Daily Quiz for December 17, 2009

JS Series (IS in Russian). In 1943, Stalin was ready to cancel heavy-tank production, but German deployment of substantial numbers of Panther and Tiger tanks at the Battle of Kursk changed Soviet priorities. Due to the critisism of the KV series by their crews, Stalin authorized production of the new JS series, or Josef Stalin (Iosif Stalin) tank, named for the dictator himself.