KV-85 (Klimenti Voroshilov)

History

The KV-85 was a makeshift heavy tank requested by the Soviet authorities to counter the arrival of the powerful German Panther tank series. The Panther is a revolutionary design with thick armor protection and a powerful main gun. Even the much-vaunted T-34 series of medium tanks proved to be a formidable opponent and developed into Germany's best all-around chainmail system.

In response to the new threat, the KV-85 employs its own combination of high-powered weapons and heavy armor protection.

Interestingly, the Soviet authorities began to abandon the concept of the heavy tank in 1942, and its slow, bulky nature did little to benefit the commander and subsequent battlefield results. In battle, these tanks proved to be double-edged swords, with lighter, more streamlined units deemed necessary to the point that the concept of the Red Army's heavy tank was almost a thing of the past. The arrival of the Panther tank in 1943 quickly changed this mentality, forcing the design and development of a new countermeasure system - the KV-85. The KV-85 is based on the original KV heavy tank series, which included the KV-1 and KV-2 tank designs. The KV-1 is the more streamlined of the two, with a beefier profile and long-barreled 76mm armament.

The KV-2 is the bulkier and bulkier of the two designs, but it has thick armor and a powerful 152mm main gun capable of throwing explosives on the battlefield.

The KV-1 was chosen to be converted into a new solution, known as the KV-1S. A new turret for the new KV-13 armor system was already under development, so this component was placed on top of the existing KV-1 chassis. The weapon of choice became the 85mm main gun, the same DT-5 model installed on the SU-85 tank destroyer. This equipment eventually gave the new KV-1S tank the final designation KV-85.

The final product was nothing more than a KV-1C with a larger gun assembly.

The KV-85 has a typical Soviet appearance. Its silhouette spans a height of 9 feet 6 inches. Length is 28' 3" and system width is 10' 8". The turret is clearly set forward amidships, and the round cast armor is ideal for deflecting enemy projectiles and shells.

The barrel protrudes well in front of the front of the fuselage. The engine is installed in a compartment at the rear of the vehicle. There are six wheels on one side of the track, the track idler is installed at the front of the car body, and the drive sprocket is installed at the rear. There are three track pulleys below the top of the track system. The KV-85 weighs just over 45 tons.

The armor protection thickness of various fairings is between 30 and 110 mm. The primary armament is centered on the 85mm main gun, and the secondary armament consists of up to three 7.62mm DT series general purpose machine guns - one coaxial and the other mounted on the rear of the turret - facing rearward to help repel infantry Attack the vulnerable rear quadrant of the vehicle.

The third machine gun protected the tank from anti-aircraft attacks.

Power is provided by a 12-cylinder V-2 Series diesel engine that delivers 600 horsepower at 1,900 rpm. This gives the vehicle a top speed of 25 mph (in ideal conditions and ideal terrain) and a range of 155 miles.

Production continued in 1943 until the new year. However, the popularity of the chosen weapon system DT-5 led to slow production. As a result, only about 130 to 150 samples were available before the Red Army launched its bloody offensive in 1944, a crucial year of the war. The intense combat action that followed resulted in the loss of many KV-85 tanks to enemy action, but the KV-85 has drawn attention to a more formal solution to tank kills.

Lessons learned from the development and combat use of the KV-85 led directly to the development of a Soviet wartime classic - the IS (Joseph Stalin) heavy tank series - just in time for the fall of Berlin and the end of the European conflict.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

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Armor

Not available.

Changes