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The KV-9 Heavy Tank was a single prototype of a potential universal tank armed with a 122mm howitzer.
The KV-9 was armed with the U-11 122mm howitzer, a tank version of the M-30 122mm howitzer. A new turret was designed to carry this gun, and was placed on a KV-1 type chassis. The 122mm howitzer was seen as being a potential ‘universal’ gun capable of firing both a good anti-tank shell and a useful HE shell for direct support. Although the 122mm AT shell was indeed effective, the higher trajectory of the howitzer made it harder to aim than the flat trajectory of the dedicated tank guns. The KV-9 could also only carry 48 rounds of ammo.
A prototype of the KV-9 was built in 1941 but the tank forces didn’t like the howitzer and it never entered production. However the KV-9 turret was later installed on a KV-13 hull to serve as a test bed for the IS-2 heavy tank, which was armed with a version of the 122mm A-19 field gun.