ISU-122
Contents
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General info
The ISU-122 is a Rank IV Soviet tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB) and 5.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. The ISU-122 introduces a self-propelled gun armed with a 122 mm gun on a IS chassis.
The main purpose, usage and tactics recommendations
General play style
Vehicle characteristics
Tactics
Specific enemies worth noting
Counter-tactics
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful cannon.
- Great post penetration damage.
- No armour weakspots.
- Good acceleration in reverse allows you to hide quickly.
Cons:
- Slow reload.
- Armour cannot bounce shots.
- Armour cannot stop most common cannons.
- Very low gun depression.
Specifications
Armaments
1 x 122mm A-19 cannon (30 Rounds)
1 x 12.7 mm DShK machine gun (250 Rounds)
Main armament
- Ammunition Capacity: 30 Shells
- Gun Depression: -3°
- Gun Elevation: 22°
- Turret Rotation Speed: 4.2°/s (Stock), 5.8°/s (Upgraded), __._°/s (Prior + Full Crew), __._°/s (Prior + Expert Qualif.), __._°/s (Prior + Ace Qualif.)
- Reload Rate: 26.0s (Stock), __._s (Full Crew), __._s (Prior + Expert Qualif.), __._s (Prior + Ace Qualif.)
Ammunition
| Ammunition | Penetration in mm @ 90° | Type of warhead |
Velocity in m/s |
Projectile Mass in kg |
Fuse delay in m: |
Fuse sensitivity in mm: |
Explosive Mass in TNT equivalent in g: |
Normalization At 30° from horizontal: |
Ricochet: | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10m | 100m | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| BR-471 | 200 | 196 | 179 | 158 | 141 | 125 | APHE | 795 | 25 | 1.2 | 15 | 272 | -1° | 43° | 30° | 25° |
| BR-471B | 207 | 201 | 183 | 162 | 144 | 129 | APHEBC | 800 | 25 | 1.2 | 15 | 272 | +4° | 42° | 27° | 19° |
| OF-471 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | HE | 800 | 25 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 3,600 | +0° | 11° | 10° | 9° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
Ammo Part |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Recommendations | Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Projectiles Propellants |
27 (+3) 27 (+3) |
21 (+9) 21 (+9) |
11 (+19) 11 (+19) |
1 (+29) 1 (+29) |
Turret empty: () | no |
Secondary armament
1 x 12.7 mm DShK machine gun (pintle-mount)
Crew
- Commander
- Gunner
- Loader
- Driver
Total: 4 Crew members
Armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
- Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 60 mm (75°) Front glacis 90 mm (31°) Lower glacis |
90 mm | 60 mm (50°) Top 60 mm (39°) Bottom |
30 mm |
| Superstructure | 90 mm (30°) Front glacis 65 mm (7-69°) Gun mantlet case 100 mm Gun mantlet (0-45°) |
75 mm (14-15°) | 60 mm | 30 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
Engine & mobility
Max Speed: 41 km/h
Stock
- Engine Power: 739 hp @ 2200 rpm
- Power-to-Weight Ratio: 16.06 hp/ton
- Maximum Inclination: 40°
Upgraded
- Engine Power: ___ hp @ 2200 rpm
- Power-to-Weight Ratio: __.__ hp/ton
- Maximum Inclination: __°
Modules and improvements
History of creation and combat usage
Development
When the ISU-152 began production in 1943 with the large 152 mm ML-20S gun, production of the chassis and hull soon exceeded the supply of the ML-20S gun, which caused a decrease in production of self-propelled guns for the Soviet military. It was determined to speed up self-propelled gun production, the ISU chassis were to be mounted with the 122 mm A-19S gun. Work on this mounting already began before the supply issue in December 1943 at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ), which had a design team simply take the ISU-152 chassis and hull and only changing out the armament with the 122 mm gun, but this prototype - Object 242 - was not immediately put into production despite successful testings. When the supply issue arose, the prototype was then adopted by the Soviet Defense Committee for increased production and also that the 122 mm gun had better accuracy against tanks than the 152 mm gun. The ISU armed with the 122 mm gun, designated the ISU-122, began production in April 1944.
Upgrade
The original ISU-122 is equipped with the 122 mm A-19S gun, which had a firing rate of 1.5 to 2.5 shots per minute due to its manual-piston breech. An attempt to fix this was a modernized A-19 gun called the D-25. The D-25 didn't see installment onto the ISU-122 for a while due to prioritization on the IS-2 tanks, but it was available for use on self-propelled mounts after September 1944 as the D-25S. The ISU-122 prototype mounting the D-25 gun was called Object 249 which was successfully tested and an improvement over the A-19 gun with an increased firing rate of 2 to 3 shots per minute with one loader and up to 4 shots per minute with an additional loader in the crew. The D-25 also exploited the use of a muzzle brake in order to reduce the recoil forces on the gun, so the recoil buffer on the D-25 was much smaller than the A-19, which helped reduce the size of the gun and improved crew work space in the self-propelled gun. Object 249 was then adopted as the ISU-122S, which entered production side by side with the ISU-122 u and both were produced up until the end of 1945. ChKZ produced both vehicles during the war and manufactured 1,735 ISU-122s (April 1944 - December 1945) and 675 ISU-122Ss (September 1944 - December 1945).
Combat usage
The ISU-122 were organized in units in a similar fashion as the ISU-152. Focus were made to not mix the two vehicles in the same regiments or brigades due to logistical reasons with ammunition and ballistic differences in indirect fire, but some units were equipped with both vehicles anyways. Like the ISU-152, the ISU-122 proved to be a very powerful multi-purpose vehicle as an assault gun, self-propelled artillery, and tank destroyer. The 122 mm gun on the ISU-122 allowed it to engage armour and fortifications with heavy armour-piercing round and a large high-explosive round. The primary role of the ISU-122 was as a tank destroyer due to the gun's superior ballistics compared to the ISU-152's, which large caliber size more suited its role as an assault gun. The ISU-122 did participate as an assault gun role in urban combat to support the infantry, but the lack of rotating turret, and long barrel length restricted its maneuvering and ability to engage all enemies in a large angle. Nevertheless, commanders found the ISU-122 as a very good assault gun. Usage of the ISU-122 in an indirect firing role as a howitzer is rare, but when used could fire up to 14 kilometers away. Usage as an artillery piece is more likely during a rapid offensive where towed artillery behind the lines are unable to keep up with the advancing infantry lines.
Screenshots and fan art
Camouflages and skins for the ISU-122 from live.warthunder.com
Additional information (links)
References
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[expand] Soviet Tanks [expand]
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 ISU-122
|
| Nation | USSR |
| Type | Tank destroyer |
| Rank | 4 |
| Battle Rating | 5.3
|
Metric✓ Imperial
| Characteristics | |
| Weight | 46,000 kg
|
| Number of Crew | 5 |
| Hull armour thickness | 90/90/60/30 mm
|
| Statistics | |
| Engine power (stock) | 739 hp
|
| Engine power (upgraded) | ___ hp
|
| HP/ton ratio (stock) | 16.06 |
| HP/ton ratio (Upgraded) | __.__ |
| Max speed | 41 km/h |
| Main Weapon | |
| 1 x 122 mm A-19 | Cannon |
| Ammo stowage | 30 rounds |
| Vertical guidance | -3°/22° |
| Horizontal guidance | -3°/7° |
| Secondary Weapon | |
| 1 x DShK | Heavy machine gun |
| Ammo stowage | 250 rounds |
| Mount | Pintle mount |
| Vertical guidance | -5°/85° |
| Economy | |
| Required RP | 63,000 RP |
| Vehicle cost | 210,000 SL |
| Crew training cost | 61,000 SL |
| Max repair cost* | 2,500 SL
|
| Free repair time (Stock) | 2d 07h
|
| Free repair time (Upgraded) | 18h 36m
|
