Soviet World War 2 Tanks That Need Adding to War Thunder

Toreno

In this 5th episode of my series looking at World War 2 Tanks That Need Adding to War Thunder, we take a look at Soviet tanks of the World War 2 period!  So join me as we take a look at the a tank that was intended to replace the T-34, various attempts to upgun existing tanks, a number of T-34 variants that still need to be added, a large number of heavy tanks and some unique Soviet flamethrower tanks!  Support me at ⬇️ ☕Buy me a Coffee➡️ buymeacoffee.com/Toreno  Social Media ⬇️ 🦋Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/toreno.bsky.social 🌍Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Toreno4 📸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toreno170 🐘Mastodon: Toreno17@mastodon.social 🧵Threads: https://www.threads.net/@toreno170  Sources ⬇️ Armed Conflicts. Available at: www.armedconflicts.com (Accessed: June 30th, 2025).  Dunn, W. S. (2007). Stalin's Keys to Victory: The Rebirth of the Red Army. United States: Stackpole Books.  Forczyk, R. (2012). Panzerjäger Vs KV-1: Eastern Front 1941–43. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.  Missing Lynx. (20.06.2025). Russia's T-34. Available at: http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/russia/rpt34/rpt34.htm  Pasholok, Y., Lombardy, D. and Parker, C. (2017). World of Tanks - The SU-152 and Related Vehicles. Lombardy Studios.  The Chieftain's Hatch: T-28. (2025). Available at: https://worldoftanks.com/en/news/history/chieftains-hatch-t-28/ (Accessed: 28 June 2025).  Tank Archives. (2025). Available at: https://www.tankarchives.com/ (Accessed: 1 July 2025).  Tank Encyclopedia. (2025). Available at: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ (Accessed: 3 July 2025).  War Thunder for ingame stats  WW2DB. (29.06.2025). Vehicle Specifications. Available at: https://ww2db.com/vehicle_spec.php?q=466  Zaloga, S. J. (2007). IS-2 Heavy Tanks 1944-73. Osprey Publishing.  Zaloga, S. J. (2008). KV-1 and 2 Heavy Tanks 1939-45. Osprey Publishing.  Zaloga, S. J. (2009). T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941-1945. Osprey Publishing.  Zaloga, S. J. (2012). T-34-85 Medium Tank 1944-94. Osprey Publishing.  🎮 Game: War Thunder  ⬅️  #warthunder #soviet #ussr #russian #tanks   Tanks featured in this episode ⬇️ T-40 T-30 T-60 T-37 T-38 Khtz-16 NI-Tank BT-7E/BT-7M T-28 fitted with 76.2mm F-32 gun T-28 fitted with 85mm F-30 gun  T-34/76 Model 1940 T-34/76 Model 1941 T-34/76 Model 1942 T-34/76 Model 1943 T-34M T-43 T-34/76 fitted with S-53 85mm gun  T-34-85 (D-5T)  T-34-85 Model 1944 T-34-85 Model 1945 T-34-85 Model 1946 T-34-85 fitted with STP-S-53 “Taran” 1 plane gun stabiliser T-44 T-54 KV-1 Model 1939 KV-1 Model 1940 KV-1 Model 1941 KV-1E KV-1 Model 1942 KV-1S KV-10/KV-1K T-150/KV-150 Object 221 Object 222 Object 223/KV-3 KV-7 (U-14)/KV-7-2 KV-9 KV-13 Object 238 KV-1S fitted with 85mm S-28 gun KV-100 Object 244/IS-3 Object 701 Object 253/IS-6 with electrical transmission OT-34 OT-34-85 KV-8 KV-8S  Soviet Light Tanks: 00:00 Soviet Medium Tanks: 08:16 Soviet Heavy Tanks: 24:02 Soviet Flamethrower Tanks: 56:06

Transcript

00:00:00Continuing my series on World War 2 tanks that need adding to War Thunder,

00:00:04we now move on to Soviet tanks, and you would be forgiven for thinking there can't possibly be

00:00:09many more Soviet tanks to add, but as it turns out there are a whole bunch of Soviet World War 2

00:00:15tanks and variants of existing tanks that still need adding to War Thunder, from obscure prototypes

00:00:21to tanks that were built in large numbers, without even touching tank destroyers, armoured cars and

00:00:26anti-air vehicles, which I will be looking at in a future video. So starting off with the Soviet

00:00:33light tanks, we have the T40, an amphibious tank which entered production in 1940 as a replacement

00:00:40for the T37 and T38 amphibious tanks, while also being one of if not the first Soviet tank to go

00:00:47into service with a torsion bar suspension system. So unlike the T37 and T38, which were armed with

00:00:54just light calibre machine guns, the T40 has the 12.7mm DSHK mounted in a turret.

00:01:02Now a machine gun armament might not sound very impressive, but it actually performs

00:01:06far better against armour than the 20mm gun of the T60 light tank, being able to penetrate 24mm at 500

00:01:14metres with armour piercing in century cement core rounds, versus 15mm for the 20mm TNSH, making this

00:01:21a far better anti-tank weapon, even surpassing the M2 Browning, while using the APIC rounds.

00:01:28It also has a top speed of 28mph or 45kmh, meaning it can flank tougher enemies to target their more

00:01:36exposed flanks, while its amphibious capabilities do afford it some extra options on certain maps.

00:01:42Unfortunately, its armour is rather lacklustre, as despite being improved over the previous tanks,

00:01:47it still only maxes out at 13mm, and is thinner in other areas, and this makes it vulnerable to

00:01:54virtually any anti-tank weapon, while its two-man crew makes it pretty easy to take out fire crew

00:02:00losses. Overall, I could see this being folded with the T60 at 1.0, giving Soviet players a better

00:02:07choice in regards to effective light tanks, and allowing this lesser known tank to shine in war thunder.

00:02:12In real life only about 350 or so T40s were built, with the German invasion commencing just after

00:02:19production had begun, though the T40 chassis would be derived into the T60, which was a far more

00:02:25successful soviet tank being built in far larger numbers, around 6000 in total. However, there would

00:02:32be another modification of the T40 design, also confusingly known as the T60, but this was later

00:02:38renamed to the T30, and this was to have a maximum of 20mm of armour, a 20mm TNSH autocannon, and was

00:02:47to lose the amphibious capabilities, at least in some of the T30s, as different factories used different

00:02:53holes and components depending on what was available, plus there were some other minor changes. In theory,

00:02:59this variant could be added in game, probably in a folder with the T60, but I suspect it would be seen

00:03:05as just an inferior T60, making it not a very fun tank to play, and likely not a priority to add.

00:03:13It should also be noted that some T37 and T38 amphibious tanks were also rearmed with 20mm autocannons,

00:03:21meaning they could be added if required, either as regular, premium or event tanks, giving us some

00:03:27additional light tanks for the early tiers. Fortunately for us, all of the other major

00:03:33Soviet light tanks are already in game, but in the early days of Operation Barbarossa, as German forces

00:03:39rapidly advanced, orders went out for improvised tanks to be built out of agricultural vehicles,

00:03:46these being armed and armoured to become basic combat vehicles. This led to two basic improvised tanks

00:03:52being produced, the KH-TZ-16 in Kharkov, based on the STZ-3 tractor, while the NI tank in Odessa

00:04:00would be based on the STZ-5 tractor. Unfortunately, due to the improvised nature of these tanks,

00:04:06the armament and appearances can differ drastically from tank to tank, with some armed with machine guns,

00:04:1237mm guns, 45mm guns or other weapons entirely. When added in game, I would try and standardise these

00:04:19just down to one model each, with the KH-TZ-16 being armed with a 45mm gun in a casemate,

00:04:26much like a tank destroyer, while the NI tank on the other hand did sometimes have turrets fitted,

00:04:32and it seems that a variety of different weapons might have been fitted, including 37mm guns like

00:04:38the M1931K anti-tank gun, which would be a good way of differentiating the two tanks. Armour is also

00:04:45different between these two tanks, with the KH-TZ-16 having 25mm of frontal armour and 10mm of side

00:04:53armour, while the NI seems to have about 10-20mm armour, with these figures sometimes being different,

00:04:59or armour plate not actually being used, as it was all built up depending on what was actually

00:05:04available. As for the speed, it seems like the 16 could travel to at least 12mph or 19kmh, which is on

00:05:11the slow side, especially once it gets off-road, while the NI tank supposedly could travel somewhere

00:05:17between 13 and 18mph, or 21 and 29kmh, which is a bit faster but wouldn't make it a speedy tank by any

00:05:25means. Lastly, the crew seems to have usually been around 2, which would make these tanks very

00:05:30vulnerable to crew losses, though some sources say 3 or even 4 could be carried when required,

00:05:36which could give us some additional options. In-game I would suggest adding both of these

00:05:41tanks at 1.0, maybe one in the regular tech tree and one as an event tank, with these giving us

00:05:46some unique tanks that would play far differently to the other early soviet tanks, with the KH-TZ-16

00:05:53playing more like a tank destroyer, while the NI might play like a regular tank if using a turret

00:05:58based armament. But both of these would be fairly slow and vulnerable, though this is a common

00:06:04theme in the lower tiers, and so while not the best tanks, it would be nice to see these unusual

00:06:08designs having a place in War Thunder. In real life just under 100 KH-TZ-16s would be made,

00:06:16both in Kharkov but also Stalingrad, while the NI tank had somewhere between 50 and 75 produced.

00:06:22The KH-TZ-16 would be used to defend Kharkov, but they were ultimately unable to stop the German and

00:06:29Romanian advance, while the NI tank was used to defend Odessa, and seems to have had a bit of

00:06:35success against poorly equipped Romanian infantry, though again they were ultimately unable to stop

00:06:42the Axis advance, and of course it wouldn't be long before the factories to produce T-34 and KV-1

00:06:48tanks were established in the Far East, which would end the need for such improvised tanks in the future.

00:06:54Of course, as well as new light tanks, there could be modifications to existing light tanks,

00:06:59for example the BT-7E, which is similar to the T-26E in that a BT-7 or BT-7M has been fitted with

00:07:08additional armour plates, though this doesn't seem to have been a widespread upgrade. This would bring

00:07:13the whole armour up to 45-50mm, and the turret to 45mm, which is a pretty massive upgrade in

00:07:21protection. Of course all of this armour would affect the mobility due to the increased weight,

00:07:26but to the extent this will happen depends on whether it's the BT-7 or BT-7M that receives the

00:07:31armour. Though with both of these tanks having either a 400 or 500 horsepower engine respectively,

00:07:37and already being fast tanks, I can't imagine they will be affected so much that it makes a

00:07:41massive difference in game, and lastly the crew and armament remain the same. As for where the BT-7E

00:07:47would go in game, I would suggest broadly at the same place as its already in game counterparts,

00:07:53or maybe 0.3 higher depending on the armour's effectiveness. And I could see these tanks being

00:07:58a bit of a shock for some players that were expecting to get an easy kill with lower performing weapons,

00:08:03but most tanks should still be able to deal with them, and the reduced speed does make them a little

00:08:08bit less useful for flanking, but it would be nice for this lesser known BT-7 variant to be shown in game,

00:08:14if only for the unique look. So having looked at the Soviet light tanks, it's time to move on to

00:08:20Soviet medium tanks, and we will actually start off with some variants of the T-28, as there are a few

00:08:26up-gunned experimental models that I didn't cover in the episode on Soviet interwar tanks, with the

00:08:32first of these being a T-28 armed with the 76.2mm F32 gun, the same as used on the KV-1E, and it has a

00:08:41much better performance, being capable of penetrating 77mm at 500m with its top tier APHEBC shell,

00:08:49compared to 60mm for the length 10 gun of the regular T-28. To balance this due to the gun's

00:08:56larger size, the time to reload could be increased, representing less room in the turret. As far as I can

00:09:02tell the rest of the stats should remain broadly the same, though perhaps mobility would be slightly

00:09:07affected, and I think this could potentially work at 2.7, as we now have a T-28 with a much better

00:09:13gun than the regular variants, while not being overpowered, and at this battle rating it would

00:09:18slightly bridge the gap between the T-28E at 2.3, and the KV-1 at 3.7, helping to avoid the massive

00:09:26jump in battle rating between these two tanks, and giving us a cool new variant of the T-28.

00:09:31In real life it seems that this test wasn't a massive success, as no more T-28s were converted,

00:09:38but there was another conversion to give the T-28 the massive 85mm F30 gun, as used in game on the

00:09:45KV-220, which has a massively increased penetration of 124mm at 500m, making its tank suited even to

00:09:54taking out tanks from 5.0 or possibly higher, though I can only imagine that the turret traverse and

00:10:00reload rate will be much slower than the regular T-28, as I can't imagine there being much room in

00:10:05the turret due to the larger gun, while the longer barrel also makes the tank stand out more to

00:10:10enemies. I could see the mobility being affected by this new weapon, but the rest of the stats

00:10:15should remain broadly the same, and I think in game this could work at 4.7 to 5.0, probably as an

00:10:21event tank, and operating in the tank destroyer role. As we now have a T-28 whose armour will be

00:10:27easy preyed tanks at this battle rating, but armed with a massive cannon that can one-shot many tanks,

00:10:33while also not being particularly fast, and I could see this being a bit of a meme tank if added in game.

00:10:39In real life the 85mm gun was only fitted to the T-28 for testing purposes, so this remained a one-off

00:10:47prototype, but these up-armed T-28s are still interesting nonetheless. So having looked at the T-28,

00:10:54we now of course come to the T-34, with its development being covered in my last episode

00:10:59looking at Soviet interwar tanks. So starting off we have the initial versions of the T-34 with the

00:11:0576mm length 11 or F-34 gun, and these are usually known nowadays as the T-34-76, but this was actually

00:11:14a German designation and wasn't used by the Soviets, with them instead naming the tanks model 1940,

00:11:191941, 1942 and 1943. And to be fair Gaijin have done a very good job of adding these variants to

00:11:26War Thunder, with the models 1940, 1941 and 1942 being in the Soviet tech tree, while the model

00:11:331943 is currently in the Chinese tech tree, making the T-34-76 extremely well represented in game,

00:11:41though the model 1943 could also be added in a variant with a cupola present. Of course the Soviets

00:11:48were broadly happy with many of the T-34's design features, such as its large calibre gun, effective

00:11:53sloped armour and mobility, but it was also recognised that many features could be improved,

00:11:58or were negatively affecting the tank. For example the turret only housed two crew members,

00:12:04meaning the commander had to man the gun, taken away from his duties as a commander. This and other

00:12:10problems were to be fixed in the T-34M, which was to have a three man turret, as well as torsion bar

00:12:16suspension system, an increase in each side's road wheels from 5 to 6, an increase from 45 to 60

00:12:22millimetres for the frontal armour and a new commander's cupola, with an order being made on

00:12:27the 10th of May 1941, for prototypes to be ready by the 10th of August 1941, and for production to

00:12:34commence in January 1942, giving this design a very bright future. However, on the 22nd of June 1941,

00:12:41a wrench was suddenly thrown into these plans by Operation Barbarossa, with Soviet tank forces

00:12:47suffering catastrophic losses, with 20,500 tanks out of 23,000 being lost, while the factories that

00:12:53produced these tanks were rapidly evacuated eastwards, towards the Ural mountains and Siberia,

00:13:00severely impacting production of light tanks. Understandably there was no time to waste on

00:13:04prototypes for a slightly better T-34, with all efforts being focused on throwing out as many tanks

00:13:10of existing designs in as little time as possible, so no prototypes of the T-34M were ever made,

00:13:16though some minor components would be used on future T-34 designs, while the new turret for the

00:13:22model 1943 was derived from that of the T-34M. However, while the focus was primarily on producing

00:13:28existing tanks as quickly as possible, the Germans were quickly improving their own tanks, giving their

00:13:34existing Panzer III's and Force Vicker armour, and longer barrelled 50mm and 75mm guns, meaning the T-34-76

00:13:42would lose some of its effectiveness in battle. Thus, in the summer of 1942, orders were given to

00:13:48start development on a new universal tank, which resulted in the development of the T-43, as well as

00:13:55the KV-13 which we'll look at later. However, despite sharing 70% of its components with the T-34

00:14:01model 1943, development of the T-43 was slow, and a prototype was not ready until March 1943,

00:14:09almost a year later. Like with the T-34M, the T-43 fixed many of the issues with the T-34,

00:14:16introducing a new three-man turret, allowing for an extra crew member to be carried, and allowing for

00:14:22better delegation of duties within the turret. The armament however remained the 76mm F-34 gun

00:14:29from the regular T-34, but due to the roomier turret, the rate of fire increased from 10 rounds

00:14:34per minute to 13 rounds per minute. So even if the gun is not as powerful as those on tanks it will face,

00:14:41its faster reload rate may still allow it to win out, while a coaxial machine gun is also carried.

00:14:47Another improvement that was previously used on the T-34M is the use of a torsion bar suspension system,

00:14:54increasing accuracy when firing on the move, as well as the general smoothness of the ride of the

00:14:59tank, while its top speed is 31mph or 50kmh, so similar to that of the T-34. The armour was also

00:15:07improved, maxing out at 90mm for the turret front, and 75mm for the hull front, greatly improving the

00:15:14protection of this tank, while the total crew count is now 4, as while the turret now has an extra crew

00:15:20member, the bow machine gun position has now been deleted, so there's no gain in crew members.

00:15:25In War Thunder I could see this being added at 4.3 to 4.7, as the T-43 is better protected than the T-34,

00:15:33has a faster firing rate due to the three-man turret, and should be better at shooting on the move,

00:15:39helping to bridge the gap between the T-34-76 and the T-34-85, and I think this would be a very cool

00:15:46tank to have in game. In real life, by the time the first prototype was finished, there had been

00:15:52some developments, with the Soviets capturing two Tiger tanks with thicker armour that the 76mm gun

00:15:58couldn't penetrate from the front, and it was also armed with 88mm guns that the T-43's armour couldn't

00:16:05protect against, while encounters with the new Panther tanks during the Battle of Kursk showed

00:16:10a similar story. A solution would be needed to deal with these tanks, and it was quickly decided

00:16:15that the best way to do this was to improve the armament instead of the armour, allowing Soviet

00:16:20tankers to be able to penetrate the armour of these new German tanks, and not just at point blank range.

00:16:26Work quickly started on fitting larger three-man turrets to the regular T-34, allowing them to be

00:16:32armed with 85mm guns. This upgrade was great for the Red Army, allowing the T-34 to deal with these

00:16:39newer German tanks, but also showed that an entirely new tank like the T-43 just wasn't really needed,

00:16:45at least not yet, and in any case the T-43 was still only armed with the 76mm gun, and while it

00:16:52might have been possible to re-arm it, re-arming the T-34 was a much better solution, as it meant far

00:16:58less disruption to production, as opposed to switching to an entirely new tank which of course

00:17:03would have severely hindered production. Thus the T-43 would be cancelled, and the T-34 would soldier

00:17:09on for the rest of the war, with the improvements to the armament seeming to be a better choice

00:17:14than focusing on extra protection like the T-43 had. So you might expect me to move straight onto the T-34-85,

00:17:22but as it turns out, fitting a new larger turret to the T-34 would take time, and while it wouldn't

00:17:27disrupt production massively, there would still be some disruption. So the Soviets carried out some

00:17:33tests on whether it was possible to fit the S-53 85mm gun into a model 1943 turret. As it turns out,

00:17:42it was technically possible to do this, but in practice the gun was far too large for the turret,

00:17:47significantly impacting the reload rate of the gun, which was hardly an ideal solution. The rest of the

00:17:53stats should be broadly the same, though maybe mobility will be slightly affected, and I could

00:17:59see this being added as an event tank at 4.3 to 4.7, giving us a very unique variant of the early T-34

00:18:06that is much more heavily armed, with this being offset by the far longer reload rate, which could be

00:18:12doubled to account for the smaller turret, making using this in battle a bit of a gamble on whether

00:18:17the extra firepower will offset the slower firing nature of the gun. In real life, testing quickly

00:18:24showed that yes, a new turret would absolutely be needed, which resulted in the T-34-85 being

00:18:29developed, and like the T-34-76, this had many different variants. So before we look at those

00:18:36variants, we need to work out what the variants are already in game. As unlike the T-34-76s, the baseline

00:18:44T-34-85 in the Soviet tech tree doesn't actually have a model designation, making identification a

00:18:50bit harder. Until recently, the T-34-85 model had what looks like a summer 1944 turret, with a bulge

00:18:59on the left side of the turret for the electrical traverse system being present. Well, sort of,

00:19:04as it was sort of model to be there, but it didn't actually bulge out. But either way, it seems like this

00:19:09T-34-85 was intended to be a later war model. However, in the Leviathan's update, the T-34-85

00:19:17was remodelled, so it now looks like a spring 1944 flattened style turret, with the rectangular bulge

00:19:24now completely removed, meaning that the electrical traverse system would also need removing, making

00:19:31this an early T-34-85, though this doesn't actually appear to be the case in game as the

00:19:36electrical traverse system does still appear to be present as of the time of writing.

00:19:40Therefore, to fix the current T-34-85s, I would suggest keeping the starting D-5T variant as it is,

00:19:47changing the existing T-34-85 to a model 1944, which would entail removing the electrical traverse,

00:19:54thus reducing the turret traverse speed, and I would folder it with the D-5T. That would then allow us to

00:20:00add the model 1945, which actually started production in 1944 as a new variant, with this having the

00:20:06electrical traverse system, as well as a different style roof, and a single hatch cupola, much like the

00:20:13cupola on the Chinese T-34 guy, so some of the modelling is already done for this tank. The model 1945

00:20:21would also have other advantages besides the electrical traverse, as it now carries the TDP smoke

00:20:27concealment system, which consists of two MDSH smoke canisters mounted at the rear of the tank,

00:20:34which is again already represented on the T-34-100, and would allow for the model 1945 to get away

00:20:41from tougher engagements, making this a more survivable tank. Lastly, there would also be the

00:20:47model 1946, which was the last of the major WWII T-34 models to go into production, and this would

00:20:54also have a new roof, the TDP smoke concealment system, and a new V2-34M engine. Now some sources

00:21:02state that this engine had an extra 20 horsepower, bringing the total to 520, which is unlikely to

00:21:08affect the top speed much, but does give a slightly better power to weight ratio, making this tank a

00:21:14bit more manoeuvrable on the battlefield. Overall, I would folder most of these tanks, with the model 1944

00:21:21being folded with the D5T at 5.7, and the model 1945 and 1946 being folded together in the current

00:21:29T-34-85s place at battle rating 5.7. Now it might seem like these variants don't really add much to

00:21:36the game, but it would be nice to have T-34-85s with smoke concealment, something that is usually

00:21:43missing on Soviet tanks, while also showcasing the many variants of the late war T-34s that the Red Army

00:21:49was using during the war, and it would have been good to see these added to the game in a more

00:21:54recognisable fashion. It should also be noted that Gaijin have said the T-34-85 will be moved to

00:22:00tier 3 in the future, which along with the remodelling suggests that maybe Gaijin have at

00:22:05least looked at these models for adding to the game, so maybe that's something to bear in mind for the

00:22:10future. In addition to these main variants, there were also tests done on a small number of T-34-85s,

00:22:17that were fitted with the STP-S-53 Tehran one plane gun stabiliser, giving these tanks the ability to

00:22:24shoot more accurately on the move, at least at slower speeds. I was going to suggest adding these

00:22:30as a modification to existing T-34-85s, but Gaijin have already confirmed that a separate tank with

00:22:36these features will be introduced in a future update at tier 4, so we will presumably get this

00:22:42tank in the not so distant future. In real life, the various T-34-85 models would serve from 1944

00:22:49until the end of the war, taking part in the final battles on the Eastern Front all the way up to the

00:22:54Battle of Berlin, but were also present during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945,

00:23:01where the Soviets completely destroyed the Kwantung Army and quickly liberated Manchuria before the ultimate

00:23:08Japanese surrender. The T-34-85 would not be built in as many numbers as the T-34-76 during the war itself,

00:23:16primarily as it only started production in January 1944, but it would go on to be built in larger

00:23:21numbers overall, due to staying in production until 1950, in both the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and

00:23:28Poland. And these tanks would also receive further upgrades during the Cold War, which we will look

00:23:34at in a Soviet Cold War Tanks episode. So that more or less brings us to the end of the Soviet

00:23:40medium tanks, as the T-44 that was supposed to replace the T-34 is already in game with most of

00:23:46its World War II variants, while its Cold War modifications will be covered in a later episode.

00:23:52And the T-54 also has its immediate post-war variants already in game, and of course its Cold War

00:23:57models will be covered alongside the other Cold War tanks. So this then brings us to the Soviet Heavy

00:24:04tanks, and there are a surprising number of tanks and variants here to cover, starting with the KV-1

00:24:11heavy tanks, which has most of its variants in game, but is still remarkably missing a few.

00:24:17For example we have the Model 1940, which is very similar to the in-game Model 1939,

00:24:23with the 1940 having a new manslet and 76mm F32 gun, which has very similar stats to the length 11 gun,

00:24:31though usually it has a reload rate of 8.2 vs. 9.2 seconds for the length 11,

00:24:37and could also be given the improved BR350B APHEB seashell, which penetrates 76mm of armour at 500m,

00:24:46versus 69mm for the BR350A, helping to differentiate the Model 1939 and 1940. In-game,

00:24:54I think the Model 1940 could be folded with the KV-1 length 11, at around 4.0 with the improved

00:25:00shell, giving Soviet players a heavy tank for 4.0, and bridging the gap between the first KV-1 and

00:25:06the KV-1S. And while not a groundbreaking addition to the game, I think it would do decently well.

00:25:12After this we have the KV-1E with its applique armour, and the Model 1941 also with extra armour,

00:25:19and the improved CIS-5 gun, and both of these variants are already in the Soviet tech tree.

00:25:25Which brings us to the Model 1942, which is technically already in-game in the German tech

00:25:30tree in a modified form, but also in the Swedish tech tree in a more or less unaltered form with the

00:25:3676mm CIS-5 gun. However, the main difference to other KV-1 tanks is the cast turret, which has a

00:25:43maximum armour thickness of 105mm, while some areas of the turret might in theory provide additional

00:25:50protection due to the sloped nature of the cast armour. A welded turret was also used, but the cast

00:25:56turret version would be easier to add and would give us a more distinctive looking KV-1 for the Soviet

00:26:02tech tree. Meanwhile the whole armour should be the same as the KV-1S-5, maxing out at 100mm with APK

00:26:09armour, which greatly boosts protection but does make the tank fairly slow, with a top speed of 21.3mph,

00:26:16the same as the KV-1S-5. I would suggest adding this variant at 4.7 folded with the KV-1S-5,

00:26:24maybe allowing the KV-85 to be unfolded. And while this might seem to be very similar to the KV-1S-5,

00:26:31its turret should stand up to damage a little bit better, even with the negative multiplier for

00:26:36cast armour, and at the very least it would be nice to have a different looking KV-1 for the Soviet tech

00:26:41tree. So as we can see there are a few major KV-1 variants that could still be added, but there are

00:26:47also some minor variants, such as the KV-1K or KV-10, which was a regular KV-1 model 1941,

00:26:55fitted with 8 132mm rockets on the fenders, 4 in armoured launchers at the rear and 4 in about the

00:27:02middle. But unfortunately there is no horizontal or vertical traverse available, which necessitated

00:27:08turning the whole tank to aim them, and the lack of elevation would make hitting individual targets

00:27:14difficult. Now one of my sources states that these are RS-82 rockets, but most seem to suggest that

00:27:20they are M13 132mm rockets, as used on the BM-13N in game, and these rockets have a maximum penetration

00:27:28of 40mm with a 4.9kg explosive payload, making these decent rockets if you can hit the right spot,

00:27:35but as mentioned I suspect aiming them would be rather difficult indeed. Mobility would also be

00:27:41affected, as the rockets and launching system add 1.5 tons to the tanks weight, and in theory if the

00:27:47rockets can be detonated by enemy fire, they could cause damage to your own tank, which might make

00:27:52them a double edged sword. In game I would suggest adding the KV-1K at battle rating 4.7, probably as

00:28:00a premium or event tank, as while the rockets would be an interesting addition to the KV-1, I doubt this

00:28:06variant will be much more effective than regular KV-1s, and like other rocket-armed tanks in game

00:28:12they will likely be seen as a gimmick more than an effective weapon, but it would still be nice for

00:28:16this unusual KV-1 variant to be added in game. In real life the KV-1K didn't go beyond one or two

00:28:22prototypes, mainly due to the difficulty in aiming the rockets, not to mention adding another 1.5 tons

00:28:29to an already overloaded tank was hardly an ideal choice, so no more tanks were converted.

00:28:36Now the KV-1 was quite a useful heavy tank, but there were various prototypes and projects that

00:28:41were supposed to or could have potentially replaced it, with of course the in-game KV-1s being one of

00:28:47these, having less armour and thus less weight, in theory making it more reliable and giving it a

00:28:53faster top speed. However there were many attempts to produce KV-1 variants that actually had more

00:28:59armour, which brings us to the T-150 or KV-150, which began development in August 1940. Bear in mind

00:29:07the KV-1 had barely started production by this point, and was already a ridiculously well armoured

00:29:12tank for the day. Two teams would be formed to produce two tanks, with one designing what would

00:29:18become the KV-220, with 100mm all round armour and an 85mm gun, and this is already in-game at 6.0,

00:29:25while the other team designed the T-150, which was very similar to the KV-1 but now fitted with 90mm

00:29:32all round armour, compared to the 75mm all round armour for the KV-1 model 1939, making this a fair

00:29:40bit better protected. It was also given a new commander's cupola, which is also armoured at 290mm,

00:29:46but it could make the T-150 stand out more and provide an easier target to hit,

00:29:51especially for HE shells which could affect the roof, which is 30mm thick.

00:29:56Meanwhile the armour was the 76.2mm F32 gun, giving the same performance as the 76mm length 11,

00:30:04but only has 3 degrees of depression, compared to 7 for the regular KV-1, which isn't great,

00:30:10while 3 DT machine guns were also carried, one at the rear of the turret, one in the bow and one in

00:30:15a coaxle position, much like regular KV-1s. Mobility as to be expected would be impacted by the extra

00:30:21weight, with the tank now weighing 15.1 tonnes, compared to the 44 tonnes of the original KV-1.

00:30:28However, this weight is somewhat offset by the use of a new V5 12 cylinder diesel engine,

00:30:34giving 700 horsepower compared to 600 for regular KV-1s, allowing for a top speed of 21.7 miles per hour,

00:30:42or 35 kilometres an hour, only one mile per hour or two kilometres an hour slower than the

00:30:47initial KV-1 in game. And lastly, the crew remains at 5, like on the KV-1, with 3 in the turret and 2

00:30:54in the hull. In War Thunder I could see the T-150 being added at 4.0, either as an event or regular

00:31:00tank. I could see this plane very similar to the KV-1E, which is another KV-1 tank with extra armour,

00:31:06of around 100mm from applique armour. But unlike the T-150, this doesn't cover the rear of the tank,

00:31:13meaning the T-150 would have an ever so slight edge in protection, and the KV-1E's extra armour

00:31:19is a bit more obvious to players, as it is applique armour that has been bolted on top of the regular

00:31:24armour. While it's harder to tell that the T-150 has extra armour at all, so you may be able to

00:31:30surprise some players who are expecting to deal with a lesser armoured KV-1. All this is while

00:31:35still having the same speed and even the same gun as the KV-1E, and it would be nice for this

00:31:40relatively unknown heavy tank prototype to get some love in War Thunder. In real life the T-150 would

00:31:46be put through trials, but there were numerous issues, with the new engine breaking down after

00:31:52only travelling 199 kilometres, while issues with the turret cruise positions also cropped up.

00:31:58It was initially decided to move forward with the development of the T-150, but on the 1st of March

00:32:031941, after the engine broke down again while being tested on another tank, the T-150 project was

00:32:10cancelled, with priorities shifting to other designs, while it was found that applique armour plates

00:32:16could be fitted to regular KV-1E's to more easily boost protection, ending the need for producing a

00:32:22wholly new tank design. However surprisingly the T-150's story didn't end here, as it was

00:32:28it would be tested with more V-5 engines, 5 in total, and managed to travel 2,237 kilometres

00:32:35by 19th June, and due to an urgent need for tanks after Operation Barbarossa, it would end up serving

00:32:42as a combat tank, surviving until at least July 1943, which is a commendable performance considering

00:32:48how many other tanks from the start of the war that didn't survive, and showing that the design wasn't

00:32:53a complete failure. So the T-150 didn't go into mass production, but its overall design was used as

00:33:00the basis for further developments, such as the Object 221 and Object 222, though they were to be armed

00:33:07with 85mm guns in new turrets, with the commander placed at the rear of the turret, with access to a

00:33:13cupola and periscope, improving the visibility, though drastically increasing the weight to over 50 tons,

00:33:19and ultimately these were never built beyond some hull components. However, the tank that was eventually

00:33:25chosen to go into service as the KV-3, would be the Object 223, but again this never entered production

00:33:32due to the German invasion, and work on new KV tanks would halt for the time being, as factories

00:33:37focused on just producing as many tanks of existing designs as possible. However, one project that

00:33:44did carry on was development of the KV-7, a 3-barrelled tank that was armed with two 45mm guns,

00:33:50and one central 76mm F-34 gun, and was actually added via an event last year, but there was an

00:33:57improved version of the KV-7, sometimes called the KV-7-2, which was instead fitted with two 76mm CIS-5 guns.

00:34:06Now I covered the whole of the KV-7 development process in a previous video,

00:34:11but basically after the first KV-7 was put through testing in its 3-barrelled form,

00:34:16it would be cancelled by Starling himself in January 1942, with the new tank instead being

00:34:22refitted with a U14 gun system, allowing for two 76mm guns to be fitted, with trials beginning in May 1942.

00:34:30So straight away you can see that the double-barrelled KV-7 is a bit more powerful,

00:34:34as while the 76mm CIS-5 has the same penetration as the F-34 gun of the original KV-7, it now has

00:34:41two of them. With the extra gun being more useful than the 45mm guns of the original,

00:34:47that can often struggle against more modern tanks. Other than the armament, the rest of the tank's

00:34:51stats should be the same, with a top speed of 21mph or 34kmh, a maximum armour thickness of 100mm,

00:34:59and a crew of 6. I think the KV-7 U14 could be added at battle rating 4.7-5.0, as while the main

00:35:07armament has the same penetration as the KV-7 U13, we now have two of them, allowing for one gun to be

00:35:14fired at a time, giving an almost constant stream of effective fire, or both could be fired to deliver

00:35:20the maximum amount of damage, whereas one gun might in theory allow the enemy to fire back at you

00:35:25before you can reload, and I think it would be very nice to get the next evolution of the KV-7 in game.

00:35:31In real life the KV-7 was tested, and some minor issues were found that would need fixing,

00:35:37but by now interest in the tank waned and development seems to have stopped,

00:35:41with the tank last seen in December 1943 alongside some other prototypes, and it was scrapped soon

00:35:47afterwards. So in 1941 there wouldn't be much development work carried out on new heavy tanks,

00:35:54but in 1942 as things became a little bit less desperate, steps would be taken to potentially

00:35:59improve or replace a KV-1, with various different projects being carried out. One of these was aimed

00:36:05at potentially improving the firepower, and this was the KV-9, which in December 1941 was fitted with

00:36:11a 122mm U11 howitzer, which is essentially a tank version of the in-game M30 howitzer, and came about

00:36:19due to a lack of 76.2mm guns, rather than a concerted attempt to improve the firepower.

00:36:26That said, the 122mm howitzer would have made the KV-9 a better tank for infantry support,

00:36:33while in-game the howitzer can fire smoke shells, HE shells with 36.7mm penetration,

00:36:38or the BP-350A heat shell, which has 160mm penetration, a far better performance than the

00:36:46shells of the CIS-5, with its best performing shell only managing 117mm at point blank range,

00:36:53meaning the KV-9 can take down much tougher tanks than the KV-1 can.

00:36:57Unfortunately, there are some downsides to this increase in armour penetration,

00:37:01as while the HE shell has a muzzle velocity of 515m a second, the HE shell only manages 355,

00:37:09making it rather hard to aim the shell at longer ranged targets, and even worse, in firing tests,

00:37:14the rate of fire was only 2 shots per minute, so if you did miss your target,

00:37:19you would have a very long wait to try again, and due to the size of the howitzer in the turret,

00:37:24its maximum depression was only 2 degrees. Meanwhile, it seems like the usual 3 machine

00:37:29guns are carried, one at the rear of the turret, one in the bail, and one in the coaxial position,

00:37:34which will probably be your only weapon available between reloads.

00:37:38As for the armour, I've seen some sources stating that it maxes out to 135mm for the front,

00:37:43though most seem to suggest a maximum of 90mm for the turret mantlet,

00:37:4875mm for the rest of the cast turret, and around 75mm for the hull, still making this decently

00:37:54well protected. Lastly, the speed seems to have been similar to the KV-1 at 21.7mph,

00:38:00or 35kmh, and the usual 5 man crew was carried. In game, I could see the KV-9 being added at

00:38:07battle rating 4.0-4.3, with this tank playing differently to existing KV-1s, being able to

00:38:13penetrate more armour with the heat shell, and excelling at hitting close in targets,

00:38:18but being let down by its long reload and slow moving shells, meaning you will have to rely on

00:38:23your teammates to protect you while reloading, but I could still see this being an effective

00:38:28tank in War Thunder. In real life, the KV-9 did pass its initial trials in February 1942,

00:38:34but never progressed beyond a prototype, mainly due to the slow rate of fire, but also because

00:38:39the HE shell was unable to penetrate 76mm armour plate, and despite being around for a few years,

00:38:45the prototype would be scrapped in December 1943, though the turret would be mounted on the KV-13

00:38:51hull for use as a test bed when working on the IS tanks, so it did see some useful surface in a sense.

00:38:57Speaking of the KV-13, this was in development at the same time as the T-43 and based on the same

00:39:04requirements for a universal tank, with the protection of the KV-1 and mobility of the T-34,

00:39:11with a weight reduction desperately being needed as the KV-1 started having breakdowns from the

00:39:16excessive weight of the tank. The KV-13 would only use some components from the KV-1, such as the engine

00:39:23and torsion bar suspension system, while a few components were taken from the T-34.

00:39:28And two prototypes were due by August 1942, but these seemed to have been delayed by Stalin due

00:39:34to a need to focus on existing tanks, while the lighter KV-1S was now approved for production,

00:39:41which helped alleviate some of the reliability concerns. Despite work supposedly being halted,

00:39:47it did carry on at a slow rate, not helped by the death of the chief engineer of the project who

00:39:52died of a heart attack on the 19th of July 1942, and while there were orders to halt work on the KV-13,

00:40:00a prototype would ultimately be finished in September 1942. The design was successful at reducing the

00:40:06weight, now coming in at 31 tons compared to 47 tons for the KV-1 model 1941, allowing it to reach a

00:40:14top speed of 34mph or 55kmh, faster than the KV-1S and the original KV-1s, which is a great advantage

00:40:23for those playing Soviet heavy tanks. Despite the reduction in weight, the frontal hull armour maxes

00:40:28out at 120mm, with the hull sides being 75mm and the turret being 80-90mm all round, so this is still a

00:40:38very well protected tank all things considered. Unfortunately, like with the T-43, the focus

00:40:43has been on the armour and so the armament hasn't been changed, with this still being the 76mm CIS-5 gun,

00:40:50which does limit what tanks the KV-13 can take down. While the crew is now reduced from 5 to 3 or 4,

00:40:57as the bail machine gun position has been eliminated, and initially only two crew could fit in the turret,

00:41:03but some sources say that this was increased to 3 by the time of the first tests. In game,

00:41:08I think the KV-13 could be added at 5.0, as we now have a very mobile and well protected heavy tank,

00:41:15only held back by its lacklustre, gun and lower crew count, but I think the advantages gained from

00:41:21the extra mobility and protection will still allow it to do well at this battle rating, and it would be

00:41:26nice to see it added to the Soviet tech tree. In real life, the KV-13 would be put through testing

00:41:32on the 26th of September 1942, but numerous issues came up, from the engine overheating,

00:41:38the gearbox not working at higher speeds, the wheels and tracks becoming damaged, etc etc.

00:41:44This was far from ideal, but said work on the design wasn't completely wasted,

00:41:49as the turret would be used in a modified form on the KV-1S. Work would quickly begin on a second

00:41:55KV-13 prototype, with this carrying a 76mm F-34 gun, which performs the same as this 5 in game,

00:42:03as well as having a redesigned hull, slightly more armour, and an increased weight of 37.5 tonnes,

00:42:09a new gearbox and a slightly reduced top speed. However, unlike with the T-43, by now it was seen

00:42:16that upgrading the armour was a worse proposition than upgrading the main armament, which would lead

00:42:21to the Soviets developing the KV-85 and later IS-1, which used the whole configuration of the KV-13.

00:42:29So while not a successful design in its own right, the KV-13 did lead the way for far more important

00:42:35Soviet heavy tanks. So with the Germans now fielding tanks with thicker armour and better guns,

00:42:41it was time for the Soviets to upgun its tanks, which would eventually lead to the 85mm armed T-34-85

00:42:48and IS-1, and later the 122mm armed IS-2 heavy tank, while the KV-85, which was a KV-1S hull with an IS-1

00:42:58turret, would serve as a stopgap until the IS tanks were entering service. However, there was an

00:43:03alternative design to the KV-85 in the form of the Object 238, which instead of fitting a new turret,

00:43:11simply fitted the 85mm S-31 gun directly into the KV-1S's original turret, similar to the T-34-76 that

00:43:20was converted to take an 85mm gun that we looked at earlier. This did technically work, as in the gun

00:43:26did fit and it could be fired, which did greatly boost the firepower of the KV-1S, but again this

00:43:32left the turret extremely cramped, which resulted in the fire rate being greatly reduced to about half

00:43:37that of the KV-85, while the elevation was reduced from plus 23 degrees on the KV-85 to just 7 degrees

00:43:45for the Object 238. Other than the new 85mm gun, the only other changes were to the mantlet,

00:43:52while the weight increased by 0.6 tonnes, which should affect mobility a little bit, and the crew

00:43:57still numbers 5 like on the KV-1S, so one more than the KV-85, giving it an advantage in survivability.

00:44:04I could see the Object 238 being added in-game at 4.7 to 5.0, as we still have all of the advantages

00:44:11of the KV-1S paired with a much more powerful gun, but the slower firing rate compared to the KV-85

00:44:18should offset some of these advantages, but I still think this would be an interesting addition to the

00:44:23game. In real life, two prototypes of the Object 238 were made, with one put through trials in August

00:44:291943, when it ultimately wasn't accepted for service, with the competing Object 239 being

00:44:35accepted instead as the KV-85, and no more prototypes were made. That said, while one prototype was used

00:44:42for other tests, the other one was kept at Kubinka, and actually survives to this day in working condition,

00:44:49so this tank at least had a happy ending. Despite the failure of the Object 238, this wasn't actually the

00:44:56last attempt to fit an 85mm gun into the KV-1S, with another KV-1S being fitted with the 85mm S28 in

00:45:04August 1944, which is essentially the same as the S53 from the T34-85. However, it does seem a little

00:45:12bit odd to test this out well over a year after the KV-1S had gone out of production, and after the

00:45:17IS-2 had become the standard heavy tank, but clearly it was felt that something was to be gained from this

00:45:22conversion. In testing it was found that the gun had a slightly improved fire rate over the Object 238,

00:45:29and conditions in the turret were more akin to those in the T34-85, so it certainly seems better

00:45:34than the Object 238 already, with the only other change being to the mantlet. Like with the Object 238,

00:45:42this could be added in game, probably as a premium or event tank, having a slightly higher fire rate

00:45:48over the Object 238, giving us a slightly better alternative to that tank. In real life the overall

00:45:53impressions were far more positive, but by this point the KV-1S had been out of production for well

00:45:58over a year, and as mentioned the IS-2 was now the standard heavy tank, and of course the T34-85 brought

00:46:05the 85mm gun to the battlefield in far greater numbers, so there was little need to recall what

00:46:11few KV-1S's remained in the field, to produce what would still be an inferior tank to those now in

00:46:17production, so this again remained a one-off prototype. So that is the various attempts to upgun the KV-1S,

00:46:24with the first of these losing out to the KV-85, but as it turns out there were also attempts to upgun

00:46:30that tank, as in December 1943 a KV-85 was fitted with a new 100mm S34 gun. Naturally this gun is a fair bit

00:46:40more powerful than the original 85mm gun, with the 85mm gun's stock APHE shell having a penetration at

00:46:47500m of 126mm, versus 201mm for the APHE-BC shell of the 100mm gun. A far better armour penetration,

00:46:59and due to the muzzle velocity of 895m a second versus 792m a second for the 85mm gun, it should be

00:47:07easier to hit longer ranged targets, while the rate of fire is about 6 rounds per minute, so again

00:47:14not too different to the 85mm gun of the KV-85. Some modifications were required to fit the gun

00:47:20into the KV-85's turret, with the commander and loader swapping positions in the turret and the

00:47:25mantlet being modified. Other than these areas, the armour thickness should be the same, as well as the

00:47:31crew count, while I suspect mobility would be affected due to the larger gun. In game I think

00:47:37this 100mm armed KV-85 could be added at 6.3 to 6.7, as it now has a massive upgrade in firepower,

00:47:45but still has the original armour, with the hull only maxing out at 75mm and the turret at 100mm.

00:47:52So any return fire would easily knock you out, though it should be marginally more manoeuvrable than the

00:47:57IS-1 and IS-2, so that should help a little bit, and it would be nice for this unique KV-85 variant

00:48:03to have some use in tier 4. In real life, the 100mm gun was tested in January 1944,

00:48:09and while there were a few issues identified, it seemed to be an okay design. Unfortunately,

00:48:15it was only converted for testing purposes and was never actually expected to go into production,

00:48:20so only the one prototype was built. A similar test would be conducted with the 100mm gun on the IS-2,

00:48:26as the Object 248, but this wasn't accepted as despite being better against armour, the 122mm gun

00:48:33carried a far more useful HE shell, though the Object 248 is in game as an event tank.

00:48:39However, there was a similar test on the Object 244, which interestingly was initially indexed as the

00:48:46IS-3, and this was essentially the Object 237 that had been accepted as the IS-1, but now with an

00:48:52improved 85mm D5T-85BM gun. Now I haven't found exact stats for this gun, but the muzzle velocity

00:49:00has been increased from 792m a second to around 900, though with the possibility of going up to 910,

00:49:09so it's got an increase of around 13%, with the penetration expected to increase by the same amount,

00:49:15which would give it a penetration at 500m of 142mm, compared to 126mm for the IS-1's stock APHE shell.

00:49:25A decent if not spectacular increase in firepower, while the shells are only 0.5kg heavier,

00:49:31meaning the rate of fire of 9.6 seconds stock can be maintained. In game I would add the Object 244 at

00:49:38around 6.0, perhaps between the IS-1 and IS-2, as this is for all intents and purposes just a straight

00:49:45upgrade over the IS-1, and due to only the gun changing, it should be relatively easy to implement,

00:49:51and I think this would be a very good addition to the game. In real life the Object 244 was quickly

00:49:57abandoned, as while it's now performed slightly better, this was not considered enough of an

00:50:02improvement, especially as the 100 and 122mm guns that were tested on the IS-2 were far better

00:50:09performing weapons in the anti-tank and anti-infantry role, so this again remained a one-off prototype.

00:50:16So finally, after all of these tests, the Soviets had settled with the IS-2 and its 122mm gun as its

00:50:23standard heavy tank from 1944 until the end of the war, with the IS-3 being introduced in 1945 as a

00:50:29replacement, though this was just a little too late to see action in World War 2. However, there was

00:50:35another design that could have potentially replaced the IS-2, this being the Object 701, which began

00:50:41development in August 1943, and resulted in a prototype in April 1944. The Object 701 was to be

00:50:48more heavily armoured, with its turret maxing out at 170mm, and the lower hull being 150mm, while the

00:50:57upper hull was 120, compared to 100 for the IS-2. Meanwhile, the sidearm is 160, and the rear hull is

00:51:05120, which combined with the sloping makes this a decently well protected tank. The gun is also changed,

00:51:11as it is now the 122mm S34-2, which was intended as a replacement to the D25T of the IS-2, with the

00:51:21main differences being the lack of a muzzle brake, the sliding breech block being semi-automatic,

00:51:26the inclusion of a bore fume evacuation system to remove fumes in the turret, and the moving of the

00:51:32gunner from the left to the right side of the tank. Potentially the fire rate will be a bit faster due

00:51:37to these changes, but the performance against armour should be broadly the same, penetrating 182mm of

00:51:44armour at 500m with the stock APHE round, while a coaxial 7.62mm DT machine gun was also carried.

00:51:52The Object 701 would end up weighing around 55 tonnes, 9 tonnes more than the IS-2, though the top

00:51:59speed is a little unclear, as it seems it was never tested, but it was supposedly capable of 21.7-24.8

00:52:06miles per hour, or 35-40 kilometres an hour, so very similar to the IS-2, while the total crew count is

00:52:134, with the driver in the hull and the gunner, commander and loader in the turret. In game I

00:52:18could see this working at 7.0 between the IS-2 and IS-3, as it has a similar gun to both these tanks,

00:52:24and similar mobility, while having better armour than the IS-2, yet worse than the IS-3,

00:52:30meaning it could fit between these two tanks. Ultimately more prototypes would be made,

00:52:36with these testing various different design elements, with the armour being changed and improved,

00:52:40and different armaments being tested, such as a 50mm mortar in the turret roof, as well as many other

00:52:46changes, and these prototypes could also be added in game, but ultimately by 1945 these prototypes,

00:52:52while intriguing, were not accepted for service. Then problems cropped up with the IS-3, so in 1946

00:52:59the Object 701 was accepted into service under the designation IS-4, though only 224 would be built,

00:53:07as the IS-4, with that tank already in the regular tech tree after the IS-3. Despite the IS-4 not

00:53:14turning out great in the long run, there were still more heavy tanks being designed during and

00:53:18immediately after the war, such as the Object 252 or IS-6, a tank that we already have in game,

00:53:25while the IS-5 would be redesignated and become the IS-10 or T-10 heavy tank.

00:53:30However, the IS-6 or Object 252 had a sister project, the Object 253, with the main difference

00:53:39between these tanks being the use of an electrical transmission, which basically works by the engine

00:53:44powering an electrical generator, that in turn powers electrical motors to turn the sprockets.

00:53:50The advantage of this system meant the tank could have the same top speed going forwards and backwards,

00:53:55and could deliver instant torque, making this tank far more mobile on the battlefield compared to

00:54:00the regular IS-6. Unfortunately, this system was on the heavy side, increasing the weight 254 tons,

00:54:063.5 tons heavier than the Object 252, which would likely reduce its mobility a little bit.

00:54:13Meanwhile, the armament is the 122mm D25-2 as found in the IS-2, instead of the 122mm D30-T of the IS-6,

00:54:23which puts the Object 253 at a bit of a disadvantage, as while the shells fired are the same and have

00:54:29the same performances, the D25 has a stock reload rate of 27 seconds, versus 20 seconds for the D30T,

00:54:37leaving the Object 253 at a bit of a disadvantage. Meanwhile, the armour should be broadly the same

00:54:42as the IS-6, maxing out at 150mm for the turret and 120mm for the hull, and the crew is 4, with the

00:54:50driver in the hull and the rest in the turret. In game, the Object 253 could probably be added

00:54:56at 7.7, like with the IS-6, with the Object 253 having an advantage from its electrical transmission,

00:55:03allowing it to better peek around corners, or reverse out of dangerous situations, but suffers

00:55:09from a longer reload rate for its main gun, which is a big problem when most of its competitors already

00:55:14have faster firing guns as it is, but it would still be nice for this heavy tank prototype to be

00:55:20represented in game. In real life, the Object 253 was finished by early 1945, along with the Object 252

00:55:27with its more traditional transmission, and it was to be put through tests. In these tests,

00:55:32it was learnt that despite the weight increase, its mobility was similar to the IS-2. Unfortunately,

00:55:38it seems like this was pretty much the only thing that was learnt, as after just 10km the tank caught

00:55:43fire, and the IS-6 project was cancelled. That said, the Object 253 would be used as a test bed for the

00:55:50IS-7, and so would be put through testing again in 1947, and managed to travel a total distance of

00:55:581025km, but once testing was done, the Object 252 and 253 would ultimately be scrapped.

00:56:05So that just about brings us to the end of the Soviet heavy tanks, and boy were there a lot of them,

00:56:11allowing us to move on to the Soviet flamethrower tanks. The first of these are the Ognimyotny tanks,

00:56:18I've probably butchered that pronunciation, or OT-34, which is basically a regular T-34-76 that has had

00:56:27the bow machine gun position replaced initially by an ATO-41 flamethrower, and later the ATO-42,

00:56:34which has a range of 90 to 120m, and has enough fuel for 6 2 second bursts. Now I've also seen

00:56:41sources saying up to 30 bursts were possible, while a fuel tank is carried for the flamethrower,

00:56:47and the radio is moved to the rear of the turret. In game this would probably work at 3.3 to 4.0,

00:56:53depending on which T-34-76 model is used, with these tanks retaining their existing advantages,

00:56:59and pairing them with an effective flamethrower weapon, allowing them to engage soft skinned

00:57:03vehicles much more effectively, while still retaining their ability to deal with enemy tanks,

00:57:08but also introducing a new vulnerability due to the extra fuel tank being carried internally,

00:57:14which could lead to more fires or internal explosions. But overall this tank seems like a very effective

00:57:20way of adding Soviet flamethrower tanks to the early tiers. The OT-34 would prove to be successful,

00:57:27and so when the T-34-85 was introduced, a flamethrower variant would naturally follow,

00:57:32giving us the OT-34-85, being fitted with the same ATO-42 flamethrower, and also having an extra fuel tank

00:57:40installed. In game this could be added at 5.7, and overall like with the OT-34, this is just the T-34-85,

00:57:47but fitted with a flamethrower, which is of course very good, as it retains its ability to deal with

00:57:52enemy tanks, and I could see both Soviet OT-34 variants being very popular with players on the

00:57:57Soviet tech tree. In real life, both variants would see success against German forces throughout the

00:58:02war, especially when attacking fortified German positions, and they would remain in surface until

00:58:08the end of the war, and at least a few years beyond it. However, there were also some heavy tank

00:58:14flamethrower variants, these being the KV-8 and KV-8S, which are based on the KV-1 and KV-1S

00:58:21respectively, and are modified in a way that is a lot more unique than the OT-34s,

00:58:27as instead of just placing the ATO-41 flamethrower in the bow, it is mounted in the turret in place

00:58:32of the coaxial machine gun, and is capable of 107 bursts up to 100m, depending on the mix of fuel used.

00:58:40However, because it was placed in the turret, there was no longer room for the 76mm gun,

00:58:46which had to be removed. But in order to give the KV-8 some sort of anti-tank capability,

00:58:51it is instead replaced by a 45mm gun, which is placed inside a larger tube to conceal the smaller

00:58:57armament. With this obviously being a downgrade in anti-tank capability, with the 45mm gun's APHE-BC

00:59:04shell being capable of penetrating 60mm of armour at 500m, versus 70mm for the KV-1's length 11 gun,

00:59:12or 84mm for the CIS-5, with their equivalent shells. The rest of the stats are the same,

00:59:18having the same armour, crew and mobility, though the inclusion of fuel tanks for the

00:59:22flamethrower does of course make the KV-8 a little bit more vulnerable in the event of a successful

00:59:27penetration. Now finding a place in game for the KV-8 and KV-8S is a little bit difficult,

00:59:33as putting them at a lower battle rating than existing KV-1's might cause issues with the

00:59:38thicker armour, while putting it at the same or higher battle ratings will lead to issues where

00:59:44the 45mm gun is virtually useless against most enemies. So I could see this being a low priority for

00:59:51adding, and I could even see some calls from the community for it not to be added. I personally

00:59:56think the best way to add them would be to add the KV-8S at 4.0, while the KV-8 could be added at 3.7

01:00:03to 4.0 depending on which KV-1 model it's based on. It's probably not the perfect way to add them,

01:00:10and no doubt there will be some flaws to adding them this way, but it's the best idea I can think of

01:00:15as of the time of writing. So that just about brings us to the end of this episode looking at

01:00:21Soviet WW2 tanks, and to be honest I'm always surprised how many new Soviet tanks and variants

01:00:26there are to add, especially for the heavy tanks, so hopefully we might see some of these tanks added

01:00:31in the future, and I will of course cover Soviet tank destroyers, armoured cars and anti-air vehicles

01:00:37in a future episode. I'd also be interested to hear your thoughts on these tanks, and any other

01:00:41tanks you'd like me to cover in the comments below. I will probably cover Japanese tanks for the next

01:00:46episode, so hopefully that one will be a little bit shorter, and of course at some point I am

01:00:51going to have to start researching some of these tank destroyers, assault guns, armoured cars and

01:00:55anti-air vehicles for nations that I have already covered, as it has been a while since I looked

01:01:00at the tanks for those nations. So anyway I hope you've enjoyed the episode, hopefully you'll join

01:01:05me for the next one, I've been Toreno and I'll see you next time.

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