As a prelude to the post-war concept of a single main battle tank
design, vehicles during World War II tended to be categorized as light,
medium, and heavy, depending on their use. In this last category, tanks
had grown in size, weight, and firepower to counter ever-improving
anti-tank weapon systems. This resulted in changes in tactics and
doctrine to better integrate heavy armor into a combined arms system.
This was especially true on the Eastern Front, where the open terrain
promoted armor action and a rapid cycle of improvements. The Soviets
were quick to develop vehicles that were able to fight the Tiger I on an
equal footing by late 1943, such as the up-gunned T-34/85 and the
self-propelled ISU-152s. Because the American T-26/M-26 Pershing arrived
late in the war, and the British Centurion not at all, only the Soviet
IS-2 serves as an example of a heavy design that was fielded in large
battlefield numbers. The Soviet drive to cut off enemy forces in East
Prussia during Operation Solstice (February 1945) is a prime example of
this conflict. The Germans, had limited resources, and were
strategically on the defensive, but enjoyed ever-shorter logistic
distances as they retreated, and fought in an environment and terrain
that played to the strengths of the technically-superior King Tiger. The
IS-2 was lighter, more maneuverable, and far more numerous, and used
these assets to its advantage. This battle, fought in the closing months
of the war, depicts the classic late-war contrast between the military
doctrines of Germany and the Soviet Union.
