An experimental model of a Soviet SPG with an 85mm gun. Its open cabin and light armor are made up for by its magnificent 85mm cannon with deadly APHE rounds – and it’s just a rank II vehicle!

While working to develop an SPG that could vie with the most modern German tanks, the designers in the GAZ design bureau came up with a simple plan: take the SU-76M, the production of which had already been mastered, and create a new, more powerful weapon based on it. The project was developed with two 85mm cannons, the D-5S and the S-53S. The version with the D-5S ended up being built for testing purposes, and the vehicle came to be called the SU-85A. During testing it became clear that the recoil of the powerful cannon was too great for a light SPG, which led the engineers to install a new gun and upgrade the defensive characteristics of their creation. However, by 1945 the modernized vehicle known as the SU-85B had become decidedly out of date, and the military decided to cancel the project.