Thus, the Red Army finally got its first mass-produced heavy SP gun. On February 9, 1943, Stalin signed State Defense Committee Decree No. 2859ss, “On a Plan for Producing Tanks, Self-Propelled Guns, and Tank Diesel Engines During February 1943.” Among the combat vehicles to be produced in February were 30 KV-14’s. That, however, was only the beginning: on February 14, Stalin signed State Defense Committee No. 2883ss, “On Production of SU-14 Self-Propelled Guns, KV-1S Tanks, and Armored Hulls for Them During February and March 1943.” That date marks the birth of the SU-152:
For purposes of implementing State Defense Committee Decree No. 2859ss, dated February 9, 1943, as regards production of SU-14 152 mm self-propelled guns in February 1943 and ensuring their production in March 1943, the State Defense Committee decrees that:
1. The People’s Commissar of the Tank Industry (Comrade Zaltsman), Kirov Factory Director Comrade Dlugach and Factory No. 200 Director Comrade Shcherbakov shalclass="underline"
a) Immediately begin mass production of the SU-14 152 mm self-propelled gun and armored hulls for it in accordance with the drawing of the prototype that was provided to the State Commission on January 30, 1943, for testing, taking into account the Commission’s remarks made in the test report dated February 7 of this year.
b) Ensure the manufacture of SU-14 self-propelled guns and KV-1S tanks at the Kirov Factory in February 1943 in accordance with State Defense Committee Decree No. 2859ss of February 9, 1943, and in March 1943 in accordance with State Defense Committee Decree No. 2693ss of January 4, 1943, as partially amended in the following quantities:
| - | (number of units) | |
| February 1943 | March 1943 | |
| SU-14 SP guns | 30 | 75 |
| KV-1S tanks | 75 | 50 |
also manufacture armored hulls for the SU-14 SP guns and KV-1S tanks in February and March 1943 as follows:
| - | (number of units) | |
| February 1943 | March 1943 | |
| SU-14 armored hulls | 35 | 100 |
| KV-1S armored hulls | 75 | 40 |
2. The head of the Red Army’s Main Artillery Directorate (Comrade Yakovlev) shall, by March 20, 1943, approve the drawings and specifications for the SU-14 self-propelled gun with the flaws identified in February and March 1943 corrected for manufacture of the first batch.
3. The People’s Commissar of Arms (Comrade Ustinov), Factory No. 172 Director Comrade Bykhovsky, and Factory No. 69 Director Comrade Kotlyar shalclass="underline"
a) Deliver to the Kirov Factory of the People’s Commissariat of the Tank Industry for the SU-14 self-propelled gun ML-20 guns with frame, elevation and traversing mechanisms (from Factory No. 172), and optics (from Factory No. 69) (in accordance with the delivery for the SU-14 prototype) in the following quantities:
| - | Total | From the 1st to the 10th | From the 10th to the 15th | From the 15th to the 20th | From the 20th to the 28th/31st |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 50 | – | 5 | 15 | 30 |
| March | 75 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 25 |
b) Manufacture frames in February 1943 at Factory No. 172 of the People’s Commissariat of Arms in numbers sufficient to ensure deliveries of ML-20 guns to the Kirov Factory;
c) Send a group of 10–15 designers and riggers in February and March 1943 to the Kirov Factory to assist in the installation of the ML-20 guns.
4. In February 1943, the People’s Commissar of the Tank Industry (Comrade Zaltsman) shall produce Bessemer steel castings at Factory No. 40 of the People’s Commissariat of the Tank Industry for a preproduction batch of frames for the ML-20 gun and deliver them to Factory No. 172 by February 22, 1943.
5. The People’s Commissar of Arms (Comrade Ustinov), together with the head of the Red Army’s Main Artillery Directorate (Comrade Yakovlev), shall test the Bessemer steel frames in February 1943 and decide on their suitability for use on the ML-20 gun for the SU-14 self-propelled gun.
6. When the People’s Commissar of Arms and the head of the Red Army’s GAU come to a decision regarding the feasibility of using Bessemer steel to manufacture the ML-20 frames, the People’s Commissar of the Tank Industry (Comrade Zaltsman) shall arrange for them to be cast in March and April 1943 at Factory No. 40 of the People’s Commissariat of the Tank Industry and delivered to Factory No. 172 of the People’s Commissariat of Arms in numbers appropriate to the production program for the ML-20 guns for SU-14 artillery systems at the Kirov Factory of the People’s Commissariat of the Tank Industry.
The Bessemer steel cast frames for the ML-20 gun shall thereafter be manufactured at factories of the People’s Commissariat of Arms.
If ML-20 gun frames made of Bessemer steel cannot be used, beginning in March 1943 they shall be manufactured of special steel at factories of the People’s Commissariat of Arms.{6}
Contract No. 1489-73 for delivery of SU-14 SP guns was concluded on March 18, 1943, between the Kirov Factory of the People’s Commissariat of the Tank Industry and the GAU’s Artillery Tractor and Self-Propelled Artillery Department Tractor Directorate. Under the contract, the Kirov Factory was to deliver 30 SP guns in February and another 75 in March. Each SP gun cost 265,000 rubles. The contract was backdated because the SU-14 had already been in production for two months.
The rapid and efficient course of events from a 1:10 wooden model to mass production did not go unnoticed. On March 23, 1943, Izvestiya published the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, “On the Award of Stalin Prizes for: a) Outstanding Inventions and b) Fundamental Improvements in Production Methods during 1942.” Among the winners listed in paragraph 8 were Zh. Ya. Kotin, S. N. Makhonin, L. S. Troyanov, and F. F. Petrov, who received an award for “development of a new type of artillery weapon.”