Specification Crew : 6 Engine power : 600 hp Combat weight : approx 52,000 kg (114,660 lb) Max speed : road 26 km/h (16.15 mph) Range : 225 km (139.73 miles) Length : 6.80 m (22.31 ft) Width : 3.32 m (10.89 ft) Height : 3.28 m (10.76 ft) Main gun : 152 mm (6 in) howitzer Armour : 30 mm (1.18 in) to 110 mm (4.33 in)

Almost as soon as the KV-1 heavy tank was conceived it was decided to develop a close support version with a heavy gun.The result was the KV-2 heavy artillery tank which initially had an enlarged turret mounting a 122 mm (4.81 in) howitzer soon changed to a taller turret with a 152 mm (6 in) howitzer.The hull and the chassis of the KV-1 was used virtually unchanged. The KV-2 was produced in much smaller numbers then the KV-1 which was just as well.The KV-2 performed well enough in set-piece assaults on Finnish positions in 1940 , but against the Germans in 1941 it was a very different story.The huge slab-sided turret with its four-man crew was so bulky that it was difficult to traverse quickly especially on an incline.Its great weight made the KV-2 painfully slow and unstable.Its high profile drew enemy fire.Most KV-2s were lost during the first months of the German invasion in 1941 and production ceased during that year as the factories were overrun. There was only one variant the KV-2B.Based on the KV-1B chassis it had wider tracks for better mobility over soft ground or snow plus a hull-mounted machine gun.A 1943 plan involved fitting an 85 mm (3.35 in) gun instead and at least one KV-2 was used for trials with a modified 107 mm (4.22 in) naval gun which would have formed the main armament of the proposed KV-3.Both schemes were abandoned.