SU-100

The SU-100 (Samokhodnaya ustanovka 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with a powerful 100 mm anti-tank gun in a fixed superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world.

Development

The SU-85 was developed from the chassis of the T-34 tank but replaced the turret with a larger, fixed superstructure allowing a larger gun to be fitted: the 85 mm D-5 gun, providing dramatically upgraded firepower compared to the T-34's 76.2 mm models. Introduced to service in 1943, the SU-85 was quickly rendered obsolete as a new design featured the same gun on the T-34-85.

This led to efforts to up-gun the SU-85. Development was conducted under supervision of L. I. Gorlitskiy, chief designer of all medium Soviet self-propelled guns. The work started in February 1944 and the first prototype of the SU-100, "Object 138", was delivered in March. After intensive testing with different models of 100 mm gun Soviet engineers approved the D-10S gun for mass production. This gun was developed in Constructors Bureau of Artillery Factory No. 9 under guidance of F. F. Petrov. After the Second World War this gun was installed on T-54 and T-55 tanks and its derivatives were in service forty years after initial development.