Development of this tank It began in July 1943 at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant under the leadership of L. Troyanov, and later - M. Balzhi. At the very beginning of 1944, the designed machine received the Object 701 index, and in March 1944 the project was submitted for consideration by the State Academic Technical University. The project, in general, was liked by the commission, and in April of the same year it was decided to switch to the manufacture of prototypes.
701 object with C-34-I gun.
The main idea for the creation of a new Soviet heavy tank was the idea of the possibility of installing more powerful artillery systems on this machine than those on the EC-2. Therefore, an experienced 701 Object was made at once in three versions with different guns: D-25T, C-34-II and 100-mm high-power cannon C-34-I.
701 object with C-34-II gun.
Testing machines took place before the fall of the year 1944. And as usually revealed a lot of design flaws. But also the car had one indisputable advantage, its 160 mm frontal armor could not penetrate any tank or anti-tank gun of both the Soviet and German production. Of the weapon systems, the 122 and the C-34-II cannon best showed themselves.
At the end of 1944, two more cars were produced, on which a modernized transmission was installed. After testing these machines, it was considered that the tank was quite ready for mass production. It only remained to decide with what instrument to release it.
EC-4 in Kubinka.
Oddly enough, the C-34-II gun was never recommended for installation in a production car. The point won was that to solve the tasks that now stand before the tank forces, the X-NUMX-mm D-122T guns already fully mastered in production, and to arm a new-generation heavy tank, you need to switch to 25 mm or even X-guns. set 130 mm gun was done on the tank EC-152).
EC-4 at the site, somewhere in the Far East.
In April 1945, the tank was put into service and put into mass production under the IS-4 index. The hull of the vehicle was welded and the turret was cast with variable armor thickness. In addition to the aforementioned 122 mm D-25T cannon, the armament included a 12,7 mm machine gun paired with it. The same machine gun was installed as an anti-aircraft gun on the turret above the loader's hatch. One of the vehicle's features was the original ammo rack. In the IS-4, the shells were placed in special metal cassettes, which are clearly visible in the photo. The tank had a planetary transmission, an individual torsion bar suspension. The tank's crew was 4 people. The engine was powered by a V-12 diesel engine with a capacity of 750 hp. With this engine on the highway, the tank could accelerate to 43 km / h.
Combat tank tank IS-4, well visible metal cassettes for shells.
Serial production of the EC-4 continued until the 1949 year. And basically these cars served in the Far East.
During operation, it turned out that the tank's weight exceeded the carrying capacity of most bridges and transport platforms. It is this reason that actually buried the idea of building machines weighing more than 50 t. The EC-4 was decommissioned and stored for long-term storage, and then removed from service. After which it was often used at landfills as a target.
Place the driver in the tank EC-4.
Place gunner in the tank EC-4.
Gun and machine gun tank EC-4.