KV-1 (Klimenti Voroshilov)

History

In 1938, the Soviet Union developed a 58-ton prototype tank named T-100. This type is a large machine with two single turrets - one with a 76.2mm main gun and the other with a 45mm gun - and requires up to 8 personnel. Armor protection is over 60mm thick and the tank is powered by an 800hp water-cooled engine.

However, the engine proved underpowered and unwieldy for the vehicle's weight and intended battlefield role, and its first evaluation in the Russo-Finnish War (1939-1940) resulted in the completion of only two pilot vehicles.

Therefore, another solution was sought to meet the requirements of the new heavy tanks of the Red Army. The arrangement of multiple turrets and multiple guns is similar to the design principles of World War I tanks, and now more modern designs have become mainstream.

In any case, in 1938 the Soviet Design Bureau still introduced a variety of turret tank designs for consideration, although most of them in prototype form ended up choosing only two main turrets.

Taking the design of the T-100 as a starting point, its engineers developed a heavy tank with a smaller and lighter turret, better armor, more maneuverability, and better mechanical performance than the new T-34 medium. Similar tank series.

Official construction of the new tank began in February 1940. The resulting design became the "KV-1", and like the T-100 that preceded it, the prototype achieved better results in combat with the Finns and was tested under real conditions.

Global combat conditions . While the T-28 and T-35 tanks fell victim to Finnish tactics and ambushes, the KV-1 tank, despite its mechanical problems, shined with its improved armor protection. Mechanical problems mainly stem from the gearbox and clutch system.

By the way, the name KV-1 comes from the then-acting Soviet Defense Commissioner (Minister of Defense) Klementi Voroshilov. The KV-1 was then officially approved for mass production by the Red Army and immediately replaced the obsolete T-28 and T-35 medium and heavy tanks - dating back to 1935, with a multi-turret arrangement and weighing in excess of 44 tons.

Despite the mechanical problems of the KV-1, growing demand for more tanks spurred mass production, resulting in some 5,219 tanks being completed by the end of the war. The Soviet Union was the only operator of the KV-1 (except for the capture system recovered by the German army).

At the beginning of official service with the Red Army, the KV-1 was considered the most powerful tank in the world due to its combination of firepower and weight, and laid the foundation for Soviet/Russian tanks for decades to come. The German invasion of the Soviet Union through Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 caught the country's armed forces by surprise, and it came at a critical moment for the Red Army. Only about 500-635 KV tanks were in service at the time of the invasion, and these tanks were initially deployed in distributed formations rather than dedicated tank regiments.

It proved very useful in breakout missions, where its powerful tank configuration and powerful main gun allowed it to break through German defenses, lead the Red Army offensive and open gaps for trailing T-34 medium tanks. Since speed is not important to the character, the KV-1 is more or less designed for this kind of performance. By 1942, the Soviets learned that their KV tanks were more effective in dedicated tank regiments and kept using them throughout the war. German aircrews quickly noticed the new Soviet tank and were surprised to find that their anti-tank weapons were ineffective against the KZ-1's full frontal armor protection, forcing the infantry squad to engage the tank head-on by any means necessary.

Even the legendary "88" gun needed some work to go head-to-head with the KV-1 tank. Only the arrival of the German Panther and Tiger I tanks more or less replaced the KV-1 series.

From the outside, the mighty KV-1 showcases an extremely robust design. Their appearance is characterized by a chain system with six running wheels on each side, three chain idlers, a drive sprocket at the rear and a chain idler at the front.

The hull has a heavily sloping forward plate leading to a flat hull superstructure with a heavy turret system mounted along a circular drift. The main armament was placed on the turret, supported by a bank of light machine guns throughout the design. The engine is installed in the rear compartment. The KV-1, in all its variants, consists of a crew of five, consisting of a driver (sitting in the front center fuselage), a bow gunner (left forward fuselage), a tank commander, a gunner and A dedicated machine gunner.

A negative aspect of the KV-1's internal design is that the commander is also the main gun loader, distracting him from key battlefield events.

The main armament of the 1942 KV-1 was a 76.2mm main gun (formerly L-11 series) mounted in a movable turret. A 7.62mm DT general purpose machine gun is mounted next to the system in a coaxial mount. Another 7.62mm DT machine gun was mounted on the rear wall of the turret to counter enemy infantry trying to advance towards the tank from a vulnerable rear area.

A third 7.62mm DT machine gun was mounted on the left forward hull of the design and used as an infantry defense gun. Some production KV-1s ended up adding a fourth 7.62mm DT machine gun to the commander's cupola to repel infantry and counter the threat of low-altitude attack aircraft.

What the KV-1 lacked was maneuverability on the battlefield. Engineers were key to improving every aspect of the KV-1 during its development, but neglected to increase its engine power. This resulted in the slow and bulky KV-1, lacking agility and tactically limited.

Given the vast plains of the Russian border, off-road capability was a priority, and the KV-1 was disappointed in that area.

The original KV-1 series model (141 prototypes were produced) eventually gave way to the 1940 KV-1A variant as the 2mm F-32 L/41 series, the hood is now either bolted or welded to the turret superior. The operational weight is 46 tons and the armor thickness is 37mm to 78mm. This variant is powered by a 550hp V-2K Series liquid-cooled V12 diesel engine to help it reach a rather optimistic 22mph in a range of 140 miles.

The vehicle stores 111 x 76.2 mm projectiles and 3,024 x 7.62 mm machine gun ammunition.

In 1941, the KV-1A was replaced along the Soviet production line by the KV-1B, which fitted the now cast turret (on the armor plate of the earlier brand) with armor for improved crew protection. In addition, some had additional armor installed on the sides of the hull, and welded armor was installed on the critical forward hull fairing, adding up to 100mm of protection.

Of course, this extra weight trades off engine performance, which translates directly into constraints on overall on-road speed, off-road speed, power-to-weight ratio and engine life. The vehicles weighed 52 tons, had a standard crew of five, and were powered by a 600-horsepower V-2K V12 water-cooled diesel engine. Top speed is 19 mph (12 mph off-road) and 155 miles on the road.

Armament consists of an F-34 L/41 series main gun and 3 x 7.62mm DT machine guns (nose, coaxial and rear turret).

In 1942, the armor thickness of the KV-1C reached 130 mm. This time, engineers fixed the powerplant issue and added a 600-horsepower motor, while the fuselage was mounted on wider tracks for better weight transfer and control. A limited number of KV-1C models were stripped of extra armor for increased speed, leading to the lesser-known name KV-1(s) for a leap in "speed".

1,370 S Models were produced.

Despite being a true heavy tank, the changing face of warfare called for an upgrade of the KV-1's primary armament. Attempts (and active testing) to fit a 107mm main gun into the design ultimately failed, resulting in the 76.2mm barrel being simply lengthened.

The KV-1 design culminated with the arrival of the KV-85, a modified temporary heavy tank form that combined the KV-1 structure with the more powerful 85mm DT-5 main gun (based on the anti-aircraft gun) ) together in associations. In the T-34/IS-1 cast turret. The machine gun mounted on the bow has been removed. The KV-85 was delivered from 1943, the existing KV-1 tanks were upgraded to the new standard of the KV-85 tanks, which were more or less based on the KV-1C production brand - these are two systems of engine and barrel very Interchangeable manufacturing equipment.

However, the arrival of the T-34/85 negated the KV-85's legacy as it mounted the same 85mm main gun. The KV-85 weighs 45 tons, is powered by a 600-horsepower V-2K diesel engine, and can travel 93 miles at 21 mph.

Over time, the utility of the KV-1 reached its peak as the T-34 was numerous and further supported by the improved heavy tanks IS-1 and IS-2 "Joseph Stalin" armor and 122 mm main gun. The "KV-13" was actually a prototype for the redesigned KV tank program that led directly to the development of the IS-2.

Front-line German tank offerings include the aforementioned Panther and Tiger I series, which proved immune to Soviet 76.2mm guns at most frontal angles. The era of the KV-1 has officially arrived.

The KV-1 chassis, like the KV-8, was used as a flamethrower platform. This combined the KV-1 hull with an ATO-41 series flamethrower and 45mm M1932 gun in the turret, producing about 42 examples of this tank variant.

The KV-8S has a similar scope, but with an ATO-41 flamethrower in place of the coaxial machine gun. The KV-1 prototype - designated "KV-14" - mounted a Soviet 152mm field gun on a fixed superstructure, resulting in the development of the SU-152 self-propelled artillery system.

The KV-2 was developed alongside the KV-1, and therefore used the same airframe and landing gear, but instead had a 155mm howitzer mounted in a box-shaped, plate-side turret location. This form was used more as a mobile field gun for artillery fire support, rather than a true tank killing machine in conjunction with the KV-1.

The Germans eventually captured the KV-2 assembly line, and production of this type never resumed. The KV-2 proved to be more limited in tactical use, as its large and heavy turret made it a cumbersome target for enemy artillery.

As such, the KV-1 and KV-2 are completely different armor systems in the Red Army's inventory, as detailed elsewhere on this page.

Captured KV-1 tanks were put back into service by the Germans under the name of the German Army. These include KV-IA 753 (r) Panzerkampfwagen and KV-IB 755 (r) Panzerkampfwagen, denoting different brands and their "Russian" origin.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor