Its quite simple construction and multipurpose combat role made it the second most produced Soviet armored fighting vehicle of World War II, after the T-34 medium tank.

The mechanic-driver sat in the bow of the vehicle, and the gun crew of three men including the commander (usually junior lieutenant) was located in the casemate.

[2] At the end of January, the first two self-propelled artillery regiments of a mixed organization (1433rd and 1434th) were sent to the Volkhov Front to participate in breaking the siege of Leningrad.

It became obvious that the transmission of the SU-76 had a fundamental design flaw, which was the parallel installation of two twin engines that worked on a common shaft.

Moreover, the maximum value of the resonant frequency accounted for the most intense mode of operation of the engines (driving in 2nd gear off-road), which led to their rapid failure.

Stalin, having learned about this, did not approve of such a hasty decision, and ordered the talented tank designer to be recalled from the front, but it was too late - Ginzburg was killed in action.

A more reliable vehicle, the SU-15, appeared as a result of a competition announced by the management of the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry for a light assault SPG armed with a 76-mm divisional gun.

Tests of the new self-propelled guns took place at the Gorokhovets artillery training ground in July 1943, at the height of the Battle of Kursk.

It was necessary to lighten the vehicle, which was done by removing the armored roof over the casemate, at the same time this solved all problems with its ventilation, and also facilitated the boarding and disembarkation of the crew as well as the gun maintenance.

40 in Mytishchi near Moscow joined it in autumn 1943 (the same time the production of T-70 light tanks was fully finished), and as a result 13,732 SU-76Ms were built.

Vehicles of later series received a higher rear armor plate of the fighting compartment with two firing ports and a larger door, a tube welded to the right and left sides at the back of a casemate appeared to mount a machine gun for anti-aircraft defense.

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.

Astrov and A.A. Lipgart, changed the power plant arrangement to that of the T-70 light tank - two GAZ-202 engines were connected in series and installed on the right hand side of the vehicle.

The majority of SU-76Ms had been withdrawn from the Soviet army service in the beginning of 1950s, although some were retained as training vehicles for tank crews as late as 1960s.

They included armour-piercing (usual, with ballistic nose and subcaliber hyper-velocity), hollow charge, high explosive, fragmentation, shrapnel and incendiary projectiles.

This was extremely useful in urban combats like the Battle of Berlin where good teamwork between infantry and AFVs was a key to success.

Soviet manuals for SU-76M crews usually instructed the gunner to aim for the tracks or gun barrels when facing Tigers.

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.

SU-76Ms were sometimes used as light artillery vehicles (like the German Wespe) for counter-battery fights, bombardments, indirect fire support.

During the Belarus liberation campaign in 1944 it was extremely useful for organizing surprise attacks through swamps; bypassing heavy German defenses on firmer ground.

The reliability and good driving performance of the SU-76M proved to be especially in demand at the final stages of World War II, during the liberation of Poland and battles in Germany.

Relatively maneuverable and fast, SU-76Ms sometimes additionally armed with trophy machine guns and carried infantrymen on its armour were often included into vanguards to pursue the retreating enemy.

[22] 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.