KPV heavy machine gun

The KPV heavy machine gun is a Soviet-designed 14.5x114mm heavy machine gun, developed by Semyon Vladimirov and first fielded as an infantry weapon in 1949. Its infantry version was withdrawn from production in the 1960s because it proved too large and heavy for that role, but the gun found lasting service after being redesigned for anti-aircraft use, where its range of 3,000 meters horizontally and 2,000 meters vertically made it effective against low-flying aircraft in the ZPU series of anti-aircraft mounts. Its size and power also made it useful as a light anti-armor weapon fitted to the BTR series of armored personnel carriers and the BRDM-2 scout car.