By 1944, the command of the Red Army came to the conclusion that the means they had to counter the fascist tanks were not enough. It was urgently required to qualitatively strengthen the Soviet armored forces. Among the various models in service with the Red Army, the PT SAU-100 deserves special attention. According to military experts, the Red Army became the owner of a highly effective anti-tank weapon capable of successfully resisting all serial models of Wehrmacht armored vehicles. You will learn about the history of creation, device and performance characteristics of the SAU-100 from this article.
Introduction
SAU-100 (photo of armored vehicles - below) is a medium-weight Soviet anti-tank self-propelled artillery installation. This model belongs to the class of tank destroyers. The medium tank T-34-85 served as the basis for its creation. According to experts, the Soviet SPG-100 is a further development of the SPG SU-85. The performance characteristics of these systems no longer suited the military. Due to the insufficient power of Soviet artillery installations, German tanks such as the Tiger and Panther were able to impose a fight from long distances. Therefore, it was planned to replace the SAU-85 with the SAU-100 in the future. Serial production was carried out at Uralmashzavod. In total, the Soviet industry produced 4976 units. In the technical documentation, this unit is listed as a tank destroyer SU-100.
History of Creation
SU-85 is considered the first artillery system of the tank destroyer class, which was produced by the Soviet defense industry. Its creation began in the early summer of 1943. The T-34 medium tank and the SU-122 assault gun served as the basis for the installation. With the 85 mm D-5S cannon, this installation successfully resisted German medium tanks at a distance of up to a thousand meters. From close range, the armor of any heavy tank made its way from the D-5S. The exception was the "Tiger" and "Panther". These Wehrmacht tanks differed from the rest in their enhanced firepower and armor protection. In addition, they had very effective sighting systems. In this regard, the Main Committee of Defense set the task for the Soviet designers of Uralmashzavod - to create more effective anti-tank weapons.
This should have been done in a very short time: only September and October were at the disposal of the gunsmiths. Initially, it was planned to slightly change the body of the SU-85 and equip it with a 122-millimeter D-25 cannon. However, this would lead to an increase in the mass of the installation by 2.5 tons. Besides,ammunition and rate of fire would decrease. The designers were not satisfied with the 152-millimeter D-15 howitzer. The fact is that with this gun the undercarriage would be overloaded, and the machine would have reduced mobility. At that time, work was simultaneously carried out on long-barreled 85-mm guns. After the tests, it became clear that these guns have unsatisfactory survivability, since several of them exploded during firing. At the beginning of 1944, a 100-millimeter D-10S gun was created at factory No. 9.
The work was supervised by the Soviet designer F. F. Petrov. The D-10S was based on the B-34 naval anti-aircraft gun. The advantage of the D-10S was that it could be mounted on a self-propelled gun without subjecting the equipment to any design changes. The mass of the machine itself did not increase. In March, an experimental prototype "Object No. 138" with a D-10S was created and sent for factory testing.
Testing
In factory tests, armored vehicles traveled 150 km and fired 30 shells. After that, she was taken to the state-level tests. At the Gorohovets artillery research and testing range, the prototype fired 1,040 shots and traveled 864 km. As a result, the technique was approved by the state commission. Now the employees of Uralmashzavod were faced with the task of setting up serial production of the new self-propelled complex as soon as possible.
About production
The production of the SU-100 tank destroyers began at Uralmashzavod in 1944. In addition, a license for the manufacture of self-propelled guns in1951 acquired by Czechoslovakia. According to experts, the total number of SU-100 tank destroyers produced by the Soviet and Czechoslovak industries varies between 4772-4976 units.
Description
According to experts, the SAU-100 has the same layout as the base tank. The frontal part of the armored vehicles became the place of the administrative and combat compartments, in the stern there was a place for the engine-transmission. In German tank building, the traditional layout was used, when the power unit was installed on the stern, and the drive wheels and transmission were on the front. A self-propelled guns E-100 Jagdpanzer had a similar device. Design work on this model was carried out in 1943 in the city of Friedberg. The Germans, as we can see, also tried to optimize the production of armored vehicles as much as possible. For example, Wehrmacht experts felt that the production of a super-heavy Maus tank would have cost the country too much. Therefore, the Jagdpanzer was developed as an alternative to the Maus. There are four people in the combat crew of the SAU-100 tank, namely: a driver, commander, gunner and loader.
The driver was located in the frontal part on the left, and the commander - on the right side of the gun. Behind him was a workplace for the loader. The gunner sat behind the mechanic on the left side. In order for the crew to be able to embark and disembark, the armored hull was equipped with two folding hatches - in the roof of the commander's tower and at the stern. The combat crew could land through the hatch, which was located at the bottom of the fighting compartment. Hatch in the wheelhouseused for panorama guns. If necessary, crew members could fire from personal weapons. Especially for this purpose, the armored hull of the self-propelled guns was equipped with holes that were closed with the help of armor plugs. The cabin roof was equipped with two fans. The cover in the engine-transmission compartment and the hinged upper stern plate contained several hatches through which the mechanic, as in the T-34, could get to the transmission and power unit. An all-round view was provided by viewing slots in the tank turret in the amount of five pieces. In addition, the turret was equipped with a Mk-4 periscope viewing device.
About weapons
The SAU-100 used a 100-millimeter rifled gun D-10S, 1944, as the main weapon. An armor-piercing projectile fired from this gun moved towards the target at a speed of 897 m/s. The indicator of maximum muzzle energy was 6, 36 MJ. This gun had a semi-automatic horizontal wedge gate, electromagnetic and mechanical descents. In order to ensure smooth vertical guidance, the D-10S was equipped with a spring compensating mechanism. For recoil devices, the developer provided for a hydraulic brake-recoiler and a hydropneumatic knurler. They were placed on both sides above the trunk. The total weight of the gun, bolt and opening mechanism was 1435 kg. The gun was installed on the front plate of the cabin on double trunnions, which made it possible to aim in the vertical plane in the range from -3 to +20 degrees and in the horizontal - +/-8 degrees. Guidance of the gun was carried out by manual lifting sector androtary screws. During the shot, the D-10S rolled back by 57 cm. If it was necessary to carry out direct fire, the crew used the TSh-19 telescopic articulated sight with a fourfold increase. This system provided visibility in the field of view up to 16 degrees. From a closed position, Hertz's panorama and side level were used. Within one minute, up to six shots could be fired from the main gun. In addition, two 7.62 mm PPSh-41 submachine guns, four anti-tank grenades and 24 hand-held anti-personnel defensive F-1 fragmentation anti-personnel defensive F-1 were attached to the combat crew. Later, the PPSh was replaced by a Kalashnikov assault rifle. According to experts, in the Great Patriotic War the crew of the SAU-100 in rare cases could use additional light machine guns.
About ammunition
For the main armament of self-propelled guns, 33 unitary shots were provided. The shells were stacked in the wheelhouse - for this purpose, the manufacturer made special racks. Seventeen of them were on the left side of the side, eight on the back, eight on the right. In the Great Patriotic War, the ammunition consisted of sharp-headed and blunt-headed caliber armor-piercing, fragmentation and high-explosive fragmentation shells.
After the end of the war, the ammunition was supplemented first with more effective armor-piercing shells UBR-41D, which had protective and ballistic tips, and then with sub-caliber and non-rotating cumulative ones. In the regular ammunition self-propelled guns there were high-explosive fragmentation (sixteen pieces), armor-piercing (ten) and cumulative (sevenshells). Additional weapons, namely PPSh, were equipped with 1420 rounds of ammunition. They were stacked in disc magazines (twenty pieces).
About chassis
According to experts, in this area the self-propelled gun practically does not differ from the basic T-34 tank. Each of the sides in the self-propelled guns had gable road wheels (five each). Their diameter was 83 cm. Rubber bands were provided for the chassis with a drive wheel, Christie's suspension and a sloth. Installation without carrier rollers - carrier rollers were used to hook the upper branch of the belt. Driving wheels with ridge gearing are located at the back, and sloths with tensioners are at the front. Unlike the T-34, the chassis of the self-propelled guns, namely its front rollers, was reinforced with three bearings. The diameter of the wire springs was also changed from three to 3.4 cm. The track was represented by 72 stamped steel tracks, the width of which is 50 cm.
In an effort to improve the patency of the artillery mount, the tracks in some cases were equipped with lugs. They were fastened with bolts to every fourth and sixth tracks. In the 1960s The self-propelled guns were produced with stamped road wheels, as in the T-44M.
About the power plant
The self-propelled guns used a four-stroke V-shaped 12-cylinder V-2-34 diesel engine with liquid cooling. This unit is capable of developing maximum power up to 500 horsepower at 1800 rpm. The rated power indicator was 450 horsepower (1750 rpm), operational - 400horsepower (1700 rpm). Its launch was carried out with the help of a ST-700 starter, the power of which was 15 horsepower. Also for this purpose, compressed air was used, which was contained in two cylinders. The diesel engine was accompanied by two Cyclone air cleaners and two tubular-type radiators. The total capacity of the internal fuel tanks was 400 liters of fuel. There were also four additional external cylindrical fuel tanks of 95 liters each. They were not connected to the entire fuel system of the artillery self-propelled gun.
About transmission
This system is represented by the following components:
- multi-disk dry friction main clutch;
- five-speed manual transmission;
- two dry friction multi-plate side clutches and band type brakes using cast iron pads;
- two simple single-row final drives.
All control drives are of mechanical type. So that the driver could make turns and brake the self-propelled guns, two levers were placed on both sides of his workplace.
About fire fighting equipment
As in other models of armored vehicles of the USSR, this self-propelled artillery mount had a tetrachlorine portable fire extinguisher. If a fire suddenly occurred inside the cabin, the crew would have to use gas masks. The fact is that, getting on a hot surface, tetrachloride enters into a chemical reaction with oxygen contained in the atmosphere, resulting in the formation of phosgene. This isa potent poisonous substance of an asphyxiating nature.
TTX
SAU-100 has the following performance characteristics:
- armored vehicles weigh 31.6 tons;
- there are four people in the crew;
- total length of self-propelled guns with a gun is 945 cm, hull - 610 cm;
- installation width 300 cm, height 224.5 cm;
- clearance - 40 cm;
- equipment with homogeneous, steel rolled and cast armor;
- thickness of the bottom and roof - 2 cm;
- on the highway, the self-propelled guns travel up to 50 km per hour;
- Armored vehicles overcome rough terrain at a speed of 20 km/h;
- self-propelled gun with a margin goes on the highway - 310 km, cross-country - 140 km;
- The specific pressure on the ground is 0.8 kg/sq. see;
- artillery mount overcomes 35-degree slopes, 70-centimeter walls and 2.5-meter ditches.
In conclusion
According to military experts, this self-propelled artillery installation during the Great Patriotic War proved to be one of the best anti-tank systems. The characteristics of the SAU-100 allowed the troops of the Red Army to successfully resist the fascist "Tigers" and "Panthers". These samples of Wehrmacht armored vehicles were destroyed with the help of Soviet self-propelled guns from a distance of 1500 m. The armor protection of the Ferdinand could not withstand a direct hit by the self-propelled guns-100. In the post-war period, these self-propelled artillery mounts were in service in many states for a long time.
Mostly these are the countries of the former Soviet Union, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Several dozen self-propelled guns are today used as memorials in various military museums.
