Airfix 01307V Joseph Stalin JS-3

The IS-3 is a Soviet heavy tank from the end of World War II and the Cold War. The first prototypes of this vehicle were made in 1944, and the production of the car was carried out in the years 1945-1946 or 1947. In such a short time it was possible to produce about 2,300 vehicles of this type! The combat weight of the tank was up to 46.5 tons. The drive was provided by a single diesel engine with a power of up to 600 HP. The main armament consisted of the 122 mm D-25T cannon and 2 machine guns: 1 DSzK 12.7 mm rifle and 1 DT 7.62 mm rifle.

The IS-3 vehicle was developed as a very far-reaching development of the IS-2 tank. On the one hand, it borrowed the main armament from it, as well as many mechanical components. On the other hand, it features a completely different shape of the front part of the vehicle, as well as a completely new turret with significantly improved resistance to anti-tank hits. Cars of this type aroused a lot of interest from Western experts, who considered them a potentially very dangerous weapon. It is worth adding that in the course of the Cold War, the IS-3 tanks underwent several modernizations, in the course of which, among others, more modern radio stations were used, the hull structure was strengthened or night vision observation devices were introduced. The IS-3 cars were exported to several countries, including Czechoslovakia, Egypt and Poland. They were used in combat primarily during the Six-Day War in 1967.