KV-4 - Wikipedia

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The KV-4 (Object 906) was a proposed Soviet heavy break-through tank, developed during World War II as a part of the Kliment Voroshilov tank design series.

Design history

In April 1941, it was decided to create a project for a new Super-heavy tank. It was supposed to be able to defeat any German heavy tank. The project was intended to remain an unbuilt design, until it was needed. Several tank designers were told to create basic concept drawings. Sources differ as to the designers involved. Among those listed are: Kreslavsky; Kuzmin, Tarapatin and Tarotko (who together worked on the same design); Pereverzev; Mikhailov; Kruchenykh; Tseits, K. Buganov; S. Fedorenko; G. Kruchenykh; F. Marishkin; G. Moskvin; N. Strukov; A. Yermolaev; L. Sychev; L. Pereverzev; Bykov; N. Dukhov; M. Kreslavskiy; V. Pavlov; D. Grigorev.^[1]

Basic armour was to be 125 to 130 mm and up to 150 mm over vulnerable areas. A new gun was required. There were about 20 different designs generated by the project. The lightest design was 82.5 tonnes and the heaviest was 107.7 tonnes. All had a 107mm ZiS-6 main gun and all but one had a second tank gun. The second gun was a 45 mm 20-K, or a 76 mm gun. Solutions to the positioning of the guns – turrets or hull mountings – varied. Crew requirements were from 5 to 9 men.

The 107 mm ZiS-6 guns

The F-42 107 mm tank gun was created in Plant #92, in a design bureau under the supervision of V. Grabin. The F-42 was based on the F-39 95 mm tank gun and it was finished in the fall of 1940. By the beginning of 1941, the new gun had been factory tested in a field casemate. In March 1941 it was tested in the turret of a KV-2 tank. The ZiS-6 gun passed factory testing by June 1941, after which it was sent to the Artillery Scientific Test Range at Leningrad.

According to V. Grabin ("Oruzhie Pobedy" - "Weapons of Victory") about 600 ZiS-6 guns had been finished by the fall of 1941. Those guns were all destroyed because the tanks were never going to be made. The plants chief designer wrote that "five serially-produced ZiS-6 cannons were manufactured in July–August 1941, after which their production was halted because the heavy tanks were not ready". Those documents had been signed by V. Grabin.^[2]

References

v t e Tanks of the First World War
Light	M1918 Ford 3-ton tank M1917 light tank Renault FT
Medium	Medium Mark A Whippet Medium Mark B Medium Mark C
Heavy	A7V Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV Mark V Mark V* Mark V** Mark VIII Saint-Chamond Schneider CA1
Prototypes, experimentals	CLB 75 Tank FCM 1A Fiat 2000 Holt gas–electric tank Little Willie LK I LK II Mark VII Skeleton tank Steam tank Steam Wheel Tank Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien Tsar Tank Vezdekhod
World War I tanks List of combat vehicles of World War I Background: History of the tank, Tank classification, Tanks in World War I

v t e Tanks of the interwar period
Tankettes	AH-IV Carden Loyd L3/33 L3/35 R-1 T-27 T-32 (Š-I-D) Tančík vz. 33 TKS Type 92 Type 94 Type 97 Te-Ke
Light	7TP 38M Toldi I Char D1 Disston Tractor Tank Fiat 3000 H35 L-60 Light tanks Mk I–V Light tank Mk VI Light tank Mk VII LT vz. 34 LT vz. 35 LT vz. 38 M1 combat car M2 light tank Panzer I Panzer II R35 T-18 T-26 T-37 T-38 Type 95 Ha-Go Vickers 6-ton Vickers-Carden-Loyd light amphibious tank Vickers T-15
Medium	Char D2 T-24 T-28 Type 89 I-Go Type 97 Chi-Ha Vickers medium Mk I Vickers medium Mk II
Cavalry, cruiser, fast	AMC 34 AMC 35 AMR 33 AMR 35 BT tank Cruiser Mk I Cruiser Mk II Cruiser Mk III SOMUA S35
Infantry	FCM 36 Hotchkiss H35 Matilda I T-26
Heavy, super-heavy	Char 2C Char B1 T-35
Prototypes, experimentals	10TP FCM F1 Grosstraktor Kolohousenka Landsverk L-120 Leichttraktor Medium Mark III Medium Mark D Medium tank A7 Morris-Martel Neubaufahrzeug PZInż 130 Škoda MU-4 SMK Straussler V-4 Stridsvagn m/31 ST vz. 39 T1 light tank T2 medium T7 combat car T-19 T-42 T-100 Type 87 Chi-I Type 91 heavy Type 95 heavy Type 97 Chi-Ni Type 98 Chi-Ho Verdeja Vickers A1E1 Independent
Interwar period tanks List of interwar armoured fighting vehicles Background: History of the tank, Tank classification, interwar period

v t e Tanks of the Second World War
Light	Toldi tanks KhTZ-16 L6/40 Light tank Mk VIII M3/M5 Stuart M22 Locust M24 Chaffee Marmon-Herrington CTLS Renault R40 NI tank T-26 T-40 T-60 T-70 Tetrarch Panzer I Panzer II Panzer 35(t) Type 98 Ke-Ni Type 2 Ke-To Type 2 Ka-Mi Type 4 Ke-Nu
Medium	Turán I and II 43M Turán III M11/39 M13/40 M14/41 M15/42 M2 medium M3 Lee/Grant M4 Sherman Sherman Firefly M26 Pershing P26/40 Panzer III Panzer IV Panzer V Panther Stridsvagn m/41 Stridsvagn m/42 T-34 T-44 Type 97 ShinHōtō Chi-Ha Type 1 Chi-He Type 3 Ka-Chi Type 3 Chi-Nu
Cruiser	AC1 Sentinel Cruiser Mk IV Covenanter Crusader Cavalier Cromwell (and Centaur) Mk VIII Challenger Comet Grizzly Ram
Infantry	Churchill Matilda II Valentine T-50 Type 2 Ho-I
Heavy	IS tank IS-1 IS-2 IS-3 KV tank Tiger I Tiger II
Prototypes, experimentals	44M Tas AC3 Thunderbolt AC4 AELT AMX 40 Black Prince Bob Semple tank Excelsior M6 heavy tank M7 medium tank Nahuel DL 43 O-I Panzer VIII Maus Panzerkampfwagen E-100 PPG Sahariano Schofield Special number 3 Ku-Ro T14 heavy T20 medium T28 T29 heavy T30 heavy T32 heavy T34 heavy T-43 TOG1 TOG2 Type 98 Chi-Ho Type 4 Chi-To Type 5 Chi-Ri Type 5 Ke-Ho Type 5 To-Ku Valiant Verdeja
World War II tanks List of armoured fighting vehicles of World War II Background: History of the tank, Tank classification

v t e Tanks of the Cold War
Main battle	AMX-30 AMX-30E Centurion Sho't Challenger 1 Chieftain Chonma-ho CM-11 Brave Tiger K1 88 Leopard 1 Leopard 2 M1 Abrams M48 Patton CM-12 M60 tank Magach Merkava OF-40 Panzer 68 Stridsvagn 103 T-55 T-62 T-64 T-72 M-84 Lion of Babylon T-80 TR-85 Type 59 Type 61 Type 69/79 Type 74 Type 80/85/88 Type 90 Vickers MBT Mk 1 Vijayanta Vickers MBT Mk 3
Light	AMX-13 HSTV(L) M41 Walker Bulldog M551 Sheridan PT-76 PT-85 SK-105 Kürassier Stingray Type 62 Type 63 Type 64 X1A
Medium	Charioteer M46 Patton M47 Patton Panzer 58 Panzer 61 Stridsvagn 74 Super Sherman TAM T-54
Heavy	ARL 44 Conqueror IS-4 M103 T-10
Prototypes, experimentals	AMX-32 AMX-40 AMX-50 Char 25T EE-T1 Osório Emil Expeditionary Tank HSTV(L) IS-7 Lorraine 40t M8 armored gun system MB-3 Tamoyo MBT-70 MBT-80 Object 187 Object 279 Object 292 Object 490A Object 770 Object 785 Spähpanzer Ru 251 Spähpanzer SP I.C. T92 light tank T95 medium tank TR-125 Vickers MBT Mk 4 Valiant Vickers MBT Mk 7 WZ-111 heavy tank WZ-132 light tank WZ-122
Cold War tanks List of modern armoured fighting vehicles Background: History of the tank, Tank classification, Tanks in the Cold War

v t e Tanks of the post–Cold War era
Main battle	Al-Khalid tank Al-Zarrar Ariete Arjun Challenger 2 Durjoy K2 Black Panther Karrar Leclerc Leopard 2 Leopard 2E Leopard 2PL M1 Abrams Merkava IV Pokpung-ho PT-91 Twardy Ramses II Sabra Stridsvagn 122 T-72M4CZ T-84 T-90 Type 10 Type 72Z Type 96 Type 99 VT-4 Zulfiqar
Light / medium	Sabrah Sabre CVRT 2S25 Sprut-SD Tosan Type 15 / VT-5 Type 63A ZTD-05 / ZLT-05
Prototypes, experimentals	AbramsX Altay Black Eagle^X Challenger 3 CV90105 / CV90120 Kaplan MT / Harimau K21-105 M8 armored gun system^X M10 Booker M2020 M60-2000^X M-84AS M-84AS1 M-84D M-95 Degman^X Main Ground Combat System^X Marder medium tank Panther KF51 Patagón^X PL-01^X Tiam T-14 Armata T-55AGM T-95^X Tank EX^X Zorawar LT
Cancelled or derelict project^X Post–Cold War tanks List of modern armoured fighting vehicles Background: History of the tank, Tank classification

Design history

The 107 mm ZiS-6 guns

See also

References