Rare photos of SU-100 self-propelled artillery protecting the northern border.
The SU-100 self-propelled anti-tank gun of the Vietnam People's Army has been used quite sparingly on the battlefield, so images of it are very rare.
The SU-100 is a self-propelled anti-tank gun that emerged in the late stages of World War II. It is essentially an upgraded version of the earlier SU-85, as both used the chassis of the T-34-85 medium tank.
The SU-100's armament consisted solely of a 100 mm D-10S rifled cannon (similar to the one mounted on the T-54/55 tank), capable of penetrating 125 mm of armor at a right angle to the ground at a distance of 2 km, and penetrating the 85 mm inclined armor of the German Panther tank at a distance of 1.5 km.
Vietnam received an unspecified number of SU-100s from the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s.
However, the SU-100's combat record was extremely limited; its drawback was that, lacking a turret, firing at targets on the sides required rotating the entire vehicle.
|
| The Vietnamese SU-100 self-propelled anti-tank gun is part of the Marine Corps' combat readiness unit. |
Today, the SU-100 self-propelled gun is still in service with the Armored Corps, but most are in storage, kept ready for combat.
Others are part of the Marine Corps' combat unit, performing coastal defense duties.
Although not highly effective against modern tanks, the D-10S cannon can still penetrate the armor of light tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and other types of vehicles.
With its pre-assembled firing elements, the SU-100 will overcome the disadvantage of not having a turret. Furthermore, when defending coastal areas, its targets have very thin armor that cannot withstand the destructive power of 100 mm rounds, so it is predicted that it will be a long time before the SU-100 is officially retired.
|
| SU-100 self-propelled anti-tank gun during a joint military exercise. |
However, very few people know that in the 1980s, when the situation on the northern border was still very tense, the SU-100 self-propelled artillery was also one of the vehicles deployed to the front lines for defensive duties.
The photograph above shows a SU-100 self-propelled gun of the 203rd Armored Brigade - 2nd Corps during a combined arms exercise in the 1980s.
Similar to its current role in the Marine Corps, for defensive operations in mountainous and forested terrain, this vehicle is very suitable for ambush tactics with pre-prepared firing elements.
The SU-100's main targets on the northern border at that time were primarily Type 62 light tanks, which had very weak armor, and the D-10S cannon was perfectly capable of penetrating them.
