The powerful and mobile D-1, with its wide range of ammunition, significantly increased the firepower and breakthrough abilities of Red Army tank and motor rifle formations.

Post World War II, the D-1 saw combat in numerous conflicts during the mid- to late 20th century.

In 1942, trying to solve the problem of lack of a suitable mobile 152 mm howitzer, the design bureau headed by F. F. Petrov started to work privately on a new howitzer, based on the carriage of the M-30 and the barrel of the M-10 (which was fitted with a muzzle brake in order to reduce the recoil and thus prevent damage to the lighter carriage).

The approach allowed production to begin on the new howitzer almost immediately from the stockpile of parts for both earlier guns.

On 13 April Ustinov informed Petrov that the State Committee of Defence had requested for five of the new guns to be sent to the testing grounds on 1 May.

This resulted in critical shortages of the 152 mm howitzers in the Red Army corps artillery until the end of the war.

Since the new carriage was lighter than that of the M-10, the barrel was fitted with a massive double-baffle muzzle brake DT-3 to soften the shock of recoil.

The breech block was of interrupted screw type, the recoil system consisted of a hydraulic buffer and a hydro-pneumatic recuperator.

[2][3][4] From a technical and tactical point of view, the D-1 project provided the Red Army (RKKA) corps artillery with a modern 152 mm howitzer, which combined both good mobility and firepower.

For example, the German 15 cm sFH 18 had a range of 13,325 meters – about one kilometer longer than that of the D-1 – but also weighed almost two tons more (5,510 kilograms in traveling position).

Compared with older pieces such as the French Schneider model 1917 (11,200 meters, 4,300 kg), the D-1 had the advantage in both weight and range.

[3] The Red Army employed D-1 howitzers from 1944 onwards, during the final stages of World War II.

After the war the gun was supplied to many countries around the globe, including former Warsaw Pact allies, such as Poland.

As of the early 2000s it remains in service in Afghanistan, Albania, China, Cuba, Hungary, Iraq, Mozambique, Syria, Vietnam and other countries.

[3] The long operational history of D-1 howitzers in the national armies of numerous countries is an additional testimony to its qualities.

[citation needed] In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, D-1s were reportedly provided to the LPR People's Militia, DNR and Wagner PMCs.

Although the project received a lot of support from the authorities it never entered production, both because of its shortcomings (the heavy gun put too much strain on the suspension and ammunition stowage was too limited) and because it was made redundant by the ISU-152.

However lessons learned mounting a powerful gun in the T-34 allowed for rapid development of the SU-100 tank destroyer.

[2] Despite the D-1's withdrawal from service in the mid- 1970s, the OF-530 is still fired from modern 152 mm ordnance pieces of the Russian Army.