KV-1S

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This page is about the Soviet heavy tank KV-1S. For other versions, see KV-1 (Family).
ussr_kv_1s.png
GarageImage KV-1S.jpg
KV-1S
AB RB SB
4.0 4.0 4.0
Class:
Research:14 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:32 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
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Description

The KV-1S is a Rank II Soviet heavy tank with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.57 "Battle March". A lightened KV-1 made to improve its manoeuvrability, the KV-1S has less overall armour than the original design but keeps its same lethality with improved speed.

Compared to the KV-1 L-11, side and rear armour are decreased to 60 mm, lightening the vehicle and increasing its speed to maximum 43 kph. A new turret was installed, presenting a smaller profile, thicker armour, and better angling all around. The armament is also changed to the ZIS-5, the equivalent of its successor and the T-34's F-34 guns.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull75 / 60 / 60
Turret82 / 82 / 82
Crew5 people
Visibility96 %

The KV-1S is a lighter, more mobile version of the KV-1, meaning it has thinner armour. The KV-1S features thinner hull side armour at 60 mm, thinner lower front plate at 60 mm, and a very weak gun mantlet of only ~50 mm thick. Though against opponents of lower BR the KV-1S can still utilise the angling tactic and stack the effective thickness up to 100 mm, the gun mantlet becomes a very fatal weak spot if the opponent knows it. At 50 mm unangled, even a Pz.III can frontally penetrate it and break the gun breech or knock out a few crews. But apart from the gun mantlet, the turret is overall more sturdy than the original KV-1, at 82 mm all-round. This may bounce off some poorly aimed shells if they impact the edge. Roof armour, at 30-40mm, is very reliable against strafing planes. Post-penetration survivability against common opponents is not great as the crew members are closely packed together. Overall, due to the reduction of armour thickness here and there, the KV-1S no longer grants the player a sturdy protection. Rather they must rely more on the improved mobility to not get hit.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 75 mm (30°) Front plate
50 mm (70°) Front glacis
25 + 50-60 mm (25-70°) Joint plate
60 mm (26-50°) Lower glacis
60 mm 60 mm (35-75°) Top
60 mm (2-69°) Bottom
40 mm Front
30 mm Rear
Turret 82 mm (2-76°) Turret front
50-75 mm (4-71°) Gun mantlet shield
90 mm (0-29°) Gun mantlet
82 mm (0-25°) 82 mm (27-56°)
75 mm (1-43°) Machine gun port
30 mm
Cupola 60 mm 30 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, tracks are 30 mm thick.
  • The gun mantlet shield has varying thickness, thickest just a little above and below the centre 55 mm area.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB48 / 19 km/h
RB and SB45 / 18 km/h
Number of gears8 forward
3 back
Weight42.5 t
Engine power
AB1 145 hp
RB and SB600 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB26.9 hp/t
RB and SB14.1 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 48 19 42.5 775 1,145 18.24 26.94
Realistic 45 18 531 600 12.49 14.12

The core of the KV-1S is its enhanced mobility over the heavier KV-1. With a powerful 600 hp engine driving a 42-ton chassis, the KV-1S is quite fast and mobile, and may even resemble the handling of a T-34 sometimes, though the acceleration is of course slower. The top speed of 45 km/h seems average, but due to the increased power-to-weight ratio the KV-1S can reach an average speed of ~35 km/h on most surfaces which is faster than common heavy tanks. It also performs significantly better on soft terrain and hills, when other heavy tanks tend to struggle to move around the KV-1S can pretty much keep up with medium tanks. The KV series tank has an impressive reverse speed topping at 17 km/h, allowing it to quickly reverse away from danger. The hull traverse speed is also good so the player can angle very fast should a flanker appears unexpectedly. Overall the KV-1S can be treated and played as a heavily armoured medium tank.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB1 129 → 1 396 Sl icon.png
RB1 184 → 1 464 Sl icon.png
SB1 551 → 1 918 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications13 840 Rp icon.png
20 250 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost860 Ge icon.png
Crew training9 200 Sl icon.png
Experts32 000 Sl icon.png
Aces270 Ge icon.png
Research Aces250 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
60 / 90 / 100 % Sl icon.png
130 / 130 / 130 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
870 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 300 Sl icon.png
115 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
195 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
195 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement ussr.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
870 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 300 Sl icon.png
115 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_AP_1942_ammo_pack
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_AP_1941_ammo_pack
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
870 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 300 Sl icon.png
115 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_APCR_1943_ammo_pack
Research:
870 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 300 Sl icon.png
115 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_ussr_Smoke_ammo_pack
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
195 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm ZIS-5 cannon
Ammunition114 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
9.0 → 6.9 s
Vertical guidance-5° / 25°
Main article: ZiS-5 (76 mm)

The KV-1S is armed with a 76 mm ZiS-5 cannon which is quite similar to that of a SU-76M. In general, the gun has inadequate penetration at this BR but comes with a wide range of ammunition. From APHE to APCR and smoke shells, these shells can fit various scenarios. The 76 mm APHE shells have an explosive filler, allowing them to knock out most enemy tanks with a single shot if it is placed correctly. However, their mediocre penetration of ~90 mm becomes below average when facing well-armoured tanks at similar BR like the Pz.IV H, StuG III G and T14, especially when at a distance or when they are angling. The player have to be familiar with common foes' weak spots or else they will struggle to penetrate in most cases.

The gun depression is of a typical Soviet style, at -5 degrees, which is inadequate for mountainous battlefields. The aiming speed can be underwhelming against fast flankers, but overall the turret rotation speed of ~10 degree/s is enough for combat. Lastly, the gunsight magnification is poor at 3.5x. But given the curved trajectory and low projectile velocity of the ZiS-5 cannon, long range battle is not a good role for the KV-1S anyways, thus this level of zoom is generally enough.

76 mm ZiS-5 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 114 -5°/+25° ±180° N/A 7.1 9.9 16.3 18.0 19.2 9.00 7.90 7.30 6.90
Realistic 7.1 8.4 10.2 11.3 12.0

Ammunition

The available ammunition allows for engaging all types of targets:

  • BR-350A (MD-5 fuze): APHEBC; a shell with high explosive mass that will one-shot any tank it penetrates but has an average penetration power.
  • BR-350P: APCR; a composite round with the best penetration but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces.
  • BR-350SP: APBC; a solid shot with an even better penetration but no explosive filler.
  • BR-350B (MD-8 fuze): APHEBC; same shell as the BR-350A but with increased penetration at the cost of slightly less explosive filler.
  • OF-350M: HE; useful for destroying open and lightly armoured vehicles.
  • Sh-354T: Shrapnel; useful against vehicles that are resistant to the HE shells but too thinly armoured to trigger the fuzes of AP shells.
  • D-350A: Smoke; useful to blind enemy vehicles that are too remote for you to disable so that you can progress towards objectives.
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
BR-350A (MD-5 fuze) APHEBC 87 85 76 67 59 52
BR-350P APCR 125 119 92 68 50 36
BR-350SP APBC 102 100 91 81 72 64
BR-350B (MD-8 fuze) APHEBC 94 92 83 73 65 57
OF-350M HE 10 10 10 10 10 10
Sh-354T Shrapnel 37 35 29 25 20 17
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
BR-350A (MD-5 fuze) APHEBC 662 6.3 1.2 14 150 48° 63° 71°
BR-350P APCR 950 3.02 N/A N/A N/A 66° 70° 72°
BR-350SP APBC 655 6.78 N/A N/A N/A 48° 63° 71°
BR-350B (MD-8 fuze) APHEBC 655 6.3 0.9 14 108.8 48° 63° 71°
OF-350M HE 680 6.2 0.05 0.1 621 79° 80° 81°
Sh-354T Shrapnel 680 6.2 0.5 8 85 62° 69° 73°
Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Screen radius
(m)
Screen deploy time
(s)
Screen hold time
(s)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
D-350A 680 6.45 13 5 20 50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the KV-1S
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
114 110 (+4) 105 (+9) 100 (+14) 68 (+46) 36 (+78) 24 (+90) (+113) No

Notes:

  • As they are modeled by sets of 2, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire both shells in the set.
  • Turret empty: 100 (+14) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition3 087 rounds
Belt capacity63 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate600 shots/min
Main article: DT (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm DT
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 1,890 (63) 600 N/A N/A

The small calibre of the DT machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.

Usage in battles

When playing the KV-1S, remember that you are still a heavy tank. Keep your front armour facing your enemies at all times, and preferably angled (but slightly less than KV-1 (L-11)). The turret is more durable and can deflect more shots than before, so if possible expose your turret only. Gun has no special penetration value, so try to target weak spots or areas with the least armour. Flanking attacks could end in a fiery demise. Also, this tank is still a KV-1 in its heart.

The best tactics for this tank is: keep a low profile and stay behind the main assault. When your team has advanced to the enemy's base, the KV-1s is best used to round up straggling enemy tanks behind your lines. If these tanks aren't destroyed, they'll attack your team's rear.

The common enemies are armed with guns that usually can penetrate the driver's hatch. Watch out for enemy T-34 (especially mod. 1941 and 1942, sometimes mods 1943 and the 57 variants), since they can flank you easily. Also, watch out for all German Pz.IV & StuG armed with long 7.5 cm gun, as it can penetrate your front armour even if you are angled.

This vehicle (due to its higher BR) can also meet many opponents that your armour has no chance of stopping, avoid direct confrontation with them. (Includes: T-34-85, SU-85, Dicker Max & Nashorn, Sherman Firefly & Achilles)

Meeting other KV-1's and Churchill may become a stalemate as the KV-1S gun may not penetrate against their formidable armour. This leads to the hope that the APCR ammunition works, and the firing of several rounds into the target for penetration.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Faster than its predecessor and successor, yet frontal armour is the same
  • Very hard to knock out in one shot
  • Adequate gun
  • Bouncy turret front
  • Wide tracks make for good cross-country performance
  • Resilient. Can remain reasonably effective, even with a lot of damage
  • Very effective overall

Cons:

  • Side armour is considerably weaker (75 mm into 60 mm)
  • Turret is cramped
  • Very low reverse speed, poor low-speed handling
  • Vulnerable to the long-barreled 75mm gun of the StuG III and Pz.IV F2,G, H and J
  • First reverse gear presents a slow reverse speed of around -5 kph.
  • Still carries most of the flaws of the KV-1 L-11
  • Still a heavy vehicle, poor acceleration.
  • Still cannot move on pace with T-34s
  • Gun lacks penetration against heavier opponents: The KV-1 ZiS-5 and both Churchills are very hard to get through. APCR is unreliable.

History

The KV-1S was an attempt by the Soviet Union (USSR) to come up with a more mobile variant of the KV-1 heavy tank. The 'S' stood for 'Skorostnoy' which means 'fast' in English.[1]

Development

After the Soviet Union met Germany on the field of battle in 1941, both nations began attempts to up-armor their tanks. The Soviet efforts resulted in the KV-1 Model 1942 which thickened the armor but did not improve the engine. Soviet tank crews were pleased with the increased protection but did not appreciate the worsened mobility from increased weight. As such, a project began to design a KV-1 with greater mobility. The resulting tank was designated as the KV-1S.

Measures taken to increase the mobility included reduction of weight by decreasing armor thickness as well as by fitting a more powerful engine.[2]

Design

The KV-1S had a crew of five, two in the hull and three in the turret. It weighed only 42.5 tonnes compared to 47 tonnes on a KV-1B Model 1942. The KV-1S turret was a completely new, cast (rounded shape) turret that also featured a new commander's cupola with greater field of view. The armament consisted of a 76.2 mm ZiS-5 tank gun as well as three 7.62 mm DT machine guns; one coaxial to the main gun, one in the rear of the turret, and in a ball mount in the hull front.

The powerplant used was a 600 brake horsepower V2 engine. The road wheels were made smaller and a new planetary transmission gearbox was fitted. This allowed a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour compared to 28 kph on the KV-1B Model 1942. The armor though was reduced from 20 - 130 mm to only 20 - 82 mm on the KV-1S.[2]

Production and Service

Production lasted from August 1942 until late 1943 with a total of 1,370 KV-1S tanks built. The production ended when it did due to thoughts that it was a useless vehicle due to the T-34-76 being able to do everything the KV-1S could. The mobility of the KV-1S met requirements but only with a reduction in armor, which made the mobility a moot point especially since it was also more expensive than a T-34-76.

The KV-1S did end up serving on the front line for a while, taking part in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 under the herd Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. It's stated by some sources that the KV-1S had also taken part in the Berlin offensive but that may not be true because by then the KV-1S had been mostly removed from combat units.[1]

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links

References


USSR heavy tanks
KV-1  KV-1 (L-11) · KV-1 (ZiS-5) · KV-1E · KV-1S
KV-2  KV-2 (1939) · KV-2 (1940) · KV-2 (ZiS-6)
Other KVs  KV-85 · KV-122 · KV-220
IS-1/2  IS-1 · IS-2 · IS-2 (1944) · IS-2 No.321 · IS-2 "Revenge" · Object 248
Other IS tanks  IS-3 · IS-4M · IS-6 · IS-7
T-10  T-10A · T-10M
Multi-turreted  T-35 · SMK
Other  Object 279
Lend-Lease  ▂MK-II "Matilda"