IS2

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〇独裁者の名を冠した戦車

このソ連の重戦車は、ソ連の最高指導者ヨセフ・スターリンのイニシャルが与えられ、最強であることを宿命づけられた。そのため西側諸国では「JS2」と呼ばれていたが、現在では「IS2」と呼ばれることが多い。

独ソ戦開始以来、ドイツ側の脅威となっていたT34中戦車とKV1重戦車であったが、パンターおよびティーガーといった新型ドイツ戦車の登場により、ソ連側は苦戦を強いられ、これに対応して

・T34に85mm砲を搭載

・KV1に代わる新型重戦車

の二つの対策が取られた。この結果、新型T34と同様に85mm砲を搭載した重戦車IS1が完成したが、軍部はまだ満足せず、より高い攻撃力を持つ砲への換装を要求。こうして誕生したのが、46.3口径の122mm砲を搭載したIS2である。その攻撃力と防御力は、同重量のパンターのみならず、10t重いティーガーIをも上回り、25t重いティーガーIIに匹敵する水準に達した。この122mm砲は対戦車砲としてだけでなく、榴弾砲としても非常に強力であった。

「急造戦車」であるがゆえの悲しさか、もともとコンパクトな車体に巨大な砲を搭載したことで多くの欠点を抱えていたが、ソ連軍の主力として重要な役割を果たした重戦車であった。

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〇Tanks named after dictators

This Soviet heavy tank was given the initials of Joseph Stalin, the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, and was destined to be the strongest. For this reason, it was called the "JS2" in Western countries, but now it is often called the "IS2".

Since the start of the German-Soviet War, the T34 medium tank and the KV1 heavy tank had been a threat to the German side, but the appearance of new German tanks such as the Panther and Tiger made the Soviet side struggle, and they responded with

-Replacing the T34 with an 85mm gun

-A new heavy tank to replace the KV1

. Thus, the heavy tank IS1, equipped with an 85mm gun like the new T34, was completed, but perhaps the military was still not satisfied with this, and changed to a gun with a higher offensive power. The IS2 was born as a tank equipped with a 46.3 caliber 122mm gun. Its offensive and defensive power surpassed not only the Panther of the same weight, but also the Tiger I, which was 10 t heavier, and was comparable to the Tiger II, which was 25 t heavier. This 122mm gun was extremely powerful not only as an anti-tank gun, but also as a howitzer.

Perhaps it was a sad "hastily constructed tank," but the tank had many flaws due to the fact that it was equipped with a huge gun on an originally compact body, but it was a heavy tank that played an important role as the core of the Soviet army.