Russian Heavy Tanks

KLIMENTI VORISHILOV KV SERIES
KV-1C	DIMENSIONS
	Mass (mt): 47 - 53	Length (m): 6.88	Width (m): 3.25	Height (m): 2.66 - 3.6
	TIME PERIOD: 1939 (KV-1) to End of War (KV-85)
A replacement for the multi-turreted and hideously under-powered T-35 heavy tank, the KV series began life as the T-100 designed under Z. Kotin. Named "Klimenti Vorishilov" after a Soviet general, the KV-1 existed in various forms (A,B,C,s) throughout the war. The first major production variant, the KV-2, had a massive brick-like turret carrying an 155mm L/20 howitzer that gave the tank a notorious unstability that caused it to be dropped in 1941. The second major variant, the KV-85, mounted the powerful 85mm L/51 that was later put with so much success in the T-34 chassis. Although undeniably ugly compared to the sleek T-34, the KV series was an effective heavy tank that blended characteristic Soviet simplicity with equally characteristic Soviet fortitude and strength.

IOSEF STALIN (Joseph Stalin) SERIES
IS-2	DIMENSIONS
	Mass (mt): 46.5	Length (m): 9.9	Width (m): 3.5	Height (m): 2.41
	TIME PERIOD: 1943 (IS-85) to End of War (IS-3)
Beginning with a heavily modified KV-85, the Iosef Stalin series was to become the apex of heavy Russian tank technology. Beginning with the 85mm L/53 and ending with the massive 122mm D-25 M1943 L/43 gun, and armored like a King Tiger, the IS-1 and IS-2 were extremely powerful tanks. The IS-3, with its pointed front hull, and "'inverted frying pan'" (or "soup bowl") turret, was the basis for practically all post-war Soviet tanks--then again, it could arguably be called the Soviet Union's first post-war tank, as its first public appearance was in the Victory Parade of September 1945 in Berlin .