Editing SU-85 (section)

==In Real Life==

The SU-85 was built by the Soviets to counter the German heavies that were arriving on the field. While the T-34 could handle Panzers well enough, the arrival of the Panther's sloped armor and the Tiger's FUCK-OFF range and gun meant they needed something with similar range and armor penetration. 

So they did exactly what the Germans did and repurposed an 85mm anti-aircraft gun. It made sense, because AA guns at the time were the perfect mix of high-velocity (speed/force whatnot), range (planes tend to be really high up) and mass (AA shells would explode either on contact or at a certain height, the larger the shell, the bigger the explosion and chance of hitting). 

The answer was simple enough, but the execution was another matter entirely. The T-34 of the time only had enough space in the turret for two people and anything larger than a 76mm would require serious overhauling of the turret system. And while the engineers were doing that, the German advance continued. So while they waited for the T-34-85 to be ready, the Russians did what they did best and jury-rigged a solution: the SU-85. 

By switching out the howitzer of the SU-122, they turned an anti-fortification SPG into a tank-hunter. The SU-85 was by no means game-breaking, more like "good enough." It could penetrate a Tiger a kilometer away and had a low enough silhouette that they could avoid being spotted, [[Fail|but the earliest models also had absolute shit optics and the commander could only see what was literally ahead of him]]. Still, the German tanks had better range, and the 85 could only manage sure kills at closer ranges, or on flanks, both of which the SU-85 couldn't do. 

Eventually, the Soviets managed to mass produce the T-34-85 and the SU-85 was made redundant. The Soviets took all that they learned from the SU-85, like its sloped armor and low profile, and began to develop the [[SU-100]], which was an improvement on pretty much all grounds. And then the Soviets got drunk and decided that armor penetration is for pussies, who cares about German technological advances and heavy armor when you have a [[Demolisher cannon|siege gun]] [[SU-152|that destroyed tanks]] through [[Awesome|sheer concussive power alone?]]


{{Soviet Forces in Flames of War}}