Since it was intended as a self-propelled artillery piece rather than a true tank destroyer, the SU-152 was generally issued with standard HE rounds rather than armor-piercing projectiles. The 152mm HE round produced a massive blast that did not rely on velocity for its effectiveness, making them effective against any German tank, including the Tiger and Elefant (although with a somewhat decreased level of kill reliability over penetrating projectiles). It was renowned for its ability to rip the turret completely off a Tiger tank (at any range) by sheer blast effect alone, although this rarely happened.