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Uralmash-1 - SU-101 / SU-102

In September 1944, Uralmashzavod began mass production of the latest SU-100 self-propelled artillery mounts. During the Great Patriotic War, the completion of work on one project was accompanied by the start of the development of new combat vehicles. Therefore, the designers who completed the creation of the SU-100 self-propelled gun immediately began the further development of armored vehicles of this class. Within a few months, two projects were developed, designated as SU-101 and SU-102.

In the summer of 1944, specialists of Uralmashzavod began to work on the look of a promising self-propelled gun, which was devoid of the characteristic flaws of existing machines. It should be noted that the front location of the combat compartment and the rear engine compartment compartment, used on the SU-100 or ISU-152, caused serious complaints. Mounted in the front of the hull, the gun increased the overall dimensions of the vehicle, as well as impaired maneuverability in rough terrain and in urban environments. It was necessary to build an ACS with a different arrangement of the aggregates that did not degrade the characteristics of the machine.

In October 1944 the designer of the Uralmashzavod N.V. Kurin and his staff presented to the People's Commissariat of the tank industry at once five options for promising self-propelled guns with a new layout. These were the following developments: - ESA-100 with aft fighting compartment and electric transmission; - SU-122P with a 122-mm gun. This ACS has already been built and has been tested; - SU-122-44 based on the chassis of the T-44 tank with the front location of the combat compartment; - SU-100-M-1 on the basis of the T-44 tank with a modified layout of hull volumes and aft fighting compartment; - SU-100-M-2 is an analogue of SU-100-M-1 with another engine.

The Technical Council of the People's Commissariat of the tank industry decided that work should continue on the projects SU-122-44 and SU-100-M-2. The decision was approved by the People's Commissar on October 26, 1944. Just a few weeks after the start of work, in December of the 44th, it became clear that the SU-122-44 self-propelled gun does not fit into the requirements for size and combat weight. As for the SU-100-M-2 project, this car not only met the requirements, but could also have quite high protection rates. As a result, the management of Uralmashzavod proposed to stop the development of SU-122-44 in favor of the second project.

Discussion of this proposal ended with the draft SU-122-44 in its original form was closed. At the same time, the engineers were given the task to build two prototypes of the ACS SU-100-M-2, one of which was to receive a 100-mm D-10C cannon, the other - a 122-mm D-25C cannon. The order for the construction of prototypes SU-100-M-2 was signed on March 7, 1945. Taking into account the merits of “Uralmashzavod”, the project received the additional designation “Uralmash-1”. In March and April, the team of designers under the leadership of L.I. Gorlitsky completed the preparation of documentation, after which the construction of experimental machines started.

At the design stage of two versions of ACS with different weapons, the projects received their own designations. The self-propelled gun with a D-10C gun was called the SU-101, with the D-25C gun - the SU-102. It was under such names that the cars were put to the test and remained in the history of the national armored vehicles.

The basis for promising self-propelled guns were the chassis of medium tanks T-34-85 and T-44. It was necessary to use the aggregates of the latter in view of the restrictions imposed by the Thirty-Four design. Its strength came to an end and did not allow a serious increase in the firepower of the machine either by increasing the caliber or by lengthening the barrel of the gun. This approach to the design of new ACS allowed to fulfill all the requirements, as well as to some extent simplify the proposed mass production of this technology.

Claims to the layout of self-propelled SU-100 affected the placement of units inside the hull of the SU-101 and SU-102. The engine compartment was placed in front of the hull at the starboard side. Next to him, at the left side, there was a department of management with the workplace of the driver. The rear part of the hull was given under the fighting compartment with weapons and places for three crew members. Several hatches were provided in the hull and wheelhouse. The driver and the commander had their own hatches in the roof of the hull and deckhouse, respectively, and in addition, there was an additional door in the stern sheet of the fighting compartment.

The aft location of the fighting compartment has made it possible to reduce the dimensions of the vehicle, as well as to ensure good armor protection. The front of the hull of both self-propelled guns was proposed to weld from two armor plates with a thickness of 90 mm. The upper frontal part should be located at an angle of 63 ° to the vertical, the lower - 53 °. The hull sides had a thickness of 75 mm, feed (common sheet of the hull and cabin) - 40 mm, the roof and the bottom - 15 mm each. The fighting compartment was protected by a frontal cabin cutting 120 mm thick (55 ° angle to the vertical) and side plates of 90 mm (45 °). The roof was 20 mm thick.

In the engine-transmission engine SU-101 and SU-102 self-propelled guns there was a diesel engine V-44 with a capacity of 500 hp. To start the engine, you could use the ST-700 starter with a power of 15 hp. or pneumatic system. The main part of the transmission units was borrowed from the T-34-85 tank. In this case, however, their design had to make changes due to the front location of the power plant and the drive wheels. The transmission had five gears to move forward and one rear. The composition of the fuel system consisted of several tanks. Internal tanks had a total volume of 370 liters, external tanks located on the sides of the cabin - 350 liters.

The tracked undercarriage of the promising self-propelled guns was a modified version of the propulsion of the T-44 tank. She had five road wheels with individual torsion bar suspension on each side. Due to the large diameter of the rollers, there were no supporting rollers. The guide wheels were located in the rear of the hull, the drive wheels with tongue-and-groove in the front section.

The basis of the electrical systems of both self-propelled guns was the GT-4563-A generator with a power of 1 kW and a voltage of 24 V. In addition, four 6STE-128 batteries with a total capacity of 256 Ah are part of the electrical equipment. The main electrical system was performed on a single-wire circuit, emergency lighting - on two-wire. The generator and batteries supplied energy to a number of equipment, including the TKU-3-BIS-F tank intercom, a 9RS radio station and a light-signaling system for transmitting orders from the commander to the driver. As an additional means of communication between the commander and the driver was used so-called. tankophone: a rubber tube connecting their jobs.

The crew of two new self-propelled guns consisted of four people. The driver was located in front of the hull. The gunner, the commander and the loader were in the wheelhouse. In this place the gunner and the commander were behind each other at the left side, and the loader was located to the right of the gun.

The main difference between the SAU SU-101 and SU-102 was in the armament used. The SU-101 self-propelled gun carried a D-10C 100-mm rifled gun. The gun was mounted on a movable unit, which allowed vertical and horizontal guidance. Horizontal targeting was carried out within a sector 22 ° wide, vertical - from -2 ° 15 'to + 18 °. The gun had a panorama of Hertz for firing from closed positions and a telescopic sight TSH-19 for direct fire. In the fighting compartment there were styling for 36 unitary shots of the caliber of 100 mm.

ACS SU-102 equipped with a 122-mm rifled gun D-25C. Other dimensions of the gun affected the permissible guidance angles. Horizontal targeting could be carried out only within 19 °, vertical - from -0 ° 24 'to + 18 ° 3'. The composition of the sighting equipment of both self-propelled guns coincided. Ammunition SU-102 was 28 shots of separate-cartridge loading.

The additional armament of the two promising self-propelled guns consisted of one DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. The machine gun was mounted on a turret mounted on the commander's hatch. The design of the turret allowed to fire in any direction. The permissible vertical alignment angles are from -6 ° to + 84 ° 20 '. The DShK machine gun was equipped with a collimator sight. The main objective of this weapon was to protect against enemy aircraft, but if necessary, the self-propelled crew could use it to attack ground targets. In the cartridge boxes fit up to 450 rounds.

The use of the layout with the rear location of the fighting compartment has reduced the overall dimensions of the new SAU. They had a length (along the hull) of 6.1 m, a width of 3 m and a height of 2.1 m. It is noteworthy that in the case of the 122-mm D-25C cannon, which had a barrel length of 48 calibres, the trunk outflow did not exceed 750 mm The SAU SU-101 had a combat weight of 34.1 tons, the SU-102 had 34.8 tons.

In May 1945, Uralmashzavod built one prototype of the SU-101 and SU-102. According to some reports, the SU-101 self-propelled gun was built in duplicate. Soon started testing built cars, which lasted until the autumn. During the tests, the car showed a fairly high performance. On the highway, they accelerated to 50-54 km / h, on the ground - up to 25 km / h. Fuel enough for a march length of 350 km. Self-propelled guns could climb a 35-degree slope and move with a roll to 25 °. A 2.5 m wide ditch and a 0.73 m high ditch were overcome.

The main positive features of the two new cars, marked by the test results, were to some extent related to the layout used. Thus, improved maneuverability on rough terrain in and in the city, and the aft hatch allowed the crew to leave the car under the guise of the car. A more dense arrangement of internal volumes made it possible to equip the ACS with serious counter-booking. Frontal projection of machines protected against all tank and anti-tank guns, which were in service with Germany in the final stages of the war.

Despite the use of relatively thick armor and heavy weapons, the SAU SU-101 and SU-102 turned out to be quite light, their combat weight slightly exceeded the corresponding figure of the T-34 and T-44 tanks. Due to the uniform distribution of mass on the support rollers, wear was reduced and the running gear life increased. In addition, the size and weight of the machines made it possible in the future to modernize them using a new cannon with a longer barrel.

The dense layout made it possible to reduce the size and weight of combat vehicles, but it affected the convenience of the crew. In terms of its internal dimensions, the cabin of the SU-101 and SU-102 was noticeably inferior to the combat compartment of the serial SU-100. This feature worsened the already not very good working conditions of the crew, in the first place, loader. The control compartment was of reasonable size, but other features of the layout affected the comfort of the driver. Despite efforts to ensure the cooling of the power plant, the driver’s workplace was always too hot. Such warming up of the department of management was considered unacceptable. In addition, the frontal part of the hull and the front part of the roof were subjected to a shock wave when fired, which further worsened the working conditions of the driver.

Tests of 1945 allowed to establish the positive and negative sides of the two self-propelled guns created in the framework of the Uralmash-1 project. Probably, with certain modifications, it was possible to correct some of the existing shortcomings, however, the situation in the production of armored vehicles determined the future fate of the project. In 1945, tests of the medium tank T-54, armed with a 100 mm D-10T gun, started. This machine was not inferior to self-propelled guns SU-101 and SU-102 in firepower, but exceeded them in terms of protection. In addition, the troops had a large number of self-propelled guns SU-100, which were inferior to technology only in protection.

Due to technical shortcomings and the lack of serious advantages over the new technology, the Uralmash-1 project was closed. Launching of SU-101 and SU-102 self-propelled artillery mounts stopped. The prototype of the SU-101 has survived to the present day and is now located in the tank museum in Kubinka. The SUU SU-102 was dismantled shortly after the end of the tests.