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KV-1K: When a Gun Just Won't Cut It!
History:
As the German advance into the USSR grew in strength and speed, the Soviets needed more and more powerful weapons to defeat German armor. The cannons Russia was using at the time were acceptable, but other options were beginning to be considered in order to give them a greater edge over their adversaries. One of these weapons which showed great potential was the Katyusha rocket system. It had already proven itself an incredibly devastating weapon capable of wiping out huge numbers of tanks and troops in a single swoop, but mounting it on vehicles was a bit more complicated. Usually this was done simply as a way to get the rockets from one place to another by mounting them to trucks, tractors, or older light tank hulls (T-40 and T-60 for example). These were designed as long range MLRS systems and not front-line direct-fire weapons. However, a system known as KARST-1 (translates to Short Artillery Rocket System for Tanks-1) was developed during late 1941-early 1942 which would have allowed small numbers of Katyusha rockets to be mounted on any tank in the Red Army. These could then be used as direct-fire weapons to hit tanks or emplacements with rockets from up close.Developed by the Chelyabinsk Factory (ChTZ), the KARST-1 system was developed By the SKB-2 design bureau under the oversight of V.I. Alexandrov, Zh.Ya. Kotin, N.L. Dukhova, and M.F. Balgy. The first prototype was tested by mounting the system to a KV-1S tank, giving it the new name KV-1K. It consisted of four boxes of two 132mm M-13 rockets each mounted around the tank, with two on either side of the tank - one in front and one towards the rear. The launchers were fired electrically using a control panel mounted in the driver’s compartment. Between July 28 and August 31 1942 the system was tested at the Chebarkul Training Ground. These tests proved overwhelmingly positive, and more examples were ordered. They also noted that it would be suitable for not only heavy tanks, but medium and even light tanks, but even with these positive reviews, the system would not go into full production. The reasons behind this are somewhat unclear, but it seems as though certain elements such as the inability to independently elevate the rocket launchers or fire the rear mounted launchers unless the turret was facing forwards. Accuracy and range were surprisingly good (600m from the front launchers, 800m from the rear) despite the launch rails being much shorter than standard Katyusha rails. Lengths of 1200, 1250, 2000, and 2400 mm were tested, and all worked equally well. Interestingly, the rockets could be launched individually or in salvos of 2, 4, or 8. Reloading the rockets took approximately 8 minutes. Despite it not being adopted, the KV-1K had the potential to become a great asset to the Red Army, and is a fascinating vehicle!
Description:
The KV-1K was quite a simple modification. As previously mentioned, it was a regular KV-1S modified to feature the KARST-1 rocket system. Aside from the four twin rocket launchers and their corresponding electronics, the tank was otherwise unchanged. The rockets in the front sit at a +3 degree elevation and the rear launchers are up at +4 degrees. It used the 132mm M-13 rocket, which contained 4.8kg of high explosives. This rocket is already present in War Thunder on the BM-13N and in its aerial form on many Soviet planes, making it familiar to many players. Despite being based on a KV-1S, the KV-1K is somewhat slower due to the added weight of the rocket system, totaling approximately 1,500kg. The rocket containers were constructed out of armor plate ranging from 30mm to 10mm in thickness, giving them some protection from being destroyed. Other than that, all the same armor, engine, cannon, machine guns, and crew were the same. Because the launchers are fixed, the whole tank must be rotated and elevated in order to change where the rockets land.Specifications:
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Main Armament: 76.2mm ZiS-5 gun
Secondary Armament: 3x 7.62mm DT machine guns (coaxial, hull, turret rear)
Tertiary Armament: KARST-1 Rocket System
Armor: 75mm (hull front), 60mm (lower glacis, sides and rear), 50mm (upper glacis), 40mm (front hull roof), 35mm (floor), 30mm (rear hull roof, turret roof) 25mm (hull tip), 82mm (cast turret), 90-50mm (gun mantlet)
Ammo Count: 114 76mm rounds, 3087 MG rounds, 8 132mm M-13 rockets
Engine: Kharkiv Model V-2 V12 diesel, 600HP
Transmission: Planetary with Regenerative Steering, 8 forward gears, 3 reverse
Speed: 43 km/h (27 mph) on road
Crew: 5 (Driver, Hull Machine Gunner, Loader, Gunner, Commander)
Gallery:
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