[b]Object 212[/b]

The history of heavy domestic SPGs began in September of 1931. In the "Self Propelled Heavy Triplex" project, SU-7 and SU-14 were developed. SU-7 was designed with a 152mm gun, 203mm howitzer, or 305mm mortar. The SU-14 was designed with a 107mm gun, 152mm gun, or 203mm howitzer. After the arrests of N N Magdesiev (creator of the B-4 howitzer) and P I Syachintov (SU-14 project head), the "small triplex" topic was buried.

High power self propelled artillery was remembered in 1939. While the Red Army was storming the Mannerheim line, they identified the need for a large caliber SPG, with at least light anti-gun armour. Mid-December 1939, the Kirov factory and factory #185 received orders for an engineering vehicle with anti-gun armour. Factory #185 launched two projects: one based on the T-100 heavy tank, and one that was an SU-14 with extra armour screens. It would appear that the latter project would be faster, but it only finished on March 20th, a week after the end of the war. The T-100 SPG didn't come any faster, giving birth to the T-100Y, an SPG with a 130mm B-13 naval gun.

The Kirov factory took a different route. In January of 1940, they received a prototype of the heavy KV tank (serial number U-0). By the order of the Military Council of the North-Western Front, the first 4 tanks, including U-0, were equipped with 152mm howitzers for destroying bunkers. For this, an enlarged turret was developed. Initially, the M1909/30 howitzer, named L-21, was planned. However, the first assault KV was built with a shorter M-10 howitzer, named MT-1. On February 10th, 1940, U-0 went through trials, and on the 17th, U-0 and U-1 were sent to the front. The first "KV with large turret" tanks were used on February 22nd. By March 3rd, 4 such tanks were deployed.

The results of the Winter War suggested that the theme of a bunker destroyer should be continued. During the spring and summer of 1940, Kirov factory and #185 continued working on heavy SPGs based on the T-100 and SMK tanks. By the end of 1940, it was clear that these vehicles are doomed. The SMK and T-100 would not be accepted over a lighter, more heavily armoured, KV. The "KV with large turret" was considered an acceptable intermediate solution, and was mass produced from July 1940.

The "KV with large turret" was reminiscent of the BT-7 Artillery support tank. The KV-2 (named so in 1941) was almost entirely compatible with the KV-1, but had many drawbacks. The chassis limited the power of the gun that could be installed. The requirement was that the bunker destroyer must be armed with a BR-2 gun, but the M-10T had to be used. Loading the gun was complicated, due to the limited turret size. Even though the turret rotated, that didn't mean it could be fired at any angle.

After the SMK and T-100 were discarded, the decision was made to focus on the KV tank. On July 17th, 1940, Order #198ss was signed, ordering new armoured vehicles on the KV chassis. This order included:
- Two protoype KVs (T-220) with 100mm of armour: one with a 85mm F-30 gun, the other with a 76mm F-32 gun.
- Two prototype KV tanks with 90mm of armour and the same armament.
- One prototype KV SPG with a 152mm BR-2 gun.

The KV with 90mm of armour was indexed 150 at the factory, and was recorded by GABTU as T-150. The tank, built in November of 1940, also had a commander's cupola. It was planned that this tank, under the index KV-3, will replace the KV-1.

The tank indexed 220, named T-220 by GABTU, was significantly different. The tank was lenghtened, with 7 wheels per side. The T-220 got a new turret with an 85mm F-30. The engine was a V-2F (V-10) with 850 hp. The tank was finished on December 5th, 1940.

The requirements for a 152mm SPG were finalized by August of 1940. It was assigned to the Kirov factory, and received the index 212. The engineer in charge of the project was C.N. Golburt. The 212 looked like the up-armoured SU-14-1, especially the fighting compartment. The 212 received the chassis of the T-220, with the engine located in the middle of the chassis. The front had the driver's compartment. The fighting compartment was in the rear, in a massive box. This solution increased the size of the SPG, but also increased crew comfort. The fighting compartment size and location also helped the 152mm BR-2 gun recoil length not pop out of the 212 when fired.

2 million rubles were spent on the 212 project. 100 000 went to developing the technical characteristics, 25 000 were spent on the model, 300 000 on blueprints, 75 000 on modifying the blueprints, 1 100 000 on the prototype, 100 000 on testing, and 300 000 on repairs. This sum did not even include armament.

According to the GABTU report, many parts were developed for the 212 SPG, and 1.5 million rubles were already spent. The blueprints were sent to the Izhor factory to built the armoured hull. However, the project was stalling. The T-150 and T-220 projects had a higher priority, and problems of other types arose.

The armoured hull was shipped from Izhor only by March 5th, 1941. According to the report, assembly was late due to absence of required parts. Meanwhile, the 212 project at the Kirov factory was slowly falling in priority. The Kirov factory received an order for the development of a heavy tank, which inherited the KV-3 index. The project, indexed 223, was based on the T-220, had 220mm of hull armour and a new turret for the ZiS-6 107mm gun. The new KV-3 was going to weigh 68 tons. The development of this new tank was prompted by information that the Germans are developing a heavy tank. Due to this rush, the 212 project withered. In April and May of 1941, reports on prototypes list "no change" in the "self propelled gun on the KV chassis" column.

After Germany attacked the USSR, prototype programs were reprioritized. Existing programs were shuffled, projects that were only on paper or incompatible with the present realities were cancelled. Popular history tells that this was the fate of 212, but that is not the case.

According to order #253ss of the Peoples' Commissariat of Heavy Machine Building, dated June 26th, 1941, orders the movement of the KV-3 project from Kirov factory to the Chelyabinsk Tractor Factory (ChTZ). Engineers, technologists, materials, and the prototype were sent to Chelyabinsk. One KV-3 was sent to the front, one, missing a turret and several other parts, was sent to Chelyabinsk. In February 1942, the KV-3 was in the prototype production sector OP-2. As for 212, it was assigned to Kirov factory until August 1941. After that, it was moved to the Ural Heavy Machine factory (UZTM in Sverdlovsk, currently Ekaterinburg).

In October of 1941, tank manufacturers had no time for a KV-3, let along a bunker destroyer. Kirov factory was evacuated to Chelyabinsk (later renamed Chelyabinsk-Kirov factory, ChKZ), and the Izhor factory, which made KV armour, was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. UZTM was temporarily renamed to Izhor, and only got its name back in January of 1942. UZTM was further burdened with factories #8 and #37 being evacuated to its territory. The #75 factory that developed the V-5 engine was moved to Chelyabinsk, and tasked with producing more important V-2 engines. 152mm BR-2 guns were in no better supply: the last gun was developed in Stalingrad, in 1940.

The bunker destroyer project lost priority, but not for long. In November of 1941, work on many SPG projects resumed. At the same time, until 1942, most such projects remained in the requirements gathering stage, not even reaching rough sketches. Most factories that were given these tasks were either in the process of post-evacuation reorganization or were swamped with higher priority orders. Nevertheless, the KV-3 name surfaced again, with the due date of May 1st, 1942. In March of 1942, an order for "152mm SPG on the KV chassis (bunker destroyer)". The gun was, again, the BR-2. The experimental chassis development was assigned to the experimental factory #100 (Chelyabinsk). The gun was assigned to factory #8, recently relocated to Sverdlovsk. The prototype's budget was 1.5 million rubles, and a prototype was expected by July 1st, 1942. However, the KV-3 project was buried entirely by spring of 1942, and another vehicle was selected for a bunker destroyer platform.


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