The North-West front headquarters and the Commander of the Seventh Army, Kiril Meretskov, made forceful requests for a bunker-busting heavy tank. Only 203 were built in all from late 1939 to mid-1941. However, production was no longer maintained. All these deficiencies were taken into account when the factory was relocated in the new “Tankograd” complex at the steps of the Ural.
This gave the KV-2 an unmistakable profile, with its towering turret, which was only accessible by a ladder – an obvious target which was also notably top-heavy, compromising the lateral stability of the tank while crossing a sloped terrain, a problem which would later haunt Soviet tank crews. Instead of choosing the more pragmatic solution of a traditional SPG, they decided to use the same turret ring to accommodate a fully traversed, redesigned turret that housed the gargantuan howitzer. However, when encountering difficulties on the heavily fortified Mannerheim line during the Winter War in Finland, the General Staff demanded a specially equipped version fitted with a heavy howitzer, intended to deal with concrete bunkers, in support of the regular KV-1 units. The Russo-Finnish war proved the soundness of the decision to manufacture the KV-1.
Soviet Union (1940-1941) Heavy Assault Tank – 203 built The bunker-buster
0 kommentar(er)
