The factory director who led Soviet aircraft and rocket mass production for 33 years
“In Kuybyshev we focused on organizing flow production, but we changed the conveyor principle: instead of moving the aircraft during stationary assembly, we decided to move the work stands themselves.” — Explaining the conveyor innovation at the Il-2 plant.
A pivotal organizer of the Soviet aircraft industry. Born in Taganrog, he graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) and rose through Factory No. 1 from technician to director (1944). During the war he established the conveyor-belt mass production system for the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik; after the war he successively put the MiG-9 and MiG-15 jet fighters, the Tu-16 bomber, and the Tu-104 airliner into series production. In the late 1950s he organized the manufacture of the world's first ICBM, the R-7, and the Vostok launch vehicle that carried Yuri Gagarin into space. From 1965 to 1973 he served as Deputy Minister of General Machine-Building of the USSR, overseeing missile and space industry administration. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor and twice winner of the Stalin Prize.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1930Technician, Factory No. 1 (Moscow)
- 1937Head of Technical Bureau, Assembly Shop, Factory No. 1
- 1938Deputy Chief Engineer, Factory No. 1
- 1941Chief Engineer, Factory No. 1
- 1944Director, Factory No. 1 (Kuybyshev)
- 1962Chairman, Kuybyshev Sovnarkhoz
- 1965Deputy Minister of General Machine-Building, USSR
- 1973Pensioned
Related historical events
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic WarWartime aircraft production organizerHe helped relocate Factory No. 1 east in 1941 and organized mass production of the Il-2.
- 1957–1965The Soviet Space ProgramHead of R-7 rocket serial productionAs director of Factory No. 1 in Kuybyshev (now the Progress Rocket Space Centre), he organized serial production of the R-7 rocket, which carried Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 into orbit. For this he received his second Hero of Socialist Labor in 1960 and became Deputy Minister of General Machine-Building, the ministry overseeing the rocket and space industry, in 1965.
Wartime factory relocation and Il-2 mass production
After the State Defense Committee decided in October 1941 to move Factory No. 1 east, Litvinov, then chief engineer, took part in relocating the factory and resuming production. The plant was moved to Bezymyanka near Kuybyshev; equipment was transferred and new facilities built while aircraft production continued. On 29 December 1941, the engine of the first aircraft built at the new site was started. In 1942 the factory shifted to mass production of the Il-2 Shturmovik. Litvinov received a Stalin Prize for organizing Il-2 production and introducing a circular belt conveyor for wing assembly. He was appointed factory director in July 1944. This phase marked an expansion of his work from technical responsibilities into organizing wartime production systems and large-scale factory operations.