152 Mm Howitzer M1938 (M-10) - Development History

Development History

By early 1930s the Red Army (RKKA) started to look for a replacement for the 152-mm howitzer M1909 and the 152-mm howitzer M1910. Those pieces, developed before World War I, had unsprung fixed trail carriages and short barrels, which meant poor mobility, insufficient elevation and traverse angles and short range. Although both pieces were eventually modernized, resulting in the 152-mm howitzer M1909/30 and the 152-mm howitzer M1910/37 respectively, these were relatively minor upgrades which brought only limited improvement in some areas and didn't address others. It was clear that a completely new design was needed. However, at that time Soviets had little experience in developing modern artillery pieces.

Soviets initially tried to solve that problem through a collaboration with Germany. From its part, Germany, constrained by the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles, looked for a way to proceed with development and joint projects gave them such an opportunity. Among other weapons supplied by Germans was a heavy howitzer, designated in the USSR 152-mm howitzer M1931 (NG). Soon the Motovilikha Mechanical Plant (MMZ) was entrusted with the production of NG. However, only 8 pieces were completed in 1932-1934, and then the production was stopped. The design proved to be too complicated for the Soviet industry of early 1930s (the same fate befell some other designs, e.g. the 122-mm howitzer M1934 or 20-mm and 37-mm autocannons) and was considered somewhat heavy (5,445 kg in travelling position). But these early failures it gave Soviet developers some valuable experience.

In 1937, F. F. Petrov and his design team at the Motovilikha Ordnance Plant started work on a new design, the M-10. Technical papers were submitted to the Artillery Directorate on 1 August 1937 and on 2 November the first prototype was completed. Ground trials (19 October - 25 October 1938) featured two pieces: No. 302 (L/25 barrel with constant rifling) and No. 303 (L/20 barrel with progressive rifling). The No. 303 was found to be superior. The trials also revealed numerous defects in the gun construction: the howitzer suffered from insufficient upper carriage strength, leaks in recoil buffer, unreliable suspension etc. For army tests early in 1939 an improved design with lengthened barrel was presented. Another series of army tests followed, from 22 December 1939 to 10 January 1940, but even before it started - on 29 September 1939 - the gun was adopted as 152 mm divisional howitzer model 1938. Later the word divisional was removed from the designation.