When Operation Barbarossa commenced in July 1941, the Soviet Union was caught off-guard by the invasion, and as such, demands for a large number of equipment arose. Chief among these was the need for an anti-tank vehicle that could be easily produced, which led to numerous ad-hoc improvisation projects. Just two weeks after the invasion commenced, Vasiliy Gavrilovich Grabin, one of the most prominent artillery engineers of the USSR, produced the first prototype of the ZiS-30, an improvised tank destroyer made by simply mounting the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun on the hull of the T-20 Komsomolets artillery tractor and adding a simple firing platform for the gun crew. Due to its simplicity, along with the vehicle featuring various positive qualities despite its improvised nature (such as a very wide firing arc and good mobility), the ZiS-30 was immediately accepted for production. Around 100 vehicles were produced from the Gorky Plant No. 92 and served until the end of the war.

The ZiS-30 was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. Despite being an improvised design, the ZiS-30 is best known for its ridiculously powerful gun for its rank, which is capable of destroying most tanks of a similar rank in one shot and even capable of taking on tanks at a higher rank with little trouble. Being produced solely to carry the ZiS-2 anti-tank gun, the ZiS-30 forgoes any kind of protection in favour of mobility and stealth. The vehicle’s tiny, albeit somewhat tall, profile makes it suitable for a support role as a lone sniper or a hit-and-run vehicle, especially when combined with its decent speed. However, given its light weight and nearly nonexistent protection, the ZiS-30 is vulnerable to any kind of retaliation from the enemy, especially when briefly immobilised by the recoil from its disproportionately large gun.