IS tank family
| Iosif Stalin tank | |
|---|---|
IS-2 model 1943 (more modern fenders added) (foreground) and IS-3 (background) at the Great Patriotic War Museum, Minsk, Belarus | |
| Type | Heavy tank |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| Used by |
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| Wars | |
| Production history | |
| Designer | |
| Designed |
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| Manufacturer | Kirov Factory, UZTM |
| Unit cost | IS-2: 264,400 rubles |
| Produced |
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| No. built |
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| Specifications (IS-2 Model 1944) | |
| Mass | 46 tonnes (51 short tons; 45 long tons) |
| Length | 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in) |
| Width | 3.09 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in) |
| Crew | 4 |
| Armor |
|
Main armament | D-25T 122 mm gun (28 rounds) |
Secondary armament | 1×DShK, 3×DT (2,079 rounds) |
| Engine | 12-cyl. diesel model V-2 600 hp (450 kW) |
| Power/weight | 13 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Fuel capacity | 820 L (180 imp gal; 220 US gal) |
Operational range |
|
| Maximum speed | 37 km/h (23 mph) |
The IS tanks (Russian: ИС) were a series of heavy tanks developed as a successor to the KV-series by the Soviet Union during World War II. The IS acronym is the anglicized initialism of Joseph Stalin (Ио́сиф Ста́лин, Iosif Stalin). The heavy tanks were designed as a response to the capture of a German Tiger I in 1943. They were mainly designed as breakthrough tanks, firing a heavy high-explosive shell that was useful against entrenchments and bunkers. The IS-2 went into service in April 1944 and was used as a spearhead by the Red Army in the final stage of the Battle of Berlin. The IS-3 served on the Chinese-Soviet border, the Hungarian Revolution, the Prague Spring and on both sides of the Six-Day War. The series eventually culminated in the T-10 heavy tank.