KV-13 was created in 1942 by a group of designers SKB-2 Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant under the leadership of N.V.Tsets. KV-13 is a result of the desire to combine in one combat vehicle heavy armor of KV tanks and high mobility of T-34 tanks. The new machine was tested for a long time with the tracks of KV and T-34. As a result the idea of the universal tank was abandoned in favor of the medium T-34-85 and heavy IS tanks.