BTS: Soviet Self-propelled artillery & radios

[Grisha]

I read in Charles Sharp's Soviet OOB volume on self-propelled units that virtually all SU regiments/brigades had radios in every vehicle. He emphasizes this by saying that this was in contrast to tanks units which didn't always have radios. I posted in Valera's forum but have received no reply, though on the site's page on the SU-76i there is this:

In the beginning 1943, because of a shortage of radios, a radio was installed on every third vehicle. From May 1943, almost every SU-76i was equipped with the 9-R radio.

What is your take on this, and will it have an impact on Soviet SU vehicles wrt orders, etc.?

[MikeyD]

First, I thought the PzIII-based SU-76i started production well AFTER April, something closer to November. Do you think they instead meant the standard Russian SU-76 on the light tank chassis?

As to radios, the SU-76 was mobile artillery and not a dedicated direct-fire weapon. That means they'd have to have a means of contacting the forward fire-controller. A tank on the other hand would just be instructed to go that-a-way and blast whatever it saw.

[Grisha]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

First, I thought the PzIII-based SU-76i started production well AFTER April, something closer to November. Do you think they instead meant the standard Russian SU-76 on the light tank chassis?

As to radios, the SU-76 was mobile artillery and not a dedicated direct-fire weapon. That means they'd have to have a means of contacting the forward fire-controller. A tank on the other hand would just be instructed to go that-a-way and blast whatever it saw.

Actually, I don't know much about the SU-76i, and it seems a bit odd now to use a quote for such a vehicle.

SU vehicles were primarily direct fire platforms in WWII. Even many field artillery pieces were placed in a direct fire mode for an offensive. The reasoning was that direct fire was far more accurate, required less shells, needed none of the technical equipment for laying in an indirect barrage, and crew training was simplified. Of course, it also required that provisions be made to redeploy quickly too. However, SU vehicles were not assault vehicles per se, and were usually placed behind infantry and tanks as a base of fire.

The whole radio thing is intriguing though. If these units were completely equipped with radios, then it must have been for a reason - especially if tanks were not as fortunate. The Soviets placed great importance on their artillery as a support weapon, and the SU's were considered close support direct fire artillery.

[Scott B]

SU-76 also had a fairly low max elevation for its main gun-- according to OnWar.com, only +25 degrees-- which seems to indicate that indirect fire, while certainly possible, was probably not even a primary design consideration.

These vehicles were produced from 1943 onward; would this have something to do with it? Were tank units receiving brand new vehicles without radios as late as 1943, or was it instead them continuing to use tanks made in 1941-1942 that had never had radios installed?

Scott

[Grisha]

ScottB,

I believe that even from 1944-45 there were instances of Soviet tank units without sufficient radios for all their vehicles. It became rarer and rarer as the war was closing to an end, but Soviet tank forces were never amply supplied with vehicular radios. This makes Charles Sharp's statement on the predominance of radios in SU vehicles all the more intriguing, especially since he also states that tank forces were not similarly supplied.

[Mr. Johnson--]

bumpski