Under the Lend-Lease program, the USSR received around 400,000 trucks, including the famous American Studebakers, which were actively used by the Red Army.
Lend-Lease was a program through which the USA (along with Britain and Canada) supplied its Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition with weapons, ammunition, equipment, food, and strategic raw materials. Shipments to the USSR went via several routes (through the North Atlantic to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, through Iran, across the Pacific).
Trucks were among the most valuable types of aid the USSR received via Lend-Lease. Soviet automotive industry was not sufficiently developed, and its own truck losses were huge early in the war. About 400,000 trucks, including the renowned Studebaker US6, Ford, Chevrolet, and GMC models, significantly increased the mobility of the Red Army. «Studebakers» were particularly valued for their off-road capability, reliability, and load capacity; they were used to transport troops, tow artillery pieces, and serve as chassis for «Katyusha» rocket launchers.
Although the main types of weaponry (tanks, aircraft, artillery) were produced in the USSR, Lend-Lease supplies, estimated to be between 4% and 10% of the total volume of Soviet production (depending on the year and type of product), were a significant help. They allowed the Soviet industry to free up capacity for other weapon production and provided critically important supplies of raw materials (aluminum, copper), food, fuel, and, crucially, transport and communication equipment.
