The KPV is a Soviet 14.5x114 mm heavy machine gun designed by Semyon Vladimirov and produced at the V. A. Degtyarev Plant. Its high-energy cartridge made it useful against light armor, field positions, small craft, and low-flying aircraft, so the family spread from the original infantry gun into KPVT vehicle guns, ZPU anti-aircraft mounts, and modern improvised or vehicle-mounted roles documented from Iraq and Yemen to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War.
ISWAP has been documented using technicals fitted with KPV/ZPU-1 14.5x114 mm heavy machine guns in Borno State, with Nigerian reporting also describing recovery of a 14.5 mm HMG after an ISWAP clash.
Iraqi forces fielded ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 anti-aircraft mounts built around KPV-family 14.5 mm guns; U.S. Air Force museum records identify Iraqi ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 examples from Operation Desert Storm, and GulfLINK describes the ZPU-series KPV gun layout.
Role detailsUkrainian forces have used KPV/KPVT 14.5 mm machine guns in improvised and vehicle-mounted roles, including KPVT-armed technicals and Czech MR-2 Viktor air-defense pickups supplied for counter-UAV defense.
Role detailsYPG/SDF forces in northern Syria operated improvised armored vehicles and guntrucks armed with 14.5 mm KPV-family heavy machine guns for mobile fire support against Islamic State forces.
Role detailsYemeni government-aligned soldiers were reported firing a truck-mounted ZPU-2, a twin-KPV 14.5 mm anti-aircraft gun, at Houthi targets near Sanaa during the Yemen Civil War.
Role detailsKPV identifies the original Vladimirov gun family; KPVT is the vehicle and mount derivative. ZPU entries are treated as firing mounts below because they combine one or more KPV/KPVT guns with carriages, sights, and feed arrangements.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| Type 56 | Chinese production model | Weaponsystems.net identifies Type 56 as a Chinese production model of the KPV with similar dimensions. Sources: Vladimirov KPV |
The KPVT vehicle derivative gave the KPV family a long service life on Soviet and post-Soviet armored vehicles.
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Amphibious scout car | Weaponsystems.net states that the KPVT is used as the primary armament of BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles. Sources: Vladimirov KPV |
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Armored vehicle main armament | The KPV page identifies the KPVT as the vehicle-use derivative and says it is used as the primary armament of the BTR-70. Sources: Vladimirov KPV |
 | Wheeled armored personnel carrier | Weaponsystems.net says the BTR-40 family could occasionally be fitted with a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun. Sources: Vladimirov KPV |
 | 8x8 armored personnel carrier | Weaponsystems.net describes the BTR-60PB variant as the first eight-wheel BTR armed with KPVT and a coaxial PKT. Sources: BTR-60PB - Weaponsystems.net |
 | 8x8 armored personnel carrier | Weaponsystems.net identifies the original BTR-80 as using the 14.5 mm KPVT as primary armament. Sources: Vladimirov KPV |
ZPU anti-aircraft guns are not separate KPV variants; they are single, twin, or quadruple mounts built around KPV-family 14.5 mm machine guns.
| Firing weapon | Weapon type | Firing evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Single 14.5 mm anti-aircraft mount | GulfLINK describes the ZPU series as 14.5 mm towed anti-aircraft guns whose ordnance consists of KPV 14.5 mm machine guns. |
 | Twin 14.5 mm anti-aircraft mount | GulfLINK describes the ZPU-2 as a twin mount with two 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine guns on a two-wheel carriage. |
 | Quadruple 14.5 mm anti-aircraft mount | GulfLINK describes the ZPU-4 as a four-gun mount using four 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine guns. |
The KPV page covers the 14.5 mm gun family rather than only the original infantry mount. The same gun family appears in KPVT vehicle installations and in ZPU anti-aircraft mounts, which is why conflict reporting often names a ZPU mount instead of the underlying gun.
| Designation | Configuration | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| KPV / PKP | Original 14.5x114 mm Vladimirov heavy machine gun | Baseline infantry and mountable gun family developed from the wartime KPV-44 design and fielded after postwar refinement. |
| KPVT | Vehicle and powered-mount derivative | Uses vehicle-oriented firing arrangements and became the main version seen in armored vehicles, patrol craft, and many mounted installations. |
| Single, twin, and quadruple anti-aircraft mounts | These mounts package one or more KPV-family guns with carriages, sights, and feed boxes for low-altitude air defense and ground fire support. |
GunRF describes the KPV-44 design as the wartime Vladimirov heavy machine gun submitted for postwar service testing.
The Soviet Armed Forces fielded the infantry PKP/KPV and ZPU-1, ZPU-2, and ZPU-4 anti-aircraft mounts using 14.5 mm Vladimirov guns.
Fox News reported Yemeni government-aligned soldiers firing a truck-mounted ZPU-2, whose twin guns are KPV 14.5 mm heavy machine guns, on the Nihm front.
Ukrainian and defense-industry reporting described Czech MR-2 Viktor vehicles with paired 14.5 mm guns entering mobile air-defense service against UAVs.
