KV-220

Description

The KV-220 is a premium gift rank Soviet heavy tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced during Update 1.61 "Road to Glory" in the "Operation S.U.M.M.E.R." event of 2016 that lasted from 22 July to 22 August, unlocked after obtaining 36 tanker Marks of Distinction.

The KV-220 is played similarly to the previous KV iterations in the Soviet heavy tank line-up. The largest improvement over the predecessors is the improved all-around armour to 100 mm, meaning that the tank can angle its hull more confidently without revealing a side weak point. The great armour, decent mobility, and adequate gun gives the KV-220 a diverse role to play in, from a short-range brawler, a support tank, and a long-range sniper.

The KV-220 is quite a heavy tank of its own calibre. With 100 mm of armour all around the hull and turret, the angling of the hull can be done to maximize both front and side armour without needing to worry about exposing a weak point. Not to mention for its weight, the KV-220 is quite agile. While the 85 mm gun is powerful by its own remarks, it is inferior to the same 85 mm guns that are on the IS-1 and T-34-85, which share a similar BR as the KV-220. This is because the 85 mm on the IS and T-34 have access to the BR-365P APCR shell and the BR-365K APHE shell, which can limit the KV-220's versatility against different threats. Thus, the KV-220 provides a heavy tank with an impressive arrangement of armour with decent mobility and with a gun that perform extremely well against medium tanks of every kind like M4 Sherman and initial heavy tanks like Tiger 1 but may feel lacking in the battlefield against heavy tanks like M26 Pershing.

There is one frontal weak point on the KV-220, and that is the gun mantlet. Not that the gun mantlet area is an easy area to penetrate, but when it is penetrated the cannon breech will be severely damaged and there is a possibility that crew members can be knocked out. Additionally, if a round does strike the lower part of the mantlet, it may ricochet and cause the round to penetrate the hull roof, which is only 30 mm thick. Do note this when presenting your turret front to an enemy taking aim at the tank.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Commander's cupola)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, tracks are 30 mm thick
• Unlike most other Soviet heavy tanks, KV-220 have a crew of 6

The KV-220 has some of the best armour at its tier. While on paper it's just like German Tiger tank, in reality it can withstand much more opponents than the Tiger if angled correctly. The front has 30 degree slope that makes the armour even thicker. The sides of the turret and hull are also 100 mm, making the KV-220 very difficult to penetrate when facing enemies at a 45 degree angle. Due to the all around 100 mm armour, KV-220 is invulnerable to all SPAA it might see from all directions.

The KV-220 has a crew of 6, making it harder to knock out. The side of the hull is also protected with fuel tanks which can absorb large amount of damage.

The only weak spot is the gun mantlet which is 90 mm thick. Penetrating this part of armour from the front is more promising than other parts when facing the KV-220. The gun mantlet is flatter compared to other parts of the turret front, especially when the KV-220 is angled. A penetrating shot will also disable the cannon breech.

Mobility

The KV-220 has a power-to-weight ratio of 13.6. But surprisingly the mobility of this tank is quite good despite the 62.7 tons of weight. The diesel engine has greater torque at lower RPM than similar gasoline engines, providing KV-220 great acceleration and higher cruise speed but lower top speed. Due to the great mobility in its class, the KV-220 can arrive at the front line with the medium tanks, holding better positions than the late-comers. Despite the good speed, its turn rate is relatively low.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

The KV-220 carries a 85 mm F-30 cannon. The firepower is not as good as the 122 mm D-25T cannon installed on IS-2 at a similar BR, but the F-30 cannon has much better fire rate - almost three times faster. The KV-220 also have a good gun depression of -6° when comparing to other soviet heavy tanks. Despite the good rate of fire and relatively good gun depression angle, the F-30 cannon is still not as good as other cannons installed on heavy tanks in the similar BR. Treat the KV-220 as a medium tank with heavy armour rather than a heavy tank.

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the KV-220

Notes:

• Racks 1, 2, and 3 disappear after you've fired all shells in the rack.
• Racks 4 and 5 are each modelled as sets of 8 or 11 shells, which disappear once all shells in the set have been fired.

Machine guns

There is a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun and another one installed in the commander's cupola. The usage of these machine guns is relative limited due to the small calibre. You may use the DT machine gun on commander cupola against air targets. You may get a hit if you are lucky. In most cases the machine guns are used to check if the target in the front is still alive or not.

Usage in battles

Fighting tanks

• Tiger I H1/E - They can be very easy to destroy and protecting the KV-220 is simple with the right angling technique, but one mistake and the 88 mm guns can eliminate the KV-220. Aim for the lower side armour if they are angled, or the flat upper front plate if they are facing you. If they are hull down, you are able to shoot the commander cupola on the Tiger I H1, but the Tiger E's cupola is a much harder target and this can be unreliable.
• M18 Hellcat - Very fast and manoeuvrable. Do not let them flank, if they get onto your sides, they will be able to penetrate. Try to shoot them from a distance or keep your tank angled as much as possible.
• Tiger II (P/H) - They are better than the KV-220 in every aspect. Try to avoid them and shoot them in their side. You can penetrate the Tiger II P turret, as the armour there is thinner than the H's 185 mm, but both present a serious threat.
• Panzerbefehlswagen VI (P) - Your 85 mm can't penetrate their 200 mm frontal plate, so try to aim for the angled cheeks or the commander cupola on the roof of the turret.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Long barreled 85 mm gun
• More well armoured than most tanks
• 100 mm of armour all around, sides and rear aren't weaker than the front (Though the slight sloping gives the front about 15 more mm in effective armour)
• Great acceleration
• Machine gun turret can traverse 360 degrees
• 85 mm shell has great HE filler
• When angled properly, the tank can bounce or soak up many shots
• Large ammo capacity (91 rounds) and an ammo rack in the hull that can carry 45 rounds, reducing the potential area for ammo to be detonated.
• Game changer, as it's very hard to dislodge a well positioned KV-220 especially when the player knows it perks
• 6 crew for large damage sponge
• Good gun depression

Cons:

• Very sluggish in turns.
• Tall profile and hull is longer than other KV and IS series tank
• Slow turret traverse speed
• Only two types of ammo available (APHEBC and HE)
• Lower gun mantlet is a shot trap - Can direct ricochets into hull roof
• Some ammo will be stored in the turret rear if carrying full ammo
• Unlike other tanks, losing a loader will hinder the loading process by a large margin

History

The KV-220 was a further development of the Kliment Voroshilov heavy tank series. It was one of the prototypes intended to become the "KV-3". The design of the KV-220 started in the summer of 1940. Initially the improved tank was envisioned as being very similar to the in production KV-1, with the major difference being in armour and armament. The improved vehicle was to feature 90-100 mm of armour, and to be armed with a 76 mm gun with the ballistics of the 3-K anti-air cannon (F-27), however due to concerns with the power of such a gun, an 85 mm with the ballistics of the 52-K anti-air cannon (F-30) was later also included in these plans. It was realized that in order to fit the 85 mm gun, a larger turret was required, which in turn required an elongated hull. Several prototypes were ordered with differing specifications.

The first prototype was built in December 1940, and was called the T-150 (or 150, Object 150, KV-150). This vehicle came closest to the initial plans. It featured 90 mm of frontal armour and was not elongated. However, due to issues with the F-27, the prototype only ever received an F-32 gun. This vehicle was approved for production under the name KV-3 in March 1941, however these plans were never realized. The following two prototypes had an elongated hull, 100 mm of armour, and were called T-220 (or 220, Object 220, KV-220, M-220 and even KV-4). Due to the increased weight, a much improved engine was needed in the form of the 850 hp-producing V-2SN (or V-2F). A fourth prototype was also designed, elongated like the T-220, but with only 90 mm armour; construction began but it was never completed.

Only one of the KV-220s received the new turret, mounting a 85 mm F-30 gun. The tanks, especially their automotive parts, performed poorly in trials to the point where one was re-engined with a less powerful V-5 engine since all spare parts for the V-2SN had been used up. The other was simply left non-operational in the factory. At the same time, the requirements had been raised, and an 85 mm was no longer sufficient. New plans were drawn up to create an even heavier, more heavily armoured and armed version, called the 223 (or Object 223), more often called the KV-3. Notably, it was to be armed with the 107 mm F-42 (later called ZiS-6) gun. The KV-220 was used as a testbed for the 223, until the factory had to be relocated to Chelyabinsk due to the German invasion. At that point, the turret with the F-30 was removed, as the gun had never been trialled. Both vehicles received regular KV-1 turrets with 76 mm F-32 guns, were made operational and sent to the 124th tank brigade, and fought in the war. One of the vehicles were destroyed in November 1941, the other fought until early 1942, after which it was only used as a training tank, with an unknown final fate.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the KV-220 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• KV-1 (Family)
• KV-2 (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] KV-220
• [Wikipedia] Kliment Voroshilov tank
• [PKKA-CA] KV modifications.