading 122 mm gun with only 28 rounds and a four-man crew. It was designed to lead assaults through fortified towns, and independent guards heavy tank regiments used it to blast defences ahead of the medium tanks. Its thick sloped armour and modest weight made it far more strategically mobile than German heavies.
Variants
One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.
IS-2 Model 1943
1943Stepped front hull with a driver vision slit.
IS-2 Model 1944
1944Sloped one-piece glacis, faster-loading breech, DShK on the cupola.
IS-2M
1957Post-war modernisation with new engine fittings and night vision.
Related vehicles
Separate records that derive from this vehicle, grouped by how they relate to it.
Successor to this vehicle
Notable actions
- Korsun-Cherkassy (1944)
- Operation Bagration (1944)
- Vistula-Oder Offensive (1945)
- Battle of Berlin (1945)