SMK tank

"SMK" redirects here. For other uses, see SMK (disambiguation).

SMK (named after Sergei Mironovich Kirov - the assassinated party official) was an armored vehicle prototype developed by the Soviet Union prior to the Second World War. The SMK was mistakenly known to German intelligence as the T-35C.

Only one was built and after a poor showing against other designs and brief use in the war with Finland, the project was dropped.

Design and development

The SMK was among the designs competing to replace the unreliable and expensive T-35 multi-turreted heavy tank. A design team under Josef Kotin at the Kirovski Works (formerly the Putilov Works) at Leningrad designed the tank. Competition came from the former OKMO designer N. Barykov at the Bolshevik Plant.

In spite of the lessons that could have been learned during the Spanish Civil War, the specification drawn up for the "Anti-Tank Gun Destroyer" in 1937 required the ability to withstand 45 mm anti-tank guns at point-blank range and 75 mm artillery fire at 1,200 m (1,300 yd).

Meetings in 1938 reduced the number of turrets in the specification and a move to torsion bar from spring suspension. Kotin and his assistant independently designed a single-turret version of the SMK which received Stalin's approval and the name KV. Production of two prototypes was ordered.

The SMK's armament was a short 76.2 mm gun in the upper centrally placed turret and a 45 mm weapon in the forward turret.

Service history

The SMK, the two KV-1 prototypes and the two T-100 prototypes were put through proving trials before being tested operationally in combat at the Battle of Summa during the Winter War against Finland. The vehicles formed a company of the 91st Tank Battalion of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade. The unit was under the command of the son of the Defence Commissar. After being immobilized by a mine, the SMK had to be abandoned and was not recovered for 2 months.

The KV design proved superior in both trials in Finland and was accepted.

Armor

Location	Front	Side	Rear	Top/bottom
Hull	60 mm at a 45° angle (nose) 40 mm at a 15° angle (glacis) 60 mm at a 55° angle (driver)	60 mm at a 75-90° angle	60 mm round (lower) 60 mm at a 60° angle 20 mm at a 15° angle (engine)	20–30 mm flat (bottom) 20 mm flat (top)
Upper Turret	60 mm at a 75° angle and round	60 mm at a 75° angle	60 mm at an 80° angle	20 mm at a 0-15° angle
Lower Turret	60 mm at a 75° angle and round	60 mm at a 75° angle	60 mm at an 80° angle	20 mm flat to a 15° angle

See also

• List of tanks of the Soviet Union

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Zaloga & Gransden Soviet Havy Tanks Osprey Publishing
• [1] on battlefield.ru.
• WWII Vehicles - Soviet Union's SMK

External links

• SMK at Battlefield.ru