The IS-3 shocked Western leaders when it was revealed. This reduces the amount of room needed to connect all pistons to the crankshaft, reducing the crankshaft’s length in engines with large numbers of pistons. This is because the engine used master-and-slave piston rods, an arrangement where multiple connecting rods are attached to a single main bearing on the crankshaft. The left bank has a stroke of 180 mm, while the right bank has a stroke of 186.7 mm. It displaced a huge 38.8 litres (2,367.7 cu in) and, in its initial variants, had an output of 500 hp and over 2,000 Nm of torque.Īn interesting quirk of the V-2 is that its stroke (how far the piston moves up and down the cylinder) was different for each bank. The V-2 was an impressively modern design for the 1930s, with double overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. Under the recommendation of aviation engine designer Vladimir Klimov, the V-2 engine had the same cylinder width as the Klimov M-100 aviation engine (a licensed copy of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y). Some experimental versions of this engine would produce up to 2,000 hp during the Second World War. This is an ACh-30, a later development of the AN-1. In addition to this, the lower fuel consumption of diesel engines was attractive. Soviet abilities to produce high quality petrol – especially aviation grade petrol – was limited at this time, so diesel engines were seen as a more reliable alternative across many industries. The idea of a diesel engine fit for both tanks and aircraft was favored by the specialists in the Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army in the 1930s. It was developed in the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory by a team of designers lead by Konstantin Cheplan. The development of the V-2 started in 1931 as a potential new engine for future Soviet tanks and aircraft. This is probably one to bookmark, as we hope it can serve as a reference for your own research on this important, yet rather obscure engine.

Image by Richard Allen CC BY 2.0.īut fear not, as in this article we look at the history behind this remarkable engine and cover many of the most significant uses and versions of the V-2.

British tank destroyers modern