The ISU-152 is a Soviet self-propelled gun (also classified as a tank destroyer) from the Second World War. The first prototypes of this vehicle appeared in 1943, and the weapon entered mass production and the line in the same year. The weight of the vehicle in the basic version was 46 tons. The drive was provided by a single 520 HP W-2-IS engine. It was armed with a 152.4 mm ML-20S cannon-howitzer and one 12.7 mm DSzK machine gun. The self-propelled gun ISU-152 was developed at the Fabryka im. Kirov in Chelyabinsk. Initially, it was assumed that the new vehicle would be structurally based on the KW-1s tank, but it was quickly decided to use the new IS-2 heavy tank for this purpose. It is worth adding that the ISU-152 shared many structural elements and components with the ISU-122 self-propelled gun, which of course greatly facilitated the production and operation of both types of vehicles. As the ISU-152 showed high combat value in the course of combat operations in 1944-1945, the vehicle remained in the line or reserve of the Soviet Army for a good part of the Cold War. After 1945, two modernized versions of this vehicle were built. The first one was called ISU-152K and was developed in 1953. It had a new engine (the same as in the T-54 tank) and an increased supply of fuel and transported ammunition. In 1959, a version of the ISU-152M was created, which differed slightly from the ISU-152K. Among other things, she used another machine gun as an additional weapon.
In the front units of the Red Army, during the German-Soviet war of 1941-1945, there were reconnaissance units called Razwiedczikami (in Russian, written in Latin script are Voyennaya Razvyedka). These units were assigned primarily to infantry units in the strength of the battalion per division, company per brigade and platoon per regiment. The organizational structure of the Razwiedczik units did not differ significantly from that of the regular infantry. However, their role on the battlefield was radically different. These formations were treated as specific "eyes and ears" of the commander of the formation to which they were subject. It is worth adding that their soldiers were much better trained than regular infantry units, and their tasks were to collect information from the enemy's rear or observe his movements and marches. It is worth adding that after 1943, the Razwiedcziki used uniforms covered with camouflage stains, and their equipment was dominated by light machine guns, such as the PPsZ submachine gun and the 7.62 mm Diegtarev light machine gun. Often, however, they also fought with captured equipment.