SU-76 Assault Gun

by Steven J. Zaloga, Felipe Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Overview

An expert history of the great Soviet armored assault gun of World War II, the SU-76.

Featuring full color artwork and written by an expert on tank warfare during World War II, this fascinating study describes one of the Soviet Union's most important armored vehicles during its struggle with Nazi Germany.

The SU-76 assault gun was the second most widely manufactured Soviet armored fighting vehicle of World War II, out-numbered only by the legendary T-34. Inspired in part by the German Marder series of tank destroyers, Soviet designers realized that the chassis of the obsolete T-70 light tank could be adapted to a much more substantial gun if it was placed in a fixed casemate rather than in a turret. This led to the design of the SU-76, which saw its combat debut at Kursk in the summer of 1943. The SU-76 was deployed primarily as an infantry direct support weapon, becoming the infantry tank of the Red Infantry, much as the StuG III became the infantry tank of the German infantry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472831866
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Series:	New Vanguard , #270
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for three decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and history, including NVG 294 Allied Tanks in Normandy 1944 and NVG 283 American Guided Missiles of World War II. He currently lives in Maryland, USA.

Felipe Rodríguez Náñez (aka Felipe Rodna) lives with his wife and two sons in Salamanca, Spain, where he works as an architect and computer graphics artist. He combines his experience in CG art and his passion for modelling in his illustrations, where he looks for a good balance between technical detail and craft.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Development 5

Into Combat 10

The Foreign Su-76 13

Redesign of the Su-76 16

Su-76 in Combat 22

Inside the Su-76M 28

Exotic Alternatives 34

Alternative Guns 36

Air Defense Variants 39

Postwar Use 40

Su-76 Export 43

Further Reading 47

Index 48