KV-2 (ZiS-6)

KV-2 (ZiS-6)

KV-2 (ZiS-6)

USSR

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Heavy tank

Purchase:3 850

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Description

The KV-2 (ZiS-6) is gift Rank III Russian heavy tank with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB/RB/SB). The KV-2(ZIS-6) was introduced in Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows" as a gift vehicle and was available on the Gaijin store for pre-order prior to the update. It is an up-gunned KV-2 featuring the new 107 mm ZIS-6 cannon.

The KV-2(ZiS-6) is a heavy artillery tank. It is an experimental up-gunned variant of the KV-1 and KV-2 models built with an emphasis of destroying fortification, bunkers and enemy armored vehicles. Although the armour thickness is the same as the KV-1 and KV-2, this vehicle is notable for having a more powerful cannon; although smaller in calibre to the KV-2, has much higher armor penetration values. In fact, the tank fires Armor-Piercing High-Explosive (APHE) shells with the highest penetration value out of all USSR tanks both at and below its battle rating of 5.3. With about 190 mm of penetration in normal combat conditions and with 19 grams of explosive filling carried by the default B-420 shell, this tank will obliterate all enemy vehicles upon penetration with the exception of some light-armoured vehicles of which the contact fuse may fail to detonate. Despite its significantly powerful armament, the KV-2(ZiS-6) is plagued by inherited weaknesses shared within the KV lineage of tanks. At 5.3 Battle Rating, the tank's armour will be of little protection against other hostile vehicles it will face. With just 75 mm armour all around and including the largely slat and exposed turret, almost all tanks and the ammunition they fire (a significant number of which have double the penetration value of the thickness of the KV's armour) will penetrate with little to no difficulty. Tightly packed and strewn ammunition both within and at the base of the turret will more than likely turn the entire vehicle into a erupting volcano upon being struck by stray shells, if not outright cripple the crew to the point the fire-rate is nearly reduced to virtually almost a standstill. This tank is a spiritual successor of the original KV-2 in combat operations. Although a high crew count of 6, the rate of fire is relatively slow but faster than its predecessor with a higher velocity and flatter trajectory. The same is unfortunately to be said for its slower turret traverse, reverse and acceleration speed and heavy weight.

Operational and visual characteristics of the KV-2(ZiS-6) retain the visual and operational similarities to the KV-2 which it is upgraded from. Players experienced in operating previous models of the KV-2 or Soviet SPGs should have little to no difficulty in adjusting to this vehicle. The ZiS-6 can be distinguished from its KV and KV-2 predecessors by its enlarged and tall rectangular turret and longer barrel. A quick glance at this vehicle may be mistaken for similar looking tanks such as the KV-2 in which shares the same turret shape.

The KV-2(ZiS-6)'s closest and most popular competitor of the same battle-rating is the KV-85. The KV-85 when compared, is free to unlock with currency spending, is lighter in weight, more maneuverable, faster in fire rate and turret traverse at the expense of fewer crew members. What the ZiS-6 lacks in these qualities may be compensated by its firepower comparable as 'a mini-IS-2' at 5.3 battle-rating as well as the added Premium talisman RP and SL increase bonus of which the KV-85 will lack one the get-go. These detail and information should be considered by the interested user when deciding whether to purchase this tank and incorporating it into their existing arsenal, or when taking into battle. The KV-2(ZiS-6) will reward those who are patient, and a boon to those seeking increased premium firepower unmatched by any other USSR vehicle at 5.3 battle-rating.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope Angle°)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	75 mm (31°) Front plate 70 mm (71°) Front glacis 75 mm (25-74°) Lower glacis 45 mm (1-50°) Machine gun port	75 mm	60 mm (3-86°) Top 70 mm (11-58°) Bottom	35 mm Front 30 mm Rear 35 mm Hatches
Turret	75 mm (1°) Front turret 70 + 70 mm (1-62°) Gun mantlet	75 mm	75 mm (1°) 45 mm (1-50°) Machine gun port	30 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, torsion bars are 20 mm thick, and tracks are 30 mm thick.
• Front belly armour is 35 mm thick, rear belly armour is 30 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
52.4	0.2	36 (AB)
		34 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	775	954
Realistic/Simulator	531	600
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	14.79	18.21
Realistic/Simulator	10.13	11.45

Armaments

Main armament

107 mm ZiS-6
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
36			-5°/+12°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	3.6	4.9	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	3.6	4.2	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
21.7	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
B-420	APHEBC	197	195	177	154	135	118
OF-420	HE	26	26	26	26	26	26

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
							0%	50%	100%
B-420	APHEBC	830	17	1.2	15	440	+4°	48°	63°	71°
OF-420	HE	720	17	0.4	0.5	2,150	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the KV-2 (ZiS-6).

Full ammo	Ammo Part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
36	Projectiles Propellants	34 (+2) 33 (+3)	31 (+5) 18 (+18)	16 (+20) 12 (+24)	12 (+24) 7 (+29)	6 (+30) 4 (+32)	1 (+35) 1 (+35)	No

Turret left side empty: 18 (+18)

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,890 (63)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

At its Rank and Battle Rating, the KV-2(ZiS-6)'s armour is no longer up to par against newer and more powerful weapon systems of opposition vehicles it will face. Although unlike the IS-1 successor of which is unable to protect itself by angling due to the rounded turret mount causing a vulnerability, the KV-2 has less of this issue as the entire front potion of the front and lower-plate is designed to be straight and rectangular and allowing it to deflect or ricochet some shots when angled optimally but the large turret is extreme exposed and vulnerable to head-on fire.

Due to its unsatisfactory maneuverability, fire-rate and traverse speed, close-quarters engagements against multiple enemies in small-spaced environments are highly discouraged unless absolutely necessary. The tank is too large and slow to escape or retreat from what would be overwhelming situations, and too large to hide. Should the need to enter tight alleyways and streets if towns or cities, escort either by or with other friendly units are of utmost importance and should best serve in a support capacity should more heavily armored opponents are encountered. This tank excels best at long to medium range engagements on largely open areas. Due to its poor 3 degrees of gun depression - a trait inherited by all USSR armored vehicles, engaging hostiles by cresting over the tops of hills are highly discouraged unless absolutely necessary. Should clusters of multiple hostile vehicles are encountered in combat, the optimal tactic is to wait for them to split up before engaging them one-by-one if the opportunity presents itself.

Lightly armoured vehicles where the contact fuse may not activate upon penetration such as the Waffentrager or Nashorn are of the most concern as the default B-420 APHE shell has the tendency of penetrating from the front to rear dealing less damage than what is expected. Follow up shots may be required. Although the HE OF-420 shell is an excellent solution, the 16 seconds of shell swap may not warrant enough justification for use when few seconds are only available to determines survival.

Another class of vehicles of significant threat are fast-tanks such as the M18 GMC or T-34 tanks capable of running circles in ways the KV-2(ZiS-6)'s slow turret traverse rate and poor maneuverability will be unable to cope in close-quarters engagements. The last type of vehicle of concern are low-chassis tanks such as the ASU-57, ASU-85, PT-76B and even some German tank-destroyers are so small to the point they safely drive up to the vicinity of KV-2 and be immune from retaliation due to the 107 mm gun situated on a high turret and only 3 degrees if traverse up and down.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent firepower
• Greatly improved reload speed over previous KV-2 models.
• High crew capacity (6).
• High velocity and powerful munition.
• Premium talisman with RP and SL increase bonus.

Cons:

• Slow rate of fire
• Insufficient armour protection.
• Poor gun depression of -3° (common trait of all USSR tanks).
• Large profile.
• Poor maneuverability and slow speed.
• High weight.
• High risk of internal ammunition explosions by penetrating shells.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

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Read also

• [Devblog] New additions to the KV-2 series
  

Sources

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.