It entered service with a number of Warsaw Pact member states beginning in 1950, and formed the mainstay of Soviet motor rifle battalions until the advent of the amphibious BTR-60 series during the 1960s.

[11] During World War II, Red Army tacticians favored combined arms offensives, which emphasized the deployment of light infantry in concert with tanks.

However, the Soviet infantrymen lacked the armored protection and rapid mobility of the tanks, and remained comparatively vulnerable to enemy fire.

[13] These were widely used for troop transport, giving rise to a new doctrine in which armored vehicles capable of keeping pace with tanks brought infantry to an engagement.

A new design bureau at the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) was set up to study potential concepts accordingly; their final prototype, the Izdeliye 141 (BTR-40), was accepted into service but was regarded as too small to be used in an APC role.

[12] Concept work on the new APC began at the Zavod imeni Stalina (ZIS) factory in Moscow, overseen by Soviet engineer Boris Mikhailovich Fitterman, at roughly the same time the Izdeliye 141 was being developed by GAZ.

Prototypes were built with automotive components from the ZIS-151 production line; however, the APC chassis incorporated a more powerful engine and a shorter wheelbase than its utility truck counterpart.

In later years, the vehicle was not ideal for the prospect of a major conventional war in Europe either, as it lacked amphibious capability or NBC countermeasures.

[11] However, these early BTRs remained effective as a low-cost option that allowed the Soviets to rapidly motorize their existing infantry divisions.

[11] As the BTR-152's six-wheeled configuration was deemed insufficient to reduce ground pressure on the tires and produce optimal cross-country performance, Soviet engineers embarked on an eight-wheeled APC program, which resulted in the BTR-60.

[11] As they became increasingly obsolescent, many were shipped to Soviet client states in Africa and the Middle East; the largest quantity of second-hand BTR-152s were accepted by Arab nations such as Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt.

[18] A number were damaged or destroyed by insurgents armed with molotov cocktails, which were pitched into the open troop compartments without apparent difficulty.

[18] Egypt was one of the first major export customers for the BTR-152 outside Eastern Europe; in 1954, it ordered 200 from the Soviet Union, and between 1961 and 1966 it received another 600 in second-hand condition, possibly as military aid.

[19] Nevertheless, failure to coordinate combined arms maneuvers often left the Syrian motorized infantry separated from their supporting tank formations and vulnerable to Israeli heavy armor.

[20] BTR-152s were deployed by the National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT) during the First Chadian Civil War, and were instrumental in a motorized assault on Salal in April 1978.

[11] Both the driver and the radio operator seated to his right are provided with individual windscreens and, when in combat, these are covered by twin armored shutters with integral vision blocks.

[6] There are several engine louvers on the front of the hull to prevent overheating; these could be safely closed for short intervals during combat, as long as the driver reduced speed and avoided overtaxing the vehicle.

[11] The BTR-152 was originally armed with a single pintle-mounted 7.62mm SG-43 Goryunov (SGMB) medium machine gun, fed by 1,250 rounds of stored on-board ammunition.

[11] Variations included an Egyptian model with a Czechoslovak M53 Quad mounting for four DShKs, which were normally towed on a two-wheeled trailer, and some modified by the Palestine Liberation Organization to accept 23mm ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns.