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The SU-100 was a Soviet Tank Destroyer . 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. It was developed in 1944 as an improvement to the SU-85 , built on the same chassis as the T-34-85 tank. It was designed and built at the UZTM (Russian abbreviature УЗТМ for Уральский Завод Тяжелого Машиностроения - Ural Heavy Machinery Factory, also called ''Uralmash'') in Yekaterinburg . The SU-100 quickly proved itself to be among the best self-propelled anti-tank guns of World War II, able to penetrate 125 mm of vertical armor from a range of 2,000 metres. This was quite capable of defeating any German tank in service. The development was conducted under supervision of L. I. Gorlitskiy, chief designer of all medium Soviet self-propelled guns. The work started in February of 1944 and first prototype of SU-100, called "Object 138", was built in the next month. After intensive testing with different models of 100 mm gun Soviet engineers approved variant with D-10S cannon for mass production. This gun was developed in Constructors Bureau of Artillery Factory No. 9 under guidance of F. F. Petrov. After Second World War it was installed on T-54 and T-55 tanks and its derivatives were in forty years service after initial development. The hull of SU-100 had major improvements in comparison with SU-85 one. The thickness of front armour plate was increased from 45 to 75 mm and the commander's workplace was made in small sponson on the right side of the hull. With commander's cupola this greatly improved the effectiveness of commander's work. For better ventilation two ventilator units were installed instead only one in SU-85 case. The mass production started in September of 1944. The SU-100 saw extensive service during the last year of the war. It was used ''en masse'' in Hungary in March 1945 , when Soviet forces defeated the German Operation Frülingserwachen offensive at Lake Balaton . By July 1945, 2,335 SU-100s had been built. The vehicle remained in service with the Red Army well after the war; production continued in the Soviet Union until 1947 and into the 1950s in Czechoslovakia . It was withdrawn from Soviet service in 1957 but many vehicles were transferred to reserve stocks. Some of them are still existing now in the Russian Army holding facilities. Many Warsaw Pact countries also used the SU-100, as did Soviet allies such as Egypt , Angola and Cuba . The SU-100 saw service in the fighting that accompanied the 1956 Suez Crisis , in which the Egyptians used SU-100s against Israel's M4 Sherman and Centurion Tank s. The vehicle was also utilised in the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War . It was modified slightly to adapt it to the sandy conditions of the Middle East, thus creating the SU-100M variant. Exported SU-100s continued in service until as late as the 1970 s. SU-100 IN SOVIET POPULAR CULTURE The crew of a World War II SU-100 and their vehicle are the heroes of the old Soviet film ''A na voine kak na voine'' ("In war as in war"), one of several Soviet films made about self-propelled artillery men. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War found this picture quite realistic. The movie includes a Soviet Tankmen Song , which is popular with both Russian Armoured soldiers and civilians. EXTERNAL LINKS
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