In the 1950s, the Soviet government actively supported its allies in the Middle East. So the Egyptian army received from the USSR a large number of tanks and self-propelled guns, which were very useful during the short but bloody Six Day War. It was only during the period of these short hostilities that a paradox occurred: dozens of Soviet tanks, which were completely serviceable, and sometimes undamaged, were at the enemy's hands. And all because the Egyptian military personnel simply threw them right on the battlefield.
One of the most memorable examples of Soviet armored vehicles that were noted in the Six Day War were the super-heavy tanks "Joseph Stalin-3", abbreviated as IS-3. The gigantic machines created in the early 1940s to destroy the "Tigers" and "Royal Tigers" did not have time to participate directly in World War II.
Interesting fact:
The technical characteristics of the tank are impressive: it was equipped with a powerful long-barreled rifled 122 mm gun and serious armor, designed specifically to increase the possibility of ricochet. Therefore, they did not go to the dustbin of history with the end of the war, they actively took part in a number of exercises, both on the territory of the USSR and beyond its borders, for example, in Hungary. In addition, the IS-3 took part in the events in Czechoslovakia.
The number of tanks produced also made it possible to send them to friendly and allied USSR states as assistance. That is how they ended up in service with the Egyptian army in the late 50s and early 60s. This armored vehicle took part in the 1965 Egyptian parade in Cairo. In addition to the IS-3 itself, the T-34-85, the SU-100 ACS and even the T-54 were also delivered.
Of course, by the beginning of the 1960s, the IS-3 was considered morally obsolete, but its gun and armor made it fully operational in a collision with more modern tanks. Real conditions for testing both Egyptian and Soviet armored vehicles appeared in 1967 with the start of the Six Day War with Israel. This conflict, for all its short duration, managed to go down in history as the first after World War II, during which large-scale tank battles took place.
British "Centurions", American "Pattons" and "Superhermans" put into service with the Israeli army entered the battlefield against the Soviet armored vehicles of the Egyptian army. They were more maneuverable, with a large power reserve and ammunition, but the IS-3 could successfully withstand them in firepower and armor. However, as it turned out, dozens of combat-ready super-heavy tanks are not enough to win.
During these six military days, the Egyptian side lost armored vehicles in dozens, and the enemy got it in good condition. The human factor was still decisive for the victory: the Egyptians suffered defeat after defeat, and all because of the almost complete lack of morale and fighting spirit among the tankers. As soon as a fire attack began on the tank, the soldiers simply carried off their legs, sometimes leaving the enemy with dozens of tanks: according to Novate.ru, over the entire short period of the conflict, the Egyptian side lost about 70 IS-3 tanks, and only every second of them was destroyed, the other half was serviceable. In addition, such deplorable results were also influenced by the lack of proper skills and combat experience among the crews.
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Sometimes situations with "escapes" from tanks at Egyptian servicemen reached the point of absurdity: some even left the tower hatches open on purpose before the battle in order to get away with their feet even faster. But one day this led to dire consequences: an enemy grenade ricocheted off the hatch cover and exploded in the fighting compartment. Perhaps this was the only case when, during the Six Day War, a fragmentation grenade knocked out the super-heavy tank "Joseph Stalin-3".
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But the Israelis did not just “pick up” the armored vehicles left by the Egyptian army. Serviceable copies of the same IS-3 entered service with their army, where they remained until the end of the 1970s. Some of them were converted, modernizing weapons. Such unusual samples of Soviet tanks "in the Israeli manner" can be seen today, for example, in the museum of the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA.
In addition to the topic: The giants who missed the battlefield: the sad story of super-heavy tanks
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/151019/52077/