The KV-220 tank (Object 220) was developed by SKB-2 LKZ under the leadership of Zh. Ya. Kotin in 1940 to replace the KV-1 tank. The leading engineer of the machine was at first L. Ye. Sychev, then B. P. Pavlov. Two prototypes without TTT approved by the GABTU were manufactured in January 1941. The tests of the tank began in January-February 1941. During the Great Patriotic War in October 1941, two experimental KV-220 tanks as part of the 124th tank brigade were used in battles on the Leningrad Front. …
The tank had a classic layout. In the control compartment there was a driver-mechanic, to the left of him was a radio operator-gunner. In the fighting compartment in the tower to the left of the cannon, the gunner and the tank commander were located one after another, the loader and the junior driver-mechanic on the right. The tower had vertically arranged armor plates and large dimensions.
The main weapon was the long-barreled 85 mm F-30 cannon. The installation of the new gun was carried out at the LKZ under the direction of PF Muravyov (plant number 92). When sent to the front, the F-30 cannon was replaced by a 76, 2-mm F-32 cannon. For firing, the PT-6 and PTK periscopic sights were used, as well as the TOD telescopic sight. A 7.62 mm DT machine gun was paired with the cannon. The vertical guidance angles of the paired installation ranged from -5e to + 20e. Another DT machine gun in a ball mount was placed in the frontal sheet of the hull. On the roof of the tower on the left there was a rotating commander's cupola with an all-round view, in which a DT machine gun with limited shooting capabilities at air targets was also installed. The tank's ammunition consisted of 91 rounds for the cannon and 4032 rounds for machine guns.
Simultaneously with the tank armed with an 85 mm cannon, a similar (second) version of the vehicle with the 76, 2 mm F-32 cannon was being developed.
Armor protection was projectile, equal resistant. The hull and turret were welded from armor plates 30, 40, 80, and 100 mm thick.
First, a four-stroke 12-cylinder U-shaped diesel engine V-5 with a capacity of 700 hp was installed on the tank along the longitudinal axis of the hull. (515 kW). In the process of testing in June 1941, an experimental 12-cylinder U-shaped diesel engine V-2SN with a capacity of 850 hp was installed on the machine. (625 kW), but soon it became clear that this engine was unsuitable for further operation. The capacity of the fuel tanks was 825 - 845 liters. The tank's cruising range on the highway reached 200 km.
The transmission of the tank, made according to the KV-1 type, was strengthened. The vehicle was equipped with a new gearbox developed by N. F. Shashmurin, which had a greater margin of safety, smaller dimensions and provided the tank with better dynamic characteristics.
The suspension of the tank is individual, torsion bar, without shock absorbers, with limiters for the road wheels. The tracked propeller used fourteen road wheels with internal shock absorption, eight supporting rubberized rollers, two drive wheels with removable pinion gear rims, two idler wheels with screw tensioning mechanisms and two fine-link wide tracks.
A 71-TK-3M radio station was installed in the bow of the tank hull, and a TPU-4 tank intercom was used for intercom.
