The munitions administrator who commanded Soviet conventional-ammunition mass production for 19 years of the Cold War
He told a young designer at his old Degtyaryov plant: 'We'll stop making cannons one day, and rockets too. But as long as people live they need warmth, and the atom, besides nuclear weapons, is also peaceful energy.'
Soviet military-industrial leader who served as Minister of Machine Building (1968–1987), overseeing all conventional ammunition, bombs, fuses, and rocket-propellant production. A Moscow State University graduate in mechanics, he rose from engineer at the Degtyaryov Plant in Kovrov to director, leading development of aircraft cannons and anti-tank missiles. With Dmitry Ustinov's backing, he became First Deputy Minister of Defence Industry (1965) and then the first head of the re-established Ministry of Machine Building, commanding the vast sector that supplied shells, bombs, naval mines, and solid rocket fuel for nineteen years while contributing to the world's first supercavitating underwater rocket, the Shkval. He balanced defence production with civilian goods and peaceful nuclear applications, but was retired in 1987 as perestroika ushered in a generational turnover.
Career Timeline
- 1941Engineer, Design Bureau, Degtyaryov Plant, Kovrov
- 1948Deputy Head for Experimental Work, OKB-2
- 1950–1952Chief Designer, Plant No. 575
- 1952–1954Head of OKB-2
- 1954–1960Chief Engineer & Deputy Director, Degtyaryov Plant
- 1960–1965Director, Degtyaryov Plant
- 1965–1968First Deputy Minister of Defence Industry, USSR
- 1968–1987Minister of Machine Building, USSR