Hello bajtársak and fellow forumdwellers,
With the appearance of the new generation of tanks, pioneered by the Tiger I and Panther, the Red Army was forced to look for a new more powerful main gun for their tanks than the 76mm F-34.
For this purpose, the Soviets followed the German initiative, converting the 85mm M1939 AA gun to anti-tank duty and developing a version for tanks.
The new cannon, the D-5T was a very powerful armament against both enemy infantry as well as armour, finally giving Soviets tank crews a fair chance at engaging German Tiger I and Panther tanks at realistic combat ranges.
Though it was originally planned to install the D-5T inside the T-34, the reality of the T-34´s limitations forced designers to look for a quicker alternative until such a design could be realised without any major disruption in T-34 production.
As a stopgap solution, the SU-85 entered production, with about 2650 produced between 1943 and 44, until the D-5T was finally mounted inside a T-34 and SU production was diverted to the SU-100.
Please note that we already have in game the SU-85M, a tank destroyer with the same gun as the SU-85 but much thicker frontal armour and major weak spots eliminated.
SU85 on the left, SU-85M on the right
The SU-85 has the same frontal armour as the T-34 thus any BR2-3 Japanese or German tank fight the SU-85 on equal ground while the SU-85 would finally be able to take on German Panther G, something current Soviet BR3 tanks are simply incapable of.
The SU-85 packs a BR4 gun with BR3 armour, but no turret and no MG. I believe it would be a great addition for BR3 Soviets that lack BR3 tanks with good armour penetration. Capable of fighting BR4 tanks, but still defeatable by BR2 tanks in the hands of skilled players.
Thank you for your time and attention!
