Intro:
Hi ya’ll, the KV series is one of my favourites, and I noticed this very unique variant didn’t have a dedicated sugestion post yet, so here goes. It’s another 122mm, but it’s a unique one, I promise!
History:
During 1943 the Soviet Army was looking to create a new weapon that could accompany tanks and infantry which would be dedicated to taking out pillboxes and fortifications. Specifically, the goal was to put the M1938 M-30 howitzer on a self-propelled chassis. This resulted in the SU-122 we have in game, but there were already plans to upgrade this weapon system, which would come to fruition in the form of the S-41 122mm howitzer. This gun had a similar performance to the M-30, but with a much improved design, taking components from other guns like the ZiS 5. This new design allowed the gun to be placed into tanks as well, with few major adjustments to the vehicle. This was tested on a KV-1S, resulting in the vehicle I want added to the game!
This Vehicle’s Place in the Game:
In game this would basically be a KV-1S, but with the gun from the SU-122, which to me sounds very appealing. I think a battlerating of 4.0-4.3 is fair, considering the gun is mostly a sidegrade to the ZiS 5 of the regular KV-1S, and this vehicle gets an additional weakpoint as well, which I’ll get into later. As for the way this vehicle could be introduced, I think it would fit great as a squadron vehicle, considering we don’t have any WWII ground squadron vehicles yet. This vehicle as an event or battle pass vehicle I wouldn’t mind either.
Specifications:
Armor: Exact same as the regular KV-1S.
-The KV-1S body didn’t see many major ajustments, apart from a new gun mount and ammo racks, and the addition of a new cupola of sorts. It’s a bit tricky to tell what’s exactly going on with this cupola, as there are barely any pictures, and I could not find any writen info on it, including the armor values. These pictures below are the only other pictures I could find. The cupola apears to be a relatively crudely added structure, extruding roughly 20-25 centimeters, and mostly following the flow of the turret, apart from the front section, which is sharply angled. On the roof there apear to be 2 hatches (1 hatch is clearly visible, on the other side of the turret there’s a person standing in a hatch as well. The visible hatch is too small to cover the entire roof section, and the structure itself would be too small to fit more than 2 hatches, thus 2 hatches are more than likely to be present.), one of which is visible and looks round. Perhaps a similar design to that on the original KV-1S, though the design would have to be flipped looking at the orientation in the picture. Again, I couldn’t find any number values on this, but it doesn’t look super thick, and I can well imagine this being a weak spot.
Weight: 42.5 tons + ~1-2 tons for the extra weight of the new gun, as well as the cupola.
Engine/Transmission: Same as KV-1S
Speed: 45 kph, Shouldn’t noticably change
Crew: 5, same as KV-1S
-Driver
-Gunner
-Commander
-Loader
-Assistent driver
Armaments:
*7.62 DT Machineguns x3
-One placed coaxially, one placed in hull front, one placed on turret rear.
*S-41 122mm Howitzer
-Elevation angles: -5/+25, same as the box KV-1S
-Fire rate: 5-6 Rounds per minute (12-10 second reload)
Ammunition:
*OF-462
-HE, 21.76kg, 3.67kg filler, 515m/s, 37mm penetration
*BR-471
-APHE, 25kg, 246.4g filler, 432m/s, ~86mm penetration according to penetration calculator (This shell is taken from KewlPangolin’s KV-9 post)
*BP-460A
-HEAT, 13.4kg, 2.73kg filler, 335m/s, 160mm max penetration
*D-462A
-Smoke shell, 22.32kg, 515m/s
This vehicle was specifically tested with the HE shell, but there are also mentions of AP, as well as the fact that this gun could take any ammo the M-30 could, so I think the HEAT and Smoke fit as well. Frankly, withouth the HEAT shell this thing couldn’t really be balanced, as the vehicle would have to be placed at a very low BR, where now nothing can kill it.
The KV-1S (S-41) can carry a total of 60 shells, with 12 being placed in the turret rear, 10 in the turret basket, and the remaining shells on the hull floor.
Conclusion:
Yes, that was it already. I could find very little info on this vehicle, but thankfully most stats like the armor and gun performance can already be found in game. The cupola armor might require some guess work or some more research, but I think it’s more then worth it for such a fun vehicle, but let me know what you think, and God bless!
Sources:
Spoiler
Tank Archives: S-41 122 mm Howitzer Project
World of Armor: KV-1S con Cañón de 122mm
Translation: “Installing a 122mm S-41 howitzer on the KV-1S will make a weight difference of _____ compared to the KV-1S with a 76.2mm ZIS-5 cannon (43.5 tons), and will be equivalent to _____ tons.
All specifications for installing an 85mm gun on the KV-1S and IS tanks apply to the changes to the turret and fighting compartment that would result from installing the 122mm cannon (reference to the TsAKB ‘S-31’ project).”
- Yes
- No
- In the tech-tree
- As a premium (wrong answer)
- As an event vehicle
- As a squadron vehicle
- In a battlepass
- I don’t want this vehicle added
