Facing the new German tanks, the Soviet Union began to develop a new type of self-propelled gun named kv-14, which was equipped with a 152mm ml-20 gun.

The muzzle velocity of ml-20 gun reaches 655 M / s, and it can vertically puncture 110 mm armor at a distance of 2000 meters. The weight of the armour piercing projectile and the armour piercing projectile are 48.78 kg and 43.6 kg respectively. Although originally developed to provide short-range fire support to infantry, it can also be used as a tank destroyer. In early February 1943, the development of the prototype kv-14 was completed.

Due to the large recoil force of the ml-20 gun, the vehicle does not use a rotating turret, instead, it is equipped with a fixed gun chamber.

Due to the complicated loading method, the firing rate of ml-20 gun is only 2 rounds per minute. The gun is also equipped with an omni-directional observer (for indirect aiming fire) and ST-10 hyperopia (for direct fire). Its direct fire range is 700 meters. All kv-14 assault guns are equipped with 10-rk-26 radios and tpu-3 intercoms. Its chassis is still in production kv-1s tank chassis.

On February 14, 1943, gko approved the production of kv-14 assault gun, which was renamed su-152. On March 1, 1943, cherabinsk began mass production of su-152. By the end of 1943, 704 su-152 assault guns had been produced. During production, an improved type of 12.7mm Russian made heavy machine gun was designed.

In May 1943, the Soviet Union formed the first regiment equipped with this new type of assault gun. The Soviet tankers responded well to the new assault gun because it was effective against the new German tanks (Tiger tank and Panther tank). In the battle of Kursk, su-152 assault gun got a new name - "animal killer" (the German tanks were mostly named animals). In 12 days of fighting, the regiment destroyed 12 "tiger" tanks and 7 "Ferdinand" heavy tank fighters. The regiment was equipped with 12 su-152 assault guns at the beginning, and increased to 21 su-152 assault guns (winter 1943-1944) later in the war.