Production History: Type Place of Origin

SU-76
SU-76M light self-propelled gun in the Memorial

Complex "Gorky citizens in the Great Patriotic
War", Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Russia
Type Self-propelled gun
Place of origin Soviet Union
Production history
Designer S.A. Ginzburg Design Bureau
Designed 1942
Manufacturer Plant No.38 (Kirov, Kirov

Oblast), Plant
No.40 (Mytishchi), GAZ (Gorky)
Produced December 1942 – October 1945
No. built 14,292 (560 SU-76 & 13,732 SU-

76M)[1]
Specifications
Mass 10,500 kg (23,148 lb)
Length 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)
Width 2.71 m (8 ft 11 in)
Height 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Crew 4
Armour Front: 35 mm (1.4 in)

Side: 15 mm (0.59 in)
Main 76.2 mm (3.00 in) M1942 (ZIS-3)
armament gun
Secondary 7.62 mm (0.300 in) DT machine
armament gun
Engine 2× GAZ-202 6-cylinder gasoline
engines
2× 70 hp (51.5 + 51.5 kW)
Power/weight 13.3 hp/tonne
Suspension torsion bar
Fuel capacity 412 liters
Operational 320 km (200 miles)
range
Maximum 45 km/h (28 mph)
speed
The SU-76 (Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76) was
a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and
after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened
version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with
the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3). Its quite simple
construction and multipurpose combat role made it the
second most produced Soviet armoured fighting vehicle
of World War II, after the T-34 medium tank.
Inhalt
 1History
 2Variants
 3Unrelated vehicles
 4Combat history
 5Operators
 6Surviving examples
o 6.1In museums
 7See also
 8References
 9Further reading
 10External links
History[edit]
Design of the SU-76 began in November 1942, when the
State Defense Committee ordered the construction of
infantry support self-propelled guns armed with the ZiS-
3 76.2 mm anti-tank gun and the M-30 122 mm howitzer.
The T-70 chassis was chosen for mounting the ZiS-3 gun,
and was lengthened, adding one road wheel per side, to
facilitate better gun mounting. The vehicle was not
completely enclosed by armour, the rear roof and upper
rear side exposed.
The power-plant setup installed in the first mass-produced
SU-76s was unreliable. Two GAZ-202 automobile
engines were used mounted in "parallel", each engine
driving one track. It was found to be difficult for the
driver to control the two engines simultaneously, and
strong vibration forces led to early failures of engines and
transmission units. After 560 SU-76s had been made,
mass production was halted in order to resolve the
problems. Two chief designers at the GAZ plant, N. A.
Astrov and A. A. Lipgart, changed the power-plant
arrangement to that of the T-70 - the two engines were
mounted in tandem on the right hand side of the vehicle.
The armoured roof over the gun compartment was
removed to improve access to and servicing of the
weapon. This modified version, called the SU-76M, was
placed in mass production in early 1943.
After production resumed, GAZ and two factories
in Kirov and Mytishchi produced 13,732 SU-76Ms; over
9,000 of the vehicles were built solely by GAZ. Mass
production of the SU-76M ceased in the second half of
1945. In contemporary accounts SU-76Ms are often
referred to in texts, public radio and TV broadcasting as
SU-76s with the "M" omitted, due to their ubiquity in
comparison with the original SU-76s. [2]
The SU-76 was the basis for the first Soviet tracked
armoured anti-aircraft vehicle, the ZSU-37. Mass
production of the ZSU-37 was continued after SU-76M
production ceased. All SU-76Ms had been withdrawn
from front-line service shortly after the war ended,
although some were retained as training vehicles for T-
34 crews as late as 1955.
[3]
Variants[edit]
OSA-76
Experimental model based on the T-60 tank chassis.
SU-76
Based on a lengthened T-70 tank chassis, with the
inferior dual-engine arrangement of earlier T-70s.
Only 560 were produced, and these were quickly
withdrawn from front line service. Nearly all SPGs of
this version had armored roof, but it caused
ventilation issues and was often removed in field
depots, SU-76M lacked roof from start.
SU-76M
Main production model.
SU-85A/SU-85B
SU-76M armed with 85mm gun (D-5S/LB-2
respectively), prototype only.
ZSU-37
Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, based on the SU-76.
In 1978, Institute 111 from Romania designed
an armoured personnel carrier based on the
SU-76 chassis, equipped with the TAB-
71 turret. The vehicle entered service as
the MLVM (Romanian: Mașina de Luptă a
Vânătorilor de Munte, meaning "infantry
fighting vehicle of vânători de munte").
Unrelated vehicles[edit]
The unrelated SU-76i (the "i" standing for
"Inostrannaya", or "Foreign" in Russian), first
designed and fielded in 1943, was based on
captured stocks of German Panzer
III and StuG III chassis, a large quantity
coming from defeated German troops after
the Battle of Stalingrad that year. This
partially-modified vehicle was armed with a
S-1 76.2 mm tank gun (a cheaper variant of
the renowned F-34/ZiS-5 guns which were
already mounted on T-34 and KV-1 tanks
respectively) in a casemate superstructure but
retained the original German Maybach
gasoline engine and its torsion-bar suspension
system. Around 200 of these ex-German
vehicles were sent for conversion into SU-
76is at Factory No. 37 to supplement the
existing SU-76. They were issued to tank and
self-propelled gun units starting in the fall of
1943. They were eventually withdrawn from
[4]
the front in early 1944 and then used for

training and testing until the end of 1945.
Only 2 have survived the war, most having
[5]
been scrapped after 1945. A similar vehicle

called SG-122 existed, which was a similar
Panzer III conversion, but armed with 122
mm M-30 howitzer. Only ~20 were
converted, as M-30 was considered
insufficient weapon for infantry support.
The also unrelated SU-76P (1941) was based
on the T-26 chassis. it was built in Leningrad
during the Siege of Leningrad and involved
removing the turret from the T-26 and
mounting a 76 mm regimental gun M1927 on
the engine deck. This was created due to the
lack of high explosive 45mm ammunition
inside Leningrad due to the siege, so some T-
26 tanks were rearmed with 37mm or 76mm
guns for which a reliable source of
ammunition was available. They served until
1944, when the siege was broken. They were
originally called SU-76, until the SU-76 came
into service, upon which it was renamed SU-
76P ("polkovaya" - regimental). [6]
Combat history[edit]
Soviet tank troops (Battle of Budapest, October 1944).
The SU-76M virtually replaced infantry tanks

in the close support role. While its thin
armour and open top made it vulnerable to
antitank weapons, grenades, and small arms,
its light weight and low ground pressure gave
it good mobility.
The SU-76M combined three main battlefield
roles: light assault gun, mobile anti-tank
weapon and mobile gun for indirect fire. As a
light assault gun, the SU-76M was well-
regarded by Soviet infantrymen (in contrast
with their own crews). It had more powerful
weapons than any previous light tank for
close support and communication between
infantry and the SU-76M crew was simple
due to the open crew compartment. This was
extremely useful in urban combat where good
teamwork between infantry and AFVs was a
key to success. Although the open
compartment was highly vulnerable to small
arms fire and hand grenades, it very often
saved the crew's lives in the case of a hit by
a Panzerfaust or Panzerschreck, in which the
concussion of the blast would mean death in
an enclosed vehicle.[citation needed]
The SU-76M was effective against any

medium or light German tank. It could also
knock out the Panther tank with a flank shot,
but the ZiS-3 gun was not effective
against Tiger tanks. Soviet manuals for SU-
76M crews usually instructed the gunner to
aim for the tracks or gun barrels when facing
Tigers. To improve the SU-76M's anti-armour
capabilities, armour-piercing composite rigid
(APCR) and hollow charge projectiles were
introduced. This gave the SU-76M a better
chance against heavily armoured German
vehicles. A low profile, a low noise signature
and good mobility were other advantages of
the SU-76M. This was ideal for organizing
ambushes and sudden flank or rear strikes in
close combat, where the ZiS-3 gun was
sufficient against most German armoured
fighting vehicles.
The maximum elevation angle of the ZiS-3
was the highest of all Soviet self-propelled
guns. The maximum indirect fire distance was
nearly 17 km. SU-76Ms were sometimes used
as light artillery vehicles (like the
German Wespe) for bombardments and
indirect fire support. However the power of
the 76.2 mm shells was not sufficient in many
cases.
The SU-76M was the single Soviet vehicle
able to operate in swamps with minimal
support from engineers. During
the Belarus liberation campaign in 1944 it
was extremely useful for organizing surprise
attacks through swamps; bypassing heavy
German defenses on firmer ground. Usually
only lightly armed infantry could pass
through large swampy areas. With SU-76M
support, Soviet soldiers and engineers could
effectively destroy enemy strongpoints and
continue to advance.
Destroyed SU-76 in Korea, 1950.
The SU-76M had a large number of

ammunition types. They included armour-
piercing (usual, with ballistic nose and
subcaliber hyper-velocity), hollow charge,
high explosive, fragmentation, shrapnel and
incendiary projectiles. This made the SU-76M
an excellent multi-purpose light armoured
fighting vehicle.
One famous crewman was Rem Nikolaevich
Ulanov. In his younger days he was a
mechanic-driver and later a commander of a
SU-76. He and some other soldiers called
their SU-76 Columbina after the female
Renaissance Italian Commedia
dell'Arte personage.
After World War II, the SU-76 was used by
Communist forces in the Korean War. A
small number of SU-76Ms were captured and
used by South Korea after the landing at
Incheon.
Operators[edit]
 People's Republic of China [7]
 East Germany: 260 [8]
 Hungarian People's Republic: 147;

 North Korea: 132 [8]
 Poland [9]
 Soviet Union [7]
 North Vietnam: 30; saw extensive[10]
combat during the Vietnam War. [11]
 Yugoslavia [12]
Surviving examples[edit]
Due to the large number of vehicles produced,
many SU-76Ms have survived the post-war
years, and most of the larger Russian military
museums have examples of the SU-76M in
their exhibitions. They can also be found at
the German-Soviet War monuments or
memorials in different Russian, Belarusian,
and Ukrainian cities.
In museums[edit]
SU-76M in the Mount Sapun Memorial Complex, Sevastopol.
Soviet SU-76M in Bovington tank museum, Dorset.
SU-76M in the National Museum of Military History

(Bulgaria).
 Australia
o The Australian Armour and Artillery
Museum (Cairns) SU-76M
 Bulgaria
o National Museum of Military
History, Sofia.
 China
o The Chinese Tank Museum (Beijing)
SU-76
 Poland
o Muzeum Oręża Polskiego in Kołobrzeg -
SU-76
o Armoured Weapon Museum in Poznań -
SU-76M
o Polish Army Museum in Warsaw
 exhibition in front of the main building
- SU-76 tactical number 203, serial
number 403062
 Museum of Polish Military
Technology - SU-76 tactical number
207
 Romania
o National Military Museum,
Romania in Bucharest
 Russia
o Central Armed Forces
Museum in Moscow
o Technical Museum of Vadim
Zadorozhny in Krasnogorsky District,
Moscow Oblast - in running condition
o Kubinka Tank
Museum in Kubinka, Moscow Oblast
o Museum of Military History in
Padikovo, Istrinsky District, Moscow
Oblast - in running condition
o Military Historical Museum of Artillery,
Engineers and Signal Corps in Saint
Petersburg
o Mount Sapun Memorial Complex
in Sevastopol
 United Kingdom
o The Tank Museum in Bovington - SU-
76M captured from North Korea in
1950 [13]

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SU-76

SU-76M light self-propelled gun in the Memorial

Type Self-propelled gun

Place of origin Soviet Union

Designer S.A. Ginzburg Design Bureau

Manufacturer Plant No.38 (Kirov, Kirov

Produced December 1942 – October 1945

No. built 14,292 (560 SU-76 & 13,732 SU-

Mass 10,500 kg (23,148 lb)

Length 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)

Width 2.71 m (8 ft 11 in)

Height 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)

Armour Front: 35 mm (1.4 in)

the front in early 1944 and then used for

been scrapped after 1945. A similar vehicle

Soviet tank troops (Battle of Budapest, October 1944).

The SU-76M virtually replaced infantry tanks

The SU-76M was effective against any

The SU-76M had a large number of

 East Germany: 260 [8]

 Hungarian People's Republic: 147;

 Soviet Union [7]

 North Vietnam: 30; saw extensive[10]

combat during the Vietnam War. [11]

Soviet SU-76M in Bovington tank museum, Dorset.

SU-76M in the National Museum of Military History

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