Description

The IS-2 Berlin is a Soviet Heavy Tank

Built in 1944, the IS-2 (IS-122) heavy tank was a modification of the IS-1. It featured a simple cast glacis plate. Elite Soviet Guards heavy tank regiments used the IS-2 extensively in the assaults on the fortress cities of Budapest, Breslau, and Berlin. These vehicles featured thick white stripes for quick identification by other Soviet tank crews. This vehicle, a tank of the 7th Guards Independent Heavy Tank Brigade, was made famous in a photo taken in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin.
The IS-2 tank first saw combat in early 1944. IS-2s were assigned to separate heavy tank regiments, normally of 21 tanks each. These regiments were used to reinforce the most important attack sectors during major offensive operations. Tactically, they were employed as breakthrough tanks. Their role was to support infantry in the assault, using their large guns to destroy bunkers, buildings, dug-in crew-served weapons, and other ‘soft’ targets. They were also capable of taking on any German AFVs if required. Once a breakthrough was achieved, lighter, more mobile T-34s would take over the exploitation.
By the 1950s the emergence of the main battle tank concept—combining medium-tank mobility with the firepower and later armour of the heavy tank—had rendered heavy tanks obsolete in Soviet operational doctrine. In the late 1960s the remaining Soviet heavy tanks were transferred to Red Army reserve service and storage. The IS-2 Model 1944 remained in active service much longer in the armies of Cuba, China and North Korea. A regiment of Chinese IS-2s was available for use in the Korean War, but saw no service there. In response to border disputes between the Soviet Union and China, some Soviet IS-3s were dug in as fixed pillboxes along the Soviet-Chinese border.

1/35 scale, unpainted resin kit.