The heavy howitzer on the KV2 is designed to cause devastating blows to the enemy's permanent defenses and then break through the enemy's front line. It can be said to be unusually powerful.
The weight of the high-explosive shell fired by this M-10T 152mm howitzer reached an astonishing 40 kilograms. Its warhead warhead contains 6.8 kilograms of TNT charge, which can attack enemy defenses with a muzzle velocity of 530 seconds.
Shooting at close range.
In terms of shell weight and explosive power alone, the high-explosive shells fired by the KV2 heavy tanks at this time can be said to be not much different from the modern mainstream 155mm self-propelled howitzers. At that time, mainstream tanks in various countries in the world were still using 75 and
In the early days of World War II when 76-caliber small water tube tank guns were used, the 152mm giant KV2 gun was definitely an extremely "just" existence.
In addition, consider that the enemy's permanent defenses may be protected by thick concrete and armor plates, and the KV2 heavy tank may encounter individual situations when it encounters enemy heavily armored units.
At this time, if we use pure high-explosive bombs to attack the enemy's heavily protected targets, it is likely to be embarrassingly unsatisfactory. In order to solve this problem, the KV2 design team also specially invited another 152mm heavy howitzer.
There are two types of shells to choose from - G-530 concrete-destroying projectile and PB-35 hooded armor-piercing projectile.
As you can tell from its name, the former is a type of artillery shell specially designed to break through the thick concrete layer of enemy defenses.
According to a series of data from direct-aimed artillery firing tests, the G-530 concrete-destroying projectile has extremely excellent destructive power against military-grade concrete fortifications.
The huge caliber of up to 152 mm brings outrageously high exit kinetic energy to this specialized concrete destructor projectile. The 40-kg penetrating warhead warhead contains 5 kg of TNT charges. It can achieve a maximum penetration rate of 152 mm.
In the case of 0.7-meter military-grade concrete fortifications, the warhead charge explosion can cause secondary damage to 0.3-meter concrete fortifications. In total, it can effectively damage military-grade concrete fortifications with a thickness of one meter.
The latter is the PB-35 152mm capped armor-piercing projectile. This large-caliber armor-piercing projectile with a capped positive effect is not actually a product of the Soviet Army, but directly follows the Red Navy's 152
mm naval gun armor-piercing projectile.
Therefore, although the M-10T heavy howitzer of the KV2 heavy tank was not originally manufactured for the purpose of firing armor-piercing projectiles and has a short barrel, it is theoretically not suitable for use as an anti-tank gun to fire armor-piercing projectiles, but it benefits from the high 152 mm
The huge caliber and the amazing amount of propellant in the chamber.
This kind of PB-35 naval gun armor-piercing projectile, originally used by the Soviet Navy, is still able to penetrate 120 mm of homogeneous ammunition at a 90-degree vertical angle at a distance of 500 meters even if it is fired from the short-barreled howitzer of the KV2 heavy tank.
Steel armor, in the early days of World War II when heavy tanks were not yet developed, was absolutely capable of killing everything instantly.
It is worth mentioning that although the KV2 heavy tank was rarely produced due to inherent shortcomings in its design and only more than 500 were produced, there were still a small number of KV2 heavy tanks that survived the early days of the Great Patriotic War and survived until the German army after 1943.
Has been put into the middle stage of Tiger and Leopard tanks.
But even the 100 mm thick upper front area of the Tiger tank's homogeneous steel armor is equivalent to the 130 mm upper front armor area of the Panther tank's 80 mm thick armor area tilted 55 degrees horizontally.
When faced with these new German tanks with full defensive capabilities, KV2 still refuses to accept any comer. As long as the 152mm capped armor-piercing bullet hits accurately, it will definitely be fired one by one without any bargaining.
The Soviet army, inspired by the 152 cult, subsequently developed and manufactured the SU-152 and ISU-152 heavy tank destroyers. The powerful 152 heavy anti-tank gun blasted the German Tiger and Leopard tanks to pieces.
It inspired the Red Army soldiers on the front lines with great spirit and morale, and was affectionately called the "Zoo Killer" by the Red Army soldiers.
In terms of protection, the Soviet tank design before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War has always followed the design idea of comprehensive protection. That is to say, the side armor protection effect of the tank is required to be no less than the front armor protection effect, and the side armor defense weight of the tank is directly combined with the front armor defense.
The weights are equal.
Under the influence of this design idea, the powerful KV2 heavy tank, whether it has a tall turret or a low body, has a physical armor thickness of 75 mm in the four directions, front, rear, left and right.
The armor in the upper area of the car body also has a 31-degree inclination angle, which can provide 85 mm of equivalent armor defense on the horizontal ballistic attack route. The tall turret also has a mantlet with a thickness of 90 mm of homogeneous steel armor, which can
Provide sufficient additional defense capability on the turret with the highest probability of being hit.
In terms of mobility, it can be said that the only shortcoming of the KV2 tank, which pursues all-round and powerful defense without blind spots, is the shortcoming.
Although the KV2 heavy tank was equipped with a 12-cylinder V-2 diesel engine that was quite powerful for that era, with a maximum power output of 520 horsepower.
However, the heavy weight of 52 tons brought at the cost of pursuing comprehensive defense made the diesel engine loaded on the KV2 overwhelmed. Its theoretical maximum speed was only 26 kilometers per hour, making it a veritable "vehicle" among the entire Soviet Red Army.
"Iron Bastard".
In addition, the KV2 heavy tank's overweight and tall turret not only make it difficult to turn and react slowly in battle, but the too high center of gravity of the vehicle also makes the center of gravity of the entire tank unstable.
It is extremely easy for the entire tank to roll over, so many Soviet tank crews driving KV2 heavy tanks even have to take a detour through small ravines out of caution.
Although the performance of the KV2 heavy tank can be described as mixed in all aspects, its reliable protective performance and powerful main gun firepower can undoubtedly bring extremely powerful offensive assistance to Malashenko's assault company.
Therefore, Malashenko, who couldn't wait to see the performance of the 152 Cult in actual combat, was naturally happy to see these big guys who had joined his armored company.
After sitting quietly in the gunner and commander's position in the turret of his car and waiting for half an hour, the sound of the thunderous mountain roar and tsunami and the shelling from behind began to gradually subside, and he realized that he
Malashenko, who had finally waited for that moment, heard the familiar voice from the division commander Chernyaev on the radio next to his ear.
"Captain Malashenko, the time has come to serve our motherland! Start attacking! Tear those crispy invaders to pieces and win honor for our 20th Tank Division!"