Comparing: IS-5 (Object 730) vs. 110

The development of the vehicle was started in 1949 by the Design Bureau of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant under the supervision of Joseph Kotin. In 1950 a preproduction batch of 10 vehicles was launched. After the vehicle underwent all trials and received upgrades, it was adopted for service in 1953 under the designation IS-8.

From the mid-1940s to the 1950s, Soviet engineers attempted to modernize the IS-2 tank. The IS-2U variant, developed in November 1944, was conceived to have a reinforced frontal hull with a plate configuration resembling that of the IS-3. In the mid-1950s the design project was passed to China and became the basis for further Chinese tank development.