D-25T (122 mm)

The 122 mm D-25T on the IS-2 No.321 gun mantlet.

Description

The 122 mm D-25T is a Soviet tank cannon firing two-piece ammunition used mostly by tanks of the IS-2 series.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

USSR

• KV-122
• IS-2
• IS-2 (1944)
• IS-2 "Revenge"
• IS-2 No.321
• IS-3
• IS-4M

China

• ␗IS-2
• IS-2 No.402
• ␗IS-2 (1944)

General info

Being based on a field gun, the D-25T features a high muzzle velocity but a long reload time caused by the two-piece ammunition. As is typical for a Soviet tank, the gun has a poor depression angle. The armour-piercing shells have a powerful penetration power with devastating post-penetration effects.

Available ammunition

• BR-471 - The default APHE shell with decent penetration of 205 mm on distance of 10 m. Fairly slow muzzle velocity that's just shy of 800 m/s. Contains plenty of explosives (TNT equivalent of almost 250 g)
• BR-471B - APHEBC shell. Is identical in terms of explosives, muzzle velocity to the BR-471. Ballistic cap lowers the decrease of penetration over distance, and slightly changes penetration chance on different angles.
• OF-471 - HE shell. Contains 3.6 kg of TNT inside, which translates to 37 mm of penetration that is not dependent on angle or distance. Barely faster than APHE shells.

• BR-471D - APCBC shell. Contains just over 190 g of TNT inside. Its muzzle velocity is 800 m/s, and has penetration value of 230 mm on distance of 10 m. This shell is not available to the KV-122, IS-2, IS-2 (China), and IS-2 No.402 tanks.

Comparison with analogues

IS-2 & KV-122

In comparison with tanks such as the Tiger II or the T26E1-1 Super Pershing, you may expect lower penetration power, but both of those tanks have around half of its explosive filler mass, which translates into lesser post-penetration damage. The D25T gun is able to easily take out most enemy tanks in a single blow when penetrating. The poor rate of fire is also a handicap against cannons having a reload time twice shorter.

IS-3, IS4-M & T-10A

The difficulty at higher battle ratings is that you may lack in penetration, because of the introduction of composite armour on early Main Battle Tanks and the lack of HEATFS projectiles with higher penetration. However, penetrating shells through the thin side armour of MBTs is not hard, even angled. The long reload time remains an issue.

Usage in battles

IS-2 & KV-122

The 122 mm cannon can penetrate almost every enemy tank frontally (exceptions exist: Tiger I vision port, Tiger II hull, as well as american heavy tanks turrets frontally), and reliably knock outs the tank in a single shot because of the high amount of explosive filler. The downside of such firepower is the long reload which forces you to engage from a distance.

IS-3, IS4-M & T-10A

Tank's armour gets tougher to pierce at higher ranks and their guns are also improved. Chemical energy shells are more common, which means that getting rid of enemies in a single blow is really important. Well armoured enemies are going to withstand your shells easily, so heavy tanks will be difficult to deal with. MBTs on the other hand will most likely penetrate you easily, but that's a double edged sword for them: they can penetrate you but you can also penetrate them. They may have a mobility advantage, but in terms of post-penetration damage you definitely are ahead of them.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Amazing penetration (at IS-2's BR) and post-penetration damage effects often leads to taking out enemy vehicles with a single shot
• The later APCBC shell (BR-471D) has slightly better penetration, while still retaining its wonderful post-penetration damage
• Stock shell (BR-471) has similar performance to the later BR-471B on the IS-2

Cons:

• Slow reload of around 20 seconds, mid-range sniping or providing heavy fire for your team is advised
• Has poor elevation angles on all models equipped with it.
• When attacking different targets, switching ammo types will take time
• At the IS-3 or IS-4M's BR, it can't reliably penetrate tanks frontally

History

The D-25 was the redesign in 1943 of the 122 mm A-19 field gun to increase its reliability and operating safety in order to equip the newly developed IS-2 tanks with a powerful gun. The D-25T was born of the 122 mm D-25 gun and the gun mount of the 85 mm D-5T gun in late 1943.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] 122 mm gun M1931/37 (A-19)

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)