The turret, despite its listed 360-degree traversal, was simply too heavy, awkward and unstable for the intended role. The KV-2 could only realistically rotate its gun when on level ground - paved roads and the like - which made for poor cross-country usage. Otherwise, the crew would have to change the entire directional facing of the tank in order to fire the gun at a target area. Running gear and engines were eventually pushed to their limits and mechanical reliability was always a concern (as it was in the early KV-1 production forms). The high, slab-sided turret also presented a high side profile which, in turn, provided for a tempting target to enemy anti-tank and tanker crews alike.
All said, the KV-2 was another Soviet interim tank solution meant to stem the tide of the German advance until additional manpower and resources could be brought to bear in a responding Soviet offensive. The KV-2 was tactically limiting and presented itself too large a target to be of any frontline use. Where it did shine was in its ability to deliver her high-explosive warheads at distance and - the hope being - to dislodge dug-in enemy personnel and assist in key advances involving troops, tank spearheads and artillery support. In that respect, the KV-2 was a much-feared system but one that required constant protection and attention to keep itself viable on the battlefields of World War 2.
Only two major production marks of the KV-2 existed - the "KV-2A" and the "KV-2B". The KV-2A was the original production mark based upon the chassis of the KV-1A heavy tank while the KV-2B was based on the 152mm turret fitted to the KV-1B chassis. Additionally, the B-model added a new asymmetric gun mantlet and up to 35mm of applique armor along the front turret facing. Some KV-1B tanks were also modified as flamethrowing tanks with the addition of a flamethrower and applicable fuel stores in the turret. The Soviets also entertained the idea of fitting a 170mm high-velocity gun system to create a new "KV-3" mark but this fell to naught for priority was given to producing more of the viable KV-1 tank systems until the arrival of the 122mm-armed "Joseph Stalin" heavy tank family and the T-34 Medium Tank could be produced in sustainable numbers with the more potent 85mm main gun. Also, the large-caliber 152mm gun was much more effectively mated to a low-profile, turretless tracked chassis with the arrival of the "SU-152" assault gun of 1943. As such, existing KV-2 systems were removed from frontline service within a short period of time, phased out as soon as 1942. Any KV-2 systems still in service were modified back to their KV-1 state and sent to war.
Like other Soviet war equipment, the German Army was not shy about reconstituting captured KV-2 tanks and redesignating them in the German nomenclature. Only a limited amount of tanks saw this fate and many were simply run down until their mechanical systems gave up the ghost.
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