76 Mm Divisional Gun M1939 (USV) - Development History

Development History

In 1937, unsatisfied with both the obsolete 76-mm divisional gun M1902/30 and the new, but flawed 76 mm divisional gun model 1936 (F-22), Red Army command (RKKA) initiated development of a new gun. The requirements, issued in March that year, specified elevation of 45° and combat weight of no more than 1,500 kg. The gun was supposed to have the same ballistics as the M1902/30 and use the same ammunition.

Three design bureaus joined the program - Kirovskiy Plant bureau under I. A. Makhanov, No. 92 Plant bureau under V. G. Grabin, and AKB-43 (KB AU) under M. N. Kondakov. The L-12 of Kirovskiy Plant was the first to reach ground tests (in April–May 1938), was returned for revision, tested again in August and given to the RKKA for further trials. Grabin's gun went through ground tests in March–April 1939 and was also given to the army. Although its designation - F-22 USV or simply USV - suggested that the gun was only an upgrade of the F-22, in fact it was a completely new design. The third competing project, OKB-43's NDP, failed ground tests in April 1939. RKKA tested the remaining designs from 5 June to 3 July 1939 and was generally satisfied with both of them. The USV was found to have less "childhood diseases" and was therefore recommended for production.

The USV entered production in 1939; 140 pieces were built until the end of the year and 1,010 more in 1940. In 1941, production was stopped as the plan for divisional guns was already fulfilled. Moreover, RKKA considered transition to larger caliber divisional guns, such as the 107 mm gun model 1940 (M-60). With the German invasion in 1941, production was reopened at No. 92 and the Barrikady factory in Stalingrad; it amounted to 2,616 pieces in 1941 and 6,046 in 1942. From late summer of 1941 the gun was being gradually replaced in production by yet another of Grabin's design - ZiS-3 - and by the end of 1942 the process was completed.