The defense industry minister who ran Soviet conventional arms production from late Brezhnev through perestroika
In July 1941, the 22-year-old Finogenov reached Kovrov's Plant No. 2 after a seven-day train ride. He went straight to the shop floor and did not leave the factory for two months. 'They put me on the breech — the most critical part of the ShVAK cannon.'
A wartime arms production administrator who at 22 was assigned to the Degtyaryov plant and led the output of ShVAK aircraft cannons and PTRD anti-tank rifles, later rising to plant director after managing postwar conversion to motorcycle production. As director (1954–1960), he built the serial production system for S-75 surface-to-air missile guidance units and the USSR's first anti-tank guided missile, the Shmel. In 1979 he succeeded Sergei Zverev as Minister of Defense Industry, directing all Soviet artillery, small arms, ammunition, and optics production for a decade that spanned the Afghan war and perestroika. Hero of Socialist Labor (1976), laureate of the Lenin Prize (1982) and two State Prizes (1979, 1989).
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1941Assigned as shift master at Plant No. 2 (Degtyaryov) in Kovrov — ShVAK aircraft cannon production
- 1941–1942Senior master, deputy shop chief, acting shop chief — DP/DT machine guns, PTRD anti-tank rifles
- 1942–1946Shop chief — responsible for ShVAK cannon, machine gun, and anti-tank rifle shops
- 1946–1948Head of motorcycle production — postwar conversion, launched K-125 series
- 1948–1953Shop chief, acting head of Production No. 5, various senior production roles
- 1953–1954Chief engineer and deputy plant director
- 1954–1960Director of Degtyaryov Plant — established serial production of S-75 guidance units and Shmel ATGM
- 1960–1963Deputy Chairman of Vladimir Sovnarkhoz — machine-building and energy
- 1963–1965Head of 6th Directorate, State Committee for Defense Technology, USSR Council of Ministers
- 1965–1973Deputy Minister of Defense Industry of the USSR
- 1973–1979First Deputy Minister of Defense Industry of the USSR
- 1979–1989Minister of Defense Industry of the USSR — all artillery, small arms, ammunition, and optics
- 1989–1992Personal pensioner of union significance
- 1992–2004Lead engineer, OAO Special Machine-Building and Metallurgy